Onboarding: The Simple Way

A while ago I wrote Onboarding: 8 Ways to Get New Hires Onboard, which talked about how you get new employees up to speed as quickly and as easily as possible. I just read a chapter from Bill Jensen's The Simplicity Survival Handbook: 32 Ways to Do Less and Accomplish More, suggesting how new hires can be proactive in getting "the orientation they deserve". He points out the unfortunate reality that many companies are pressured with short-term needs and don't want to spend the extra time and attention required for the long-term need of providing quality orientation and onboarding. So he suggests another take on it - for employees to take control over their orientation and be more proactive. Jenson suggests three simple steps:

1. Do your homework about your company, department, job, etc. Get info such as your department's goals, performance, biggest projects in the past and next three months, etc. from the day you accept the job offer and read up so you can be prepared on your first day with questions.
2. Get a list of names for  building your network - try to meet face-to-face with key people not only within your department, but outside of your department and even outside the company, i.e. customers, etc.
3. Ask for a two-way review at the end of your third month.

Following these steps, a new hire can make the most of his or her first 100 days. Even better,  a manager who takes the iniative to prepare and plan for these things will definitely make the most of the new hire's first 100 days.

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HRSEO offers consulting for Internet recruiting initiatives to employers.

Comments

[Paul Jacobs]

Hi Steven - again you have posted some really practical stuff. I have a very strong memory of resigning many years ago from a new role/organisation after a month because the role was sold to me in a way that did not match reality. Also my reporting manager's leadership style was completely different than compared with the consultative leadership style portrayed throughout the interview process. In hindsight I should have done my homework better and asked some more intelligent questions in the interview. It would have been good to have gone out for coffee with my new colleagues (minus manager) prior to accepting the role/starting.

When I used to work in the HR team at New Zealand Post and was involved in the management of their recruitment and development prog for graduates we introduced a more structured mentoring prog for the grads managers and mentors "coaches". This prog skilled the managers and coaches to establish a relationship of open communication and trust with the grads, and provided them with the tools to ensure a smooth transition and motivational work environment for the grads in the first weeks, months, year. The coaches were great in highlighting to the grads any hidden rules, politics etc, and providing useful tips in how to cope with the world of work, dealing with difficult situations/people etc. The prog contributed to improving retention - we also received better feedback from the grads about their onboarding experiences than in previous years.

A number of requests for proposal have gone out over the last couple of years for organisations wanting to implement content-driven onboarding/induction technology systems. I would be interested if anybody has come across these?

[Steven Kempton]

Thanks Paul for your insight, I haven't seen any of these systems. I love the sound of your programme at NZ Post though. I think ultimately it is these kind of areas, recruiting, onboarding and management where software solutions deliver so poorly and where mentoring and coaching are so much more successful. The human touch is what drives people.