Until recently, there has not been significant focus on the
onboarding of new employees into organizations. Sure, most companies
host new hire orientations where benefits are reviewed, codes of conduct
are presented, and basic tools such as phones, computers and office
supplies are ordered or confirmed. But for many new employees, this is
where the efforts stop.
Now, however, many organizations are recognizing that onboarding is
more than just processing paperwork and completing the checklist for a
new hire to start. True onboarding involves making sure employees have
the information needed to be effective in their jobs. This needed
information often comes in the form of two efforts-training and
socialization.
Training can involve formal classroom opportunities or can occur when
employees model behavior, work with a more experienced colleague, or
assist with small portions of larger projects while being "monitored" by
someone with the end goal in mind.
During the onboarding process, it is also important to consider how
to evaluate the performance of new employees. Most existing performance
management system criteria do not apply. Instead, it is advantageous to
set training and performance benchmarks for new employees that focus on
learning rather than performance during the first six to 12 months,
depending on the requirements of the employee's role. This learning
orientation allows the new employee to take more risks while learning,
which based on understanding of the examinations of effective learning
methodology, is a necessary element for training success. In addition,
organizations would be well served if they worked to reward these new
employees on achieving learning goals.
Socialization of new employees is the other primary component of
successful onboarding processes. This involves introducing new members
to the culture and to the accepted practices of the organization,
division or business unit in which they now belong. The development of
this shared understanding of the organization's formal and information
structures and processes can be accomplished in several ways.
Organizations may choose to employ formal mentoring programs, where
each new member is assigned to partner with one or more tenured peers.
Some organizations who are more advanced may choose to create mentoring
programs where a newer employee is assigned to a team of mentors from
various tenures, job roles, etc. At a minimum, new employees should be
assigned one point person to whom they can ask questions, raise concerns
or simply exchange information with.
Other, less formal opportunities for socializing employees include
communicating facts related to the organizational structure, providing
relevant contact information or sharing other pertinent information by
publishing go-to phone lists and organizational charts.
Another important component of socialization for onboarding is
helping new members build their own organizational network. Though some
employees may do this more naturally, many new hires may need
assistance. Employees of all tenure will be more effective when they
know who to call, practical turnaround times for assistance, and where
to find important information.
In addition to creating opportunities that enhance the learning and
socialization of new employees, another practice gaining momentum is
surveying new hires to better understand their experiences. These
surveys are occurring within organizations that either do or do not
offer these formal practices for bringing new employees into
organizations.
Onboarding surveys are typically constructed to ask new employees
about integrating into the organization. Specifically, the surveys seek
opinions on job tasks, direct managers/leaders and team members to
determine if the employees' experiences are meeting the expectations
they held when entering the organization. These surveys provide
organizations with a means to evaluate how well they are able to retain
and engage newer employees and can provide opportunities to explain
performance differences at the employee and work team levels.
Regardless of where your organization stands in bringing new
employees into the fold, or your level of effectiveness in executing on
these processes, the importance of a successful onboarding, or
enculturation process can no longer be overlooked. In fact, the
potential consequences that an effective, or ineffective, onboarding
process can have on new employees, their retention in the organization,
and ultimately, their performance, should provide the justification for
you to consider examining the ways that our organization can improve its
onboarding processes.
Figure 1 below provides a brief illustration of the ROI of an
effective onboarding program that develops new employee learning,
socialization, etc. An employee on a rigorous three month onboarding program will bill at
30 hours per week at $300/hour after three months of employment. This
is relative to an employee on a less rigorous program. Because the
individual is less proficient and the company is not billing the client
for the learning curve, it is only billing 18 hours per week at $300 per
hour. In this simple example, the revenue gain for the rigorous
onboarding program is approximately $65,000 per employee per year.
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