The most valuable asset of a 21st century institution will be its knowledge workers and their productivity.
Employees should be treated as you would treat volunteers. If you've ever been in charge of rounding up a group of people to do a project in their free time, you know what I mean. You treat your volunteers like gold. You express your gratitude when they join your team. You do everything you can to help them succeed. You check in on them as they're working. And you thank them sincerely when they're done.
Interesting how the interaction changes when a paycheck is inserted. You don't have volunteers. You have employees, and employees have job descriptions, and they have reviews. If they don't perform up to snuff, they can be terminated.
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Sticky Notes:
That mentality worked marginally well back in the assembly line era. Let's face it, as long as the quota of nuts got screwed onto bolts, it didn't really matter how the worker felt about his or her job.
However, today we live in an economy where ideas rule. Paychecks don't buy ideas. Paychecks buy bodies and a minimal set of tasks. The best parts of people—their creativity, their caring, their personal commitment to the success of your company—those are volunteered by happy and engaged workers.
Your new employee is about to arrive. Will they be treated like a worker expected to punch the clock, or a "volunteer"?
A strong onboarding program is the chance for the candidate to become acclimated to the company culture. If you have gone through your hiring process correctly, then there will be few surprises. The candidate's strengths and weaknesses will jibe with the strengths and weaknesses of the company. It also sets the table for retention (our next chapter).
Even the most solid onboarding process will not make up for a misaligned hire. I learned this lesson early in my recruiting career. A terrific company with excellent benefits, a wonderful company culture, and a well-established onboarding program hired an energetic, bright, well-educated tax accountant to run their tax department. This candidate had exactly the background they needed and was dead-on in their price range.
I couldn't figure out why, two months into the hire, the candidate was miserable and the company was sure that something was not right. The candidate quit and went back to his former company, where he was welcomed with open arms, going back to a very productive role.
Unfortunately, as a rookie recruiter I underestimated the power of the corporate fit and overestimated the power of a solid onboarding process. While the candidate had the perfect skills, the culture was not conducive to his work style. Fortunately, we went back to the drawing board, spending much more time in defining the culture that was present at the company. The next candidate we placed is still there today.
Three Reasons to Institute an Onboarding Process
First, effective onboarding programs engage the new employee. Some companies even manage to make them fun. For instance, one of my clients uses a scavenger hunt format for employee orientation. The new employees are charged with collecting items from around the company. Filling out tax forms, finding the vending machine in the break room, reading the company mission—all items collected in scavenger hunt format.
Many companies use the Internet to engage their new employees in the onboarding process. Employees visit a site where they are provided with corporate history, values, strategy, and fiscal goals. Video technology has helped make these presentations personal. For example, online videos can be used to provide an overview of the finances conducted by the chief financial officer (CFO), and a greeting from a senior-level executive. I've even seen video office tours narrated by an employee.
Second, good onboarding programs include short-term, midterm, and long-term strategies. Short-term strategies include intensive one- to two-day sessions to orient the new employee. Midterm strategies include 30- and 60-day reviews, rotational assignments, and special projects that are designed to expose the new employee to parts of the company they would not normally have contact with. Long-term strategies include annual reviews, continuing education plans, and career goal setting. The most effective long-term strategy is mentorship. Research shows that providing a mentor is a major contributor to increased productivity and lower turnover.
The third component of an effective onboarding program is the inclusion of the new employee's direct manager in the onboarding process. Some firms provide "new manager training" in order to address this component. Other strategies include team-building exercises or luncheons designed exclusively for managers and their new hires. The key is to ensure that the direct manager has ownership in their new employee's onboarding process.
The Three Phases of the Onboarding Program
Short term. Conduct your company's standard training, which includes your company overview, policies and procedures, projects, introductions, and the like. Spend two weeks of intense training, and then hand over the reins.
Medium term. Remember those skills gaps you identified during the interview process? Make a plan to address those shortcomings with additional training, especially in the area of technical skills.
Long term. Designed to address employee orientation over the life cycle of their career, long-term onboarding programs focus on creating deep roots within an organization. Career growth, corporate politics, and corporate communications are explored over years of development.
Onboarding, done properly, will help bring a new employee up to speed quickly, while at the same time setting them up for long-term success.
During rocky economic times onboarding takes on new importance. It is critical to ensure that those people you have spent so much time attracting and aligning with your organization stay with you. Employees who go through an onboarding process feel better connected to their colleagues and to the company culture. This translates into improved retention rates. Onboarding in tough economic times becomes a critical tool for success.
Here is a short onboarding checklist. See Appendix IV for a more detailed sample.
W-4 federal form completed and sent to Payroll.
W-4 state form completed and sent to Payroll.
Patent policy form.
Conflict-of-interest policy statement.
Ensure that employee has accessed the internal directory to confirm personal data and to provide emergency notification contact.
Confirm with employee the name and phone number of employee relations representative.
Complete I-9.
Complete conflict-of-interest employment form.
ID number issued by human resources.
New employee orientation scheduled by HR for ___________.
Access Information
Establish email account.
Establish access to appropriate computer files.
Provide access to company intranet.
Issue passwords.
Establish phone extension.
Activate voice mail.
Provide long distance access code.
Add employee's name to any email group lists, distribution lists, internal/office phone lists, and/or web site.
Departmental Orientation and Office Access
Inform staff of employee's arrival.
Set up and clean office space.
Obtain office supplies.
Establish training schedule.
Establish office mailbox.
Introduce employee to staff on first day. Bring on tour of building/office/facilities including lunchroom, emergency exits, and restrooms.
Indicate location of parking lot/rapid transit station.
Provide keys (office, building, desk, file cabinets, etc.).
Provide security codes if necessary.
Show location of fax machines, copiers, printers, and the like; provide instruction and any access information.
Review dress code and office protocol.
Explain completion of time sheet.
Review pay schedule.
Confirm work schedule.
Relevant Work-Related Items
Business cards ordered.
Nameplates ordered.
Name badge issued.
Pay card issued.
Cell phone policy covered.
PDA policy covered.
Laptop issued.
Manuals/handbooks supplied.
Other: ___________