Designing Onboarding Experiences
You are all excited about this new workplace that you are going to join. You have been reading up on the news about the new organization. You suddenly notice that it is such a cool place to be. You have started noticing their ads - gosh... They are everywhere. How come you had not noticed their existence for all these years? The countdown is on. You are so excited. Tomorrow is the big day. It is day one at work. Notes from your diaryTime 08:00I am early. There is no one in the office. Did not want to be late. It is OK. I will wait at the Reception. At least until the Receptionist comes in... Time 08:30Some people have started trickling in. Some of them give me strange looks. I think that's because I was smiling at them. That's OK. After all they do not know that I am a colleague and not some random vendor. The Receptionist has already informed HR that I am waiting. They should be here after their morning meeting.Time 10:30No one is here yet. I am sick of reading the old newspapers. Why can't someone take me to meet my colleagues. What if they expect me to be in the meetings with my new team... but I am sure they understand.Time 11:30The Receptionist is rude. There are so MANY forms to fill.Time 13:00I am hungry. I stepped out to the shop close by to get some lunch. Does everyone eat lunch alone?Time 17:00Time to go. What a weird day. Tomorrow should be fun. I am in a class with 14 other new hires and we are all going to be told about the company and its history, the organization chart ("Who is who in the zoo", like the person from HR said.)If you want to recast the whole onboarding process, a good place to start with is to examine what are the assumptions that have been the underpinnings of your onboarding process design. Each assumption results in the kind of process that the new hires experience. The onboarding process has two stages - start off by questioning both:
Information Gathering Processes
The objective behind these processes to collect information about the new hire that gets the statutory declarations done and the payroll, benefits going.Process Improvement Questions: What information can be collected well before the person joins the organization? Can the medical tests/ declarations be done before joining? What part of the information be collected on the web and maybe verified with supporting documents after the person joins the organization. Maybe the verification can be done just by the click of a button on day one as soon as someone examines the supporting papers. Ask yourself what other data can be collected about the person that will help you sharpen the hiring processes and recruit people who will have a better fit with the organization. See my article on Predictive Human Resources (click here) on how to build a predictive decision model to support your people choices.
Information Giving Processes
This process aims to convey information about the organization's business, its history and the people in the organization chart. Think of it as sharing the organization's resume beyond what is available on the intranet. This is probably the second biggest area for improvement. Have you ever had the experience of someone you barely know making you sit through 4000 pictures of their family vacations, the wedding, the cat dressed in crazy clothes while you struggle to keep awake? That's roughly what most new hires feel like when you make them sit through days and weeks of presentations about the organization's history and the org charts of each department which confuses the new hire more than it endears. Does the cartoon remind you of one?
Process Improvement Questions
What is the minimum bit of the information about the business and process the person will need to get started. Who are the five stakeholders who matter in the new hire's life over the next 30 days? Can this information be given on tap? See this idea about creating a Mobile App for onboarding - can you do something like that? Does the person know exactly what is expected of them to be delivered in the next 60 days? It is a great idea to do a Brand Training for the new hire to share some stories about the brand and the organization that can build pride. KFC does a 10 weeks training for their multi brand restaurants.For a new CEO, here is a case study that looks at five areas to spend time on during the first 90 days: Business, Relationship, Leadership, Learning, and Personal.
Intangible Elements of Onboarding
It is easy to check if the the new hire and the employer have exchanged all the information needed to start working together. What is often missed out is the emotional connect between the new hire and the organization. This is an intangible outcome and hence is difficult to track. Maybe one way would be to simply ask the new employee, where they are on a scale of 1-10 in this process and what they feel they should have been.According to authors Mark Stein and Lilith Christiansen, in their book Successful Onboarding, a well-designed onboarding program has “four pillars”:
- Cultural mastery: Teach your recruits the unwritten rules and nuances of your firm.
- Interpersonal network development: Ensure that your employees make the right social and professional connections.
- Early career support: If you demonstrate interest in your new employees’ professional advancement, you will inspire their loyalty.
- Strategy immersion and direction: Show new hires how they fit into the corporation’s overall goals. Help them understand how they make a difference.
Onboarding is not just for new hires, but is useful to do when the individual takes on a new role within the same organization. This is usually never done by most organizations - especially for the most senior leaders. It is assumed they are smart enough to figure out what to do and will have the bandwidth to do this in the most effective manner. Imagine what a difference that would make if we got this right.-----------------Additional Reads:How to Get New Employees Off to a Great Start :Onboarding Millennials - A Whole New Outlook Download the sketchnote by right clicking the image. It is for you to use. May I ask you to please share the link to my website with five friends and colleagues? Want to connect with me? Email me at abhijitbhaduri@live.com or join me on Twitter and Instagram @AbhijitBhaduri