It's fair to say most new hires are nervous, unsure they are in the right place, and possibly slightly nauseas about not knowing anyone or 'how things are done'. When that natural apprehension is compounded by a security pass that does not allow them access to the office, a work station that has the previous occupant's name tag, and fellow work colleagues who have no idea who this new person in their midst is, it's no surprise that one in four new employees will take a week or less to determine if they will stay with an organisation?*
At its most fundamental level, onboarding (or induction) is about managing the experience and relationship between the employer and employee at its earliest - and most crucial - stage.
Author and thought-leader Stephen Covey talks about that employer/employee relationship in terms of human relationships, or the emotional bank account. People usually come to a new job with a certain number of deposits in the account - they have high hopes, and they're willing to put their best foot forward. Then over time, from the employer's first point of first contact, each touchpoint along the way has an impact on that commitment. The classic example is this: the candidate has a great interview, the job sounds great, and they are assured a decision will be made on Thursday. Thursday comes around, then Friday, then Monday, and still the candidate is left hanging. All of a sudden the candidate is withdrawing from that emotional bank account - and they haven't even started work yet!
Why onboard?
Onboarding plays a crucial role in ensuring that bank account remains topped up for the crucial early months of employment. "It's about reducing uncertainty. You reduce the stress and ramp up productivity if you do it well," confirms Leslie Alderman, partner, career management services, Chandler Macleod Group. "The individual connects with their employer, their manager, their team - so you actually have a higher engagement level from day one. You want them excited about the role even prior to day one rather than stressed and anxious. Most people after a week know if they will stay or not. If you can get the commitment before they start, you're already ahead of the game."
So what's involved? Most organisations will have formal and informal elements in their onboarding process. The formal side can be easily taken care of by checklists, which incorporate everything from the preparation of the work station to ensuring passwords and security clearances are made, to fine-tuning the details of what to do on the first day. This can be extended to a checklist for managers to ensure that policies and procedures are covered off, and administration, payroll and housekeeping items are outlined - the dress code, the recycling plan, etc. "It's the meet and greets, the paperwork and the orientation side of onboarding," notes Alderman.
Beyond the formalities, there are all sorts of intangibles that new hires need to master when they join an organisation - everything from knowing what's expected of them, through to the do's and don'ts of polite chit-chat before a meeting, and onto the more complicated office politics.
"Onboarding can play an important role in this, but I would argue that goes on before the onboarding as well, to make sure candidates have a clear understanding of what the role is, what they're getting into. Countless times people come into a role and it's not what they thought it was," says Alderman.
Lenore Lambert, director, Exit Info, adds that informal induction may include: ensuring the new hire is given a sense of who the other teams on which they are dependent are; meeting the people they need to know; getting a sense of the culture of the team; knowing what's expected of them; and being clear on what the manager hopes to see from the new hire at the three month mark.
A lot of the uncertainty felt by new hires can be countered by a buddy or mentor system. Ideally that person should be someone who is seasoned, confident, experienced and knowledgeable. It must be someone at the same level or above, and preferably from another division. "For cultural and political issues, particularly at the senior executive level, if you've got someone who says, 'the best way to deal with this person is always develop a business case, talk about your numbers', then that gives you so much knowledge in the way you can position whatever it is you want to move forward with. Most organisations let people find out the political lay of the land rather than providing these insights," says Alderman.
The higher up the corporate ladder an employee moves, the more likely they will need to be aware of delicate political relationships and alliances. These subtle (and not so subtle) powerplays can be difficult to figure out, yet the sooner the newcomer is aware of them, the more successful and fruitful their early days will be.
For example:
- Do you have polite chitchat prior to a meeting or do you get immediately down to business?
- What is appropriate e-mail behaviour?
- Should you be contactable 24/7?
- Can you leave at 3pm on a Friday?
Lambert adds that buddy systems can be helpful but implementing them properly is crucial. "A number of organisations in my own career had a buddy system, and you meet with your buddy for the first week and that's the last you see of them. They can tick it off and say 'buddy allocated'. But the poor buddy is not really told what to do or what the expectations of them are. It's great to have as many support relationships in place as possible but only if they're implemented properly and have the enthusiasm of the parties taking part," she says.
Lambert says that simple goal setting for the first couple of weeks of employment is important, as is a benchmark to aim for. "You don't want your new employee floating around in a haze of ambiguity wondering if they are doing ok. Even if you instruct them by the end of the probation period to build good constructive relationships with this person in finance, this person in marketing, etc. Or ask them to be across all the recruitment processes - or whatever it is - to give people a sense of knowing what they are shooting for and how they are getting there."
Strategic tool
Beyond merely providing a 'welcome mat' for new hires, onboarding can act as an important strategic tool for HR. While exit interviews can shed light on problems after the fact and are useful for spotting trends, a more immediate tool is the 'stay interview', which can be conducted just before the end of the probation period.
"Stay interviews are much more targeted and focused on the individual. You're trying to keep that individual before they become a flight risk. It's too late to help someone at exit interview stage. The information is still invaluable because you're identifying the real drivers of turnover and preventing it for the future, but with onboarding you have a chance with this new employee to turn them around if things aren't going well," says Lambert.
While new employees are often reluctant to speak up - they don't want to be seen as a squeaky wheel or high maintenance - it's important to open the channels of communication.
The stay interview can be used to shed light on the entire attraction, recruitment and selection process. What was it like for the candidate? What attracted them to the organisation in the first place? Was the induction satisfactory?
"The real beauty of this practice is it hones in on early problems. You've put all the money into attracting, selecting, onboarding, getting them up to speed in their job. Then if they walk out, the above- and below the line cost of turnover is massive. Depending on the job it can take six to 12 months to get fully productive in a new role, so to lose them before they get to that point is such a waste. Around the three month time is the right time - the manager should be having conversations with them anyway but having a formal check in also important," says Lambert.
Be careful
Alderman warns of induction fatigue, especially for temp or part-time workers who may have been through multiple inductions in different organisations. This can have serious repercussions in terms of safety and OH&S at work. "It has to be very specific and targeted," she says. "We recently had an internal transfer of a graduate moving from recruitment to consulting. I put together an onboarding program for this individual that spanned over a period of time: a week of structured, scheduled meetings, training, morning teas; and then we met informally weekly to see how everything was going; then we did a one, two and three month review to keep a close eye on how everything was tracking. The induction we did for this person was not about the company, the vision, the mission; it was about the job and the division she would be working in. That took time to develop but for me it was a terrific return on investment."
Another concern is information overload. Alderman relates one of her own onboarding experiences which involved a 14-hour day, seven day residential program including shared accommodation with other new hires. "I was left scratching my head, asking if that's what I signed up for," she laughs.
Yet, handled effectively, the power of effective onboarding should not be underestimated. "I had a very senior individual mention to me recently that when she came into the office five years ago she recalled exactly who escorted her in and how she was looked after - and this was just preliminary discussions about the opportunity. You can vividly remember because of all the emotions that go with it. It's worth making the time and effort to do it well," Alderman concludes.
*Chandler Macleod's 2007 Workplace Barometer Report on Employers of Choice