Employee Onboarding

Onborading Employees

There's a fairly new concept in the talent management world and it's called onboarding employees. This idea has been around for quite some time and it used to be known as new employee orientation. But as we'll soon explain, onboarding is more about retaining talent than getting people settled in their new office.

In this article, we're first going to explain why onboarding has become so popular in today's workplace. Then we'll talk about the many facets of this theory and how you can leverage this information whether you're a job seeker or a corporate recruiter. Finally, we'll provide you with an example of an onboarding checklist that you can download.

New Employee Onboarding

The concept behind employee onboarding is best defined as a systematic and comprehensive approach to orienting a new employee to help them get "on board." There are two high-level goals of the onboarding process:

• To make new employees feel welcome and comfortable in their new surroundings.
• To minimize the time before new employees are productive members of their new workgroup.

Making Employees Feel Welcome

Studies conducted by the Corporate Leadership Council indicate that it's important for new employees to quickly acclimate to their new work environment. It's also important for these employees to start building rapport with colleagues so they can begin to assimilate into existing workgroups.

By doing so, new employees experience a sense of purpose within their new organization and the transition into this organization is less disruptive.

Minimizing the Learning Curve

From the employer's perspective, onboarding can help minimize the downtime typically experienced when bringing a new employee into the department. And by sharing information such as performance expectations right away their can be a significant reduction in the amount of misunderstandings which can often lead to frustration and even the premature departure of a new hire.

Objectives of Employee Onboarding

Finally, from either the employee's or employer's perspective, the high-level objectives of a good onboarding program include:

• Helping the employee to identify with their new employer.
• Allowing the employee to understand some of the company's values and priorities.
• Building an optimistic attitude towards the company.
• Avoiding misunderstandings.
• Helping the employee feel valued.
• Encouraging socialization and creating a sense of belonging.
• Reducing new employee anxiety.
• Setting of performance expectations.
• Decreasing the learning curve.

Of particular importance among the post baby boom generations such as Generation X is to feel they've made friends at work. By quickly introducing these workers to their new coworkers this generation can start to build the relationships they need and employers can reduce new employee turnover.

Building an Onboarding Program

Before we introduce our onboarding checklist, it's important to take the goals and objectives of such a program and create modules of information around each. This means a good onboarding program must address:

• Company / Departmental Overviews
• Job Expectations
• Policies and Procedures
• Administrative Housekeeping Items

Each of these elements is discussed briefly in the sections below and these same elements will be used to organize the information on our onboarding checklist.

Company / Departmental Overview

Corporate and departmental overviews generally includes going over items such as the vision / mission statement of the company or department along with organization charts and value statements. The purpose of these onboarding activities is to give the new hire a feel for the overall mission of the company and to introduce them to the objectives and goals of their particular department.

This information also helps the employee to better understand how their department and their role fit in the company's "big picture." By understanding this corporate or departmental level information, the employee should be able to recognize how their job contributes to the company's success.

Job Expectations

These are the very specific job expectations of the new employee. This can include any training they might have to go through, job descriptions / expectations and the company's performance management / appraisal process.

By clearly explaining to the new employee exactly what is expected up-front, there will be less confusion later on. And by introducing the employee to your system of performance management, the employee will have a clearer picture of what it takes to be successful in their new job.

Policies and Procedures

The policies and procedures section can range from items like hostile work environments and affirmative action policies all the way through employee compensation guidelines. If you've got a fit-for-duty program or a system to resolve complaints, these company policies and procedures should be shared with the employee early on.

No doubt this is a lot of information to go through with the new employee, but that's what onboarding is all about - it's providing the employee with a foundation of information on which they can build.

Administrative Housekeeping Items

Although these administrative "housekeeping" items might also sound like policies and procedures, these are generally less formal matters that still need to be reviewed such as normal work hours, overtime pay, and inclement weather practices. This section should also include contact numbers (both at the company) as well as contacts outside the workplace for the employee. For example, telephone numbers of relatives in case the employee becomes ill at work.

Onboarding Checklist

As promised up front in this article we're going to provide an example of an employee onboarding checklist you can download for free. And while each company will have a slightly different arrangement of items, the concept of how to build such a list and the organization on the checklist are helpful to see for those that like visual aids.

Finally, don't be upset if your company has fewer items than those appearing on our checklist. And certainly don't be afraid to add to the list if your company has a policy, procedure or program that doesn't appear on our list. Consider this example a template that you can build on and customize to your company's programs.

The Art Of Onboarding

Onboarding

Onboarding is the process of successfully integrating a new employee into the organization. After the selection process, it is the single most critical step to ensuring the success of your new employee. Skip this step and you drastically increase your odds of losing a good employee.

There are three areas that the onboarding program focuses on:

• political/cultural
• people/relationships
• job training

The duration of an onboarding program can be from three (3) to six (6) months depending upon the goals of the program. Typically, the larger the organization, the longer the duration. The key players involved in the program are the executive, the boss, the buddy and the employee. All four have key action items to perform in a timely manner.

Step 1: Establish the goals of the onboarding program

Consider the areas above and determine the mission of the onboarding program and specific measurable goals you want accomplished by the end of the onboarding period. A simple question to help you establish the mission and goals is: At the end of [6] months, the employee will be… Include anything related to critical success factors you may have previously developed for the job. Based on the goals, consider who is the best person to support the new employee and how they will do this.

Step 2: Establish an onboarding calendar

This can be a generic calendar that is used for all new employees. Rather than a dated calendar, you use an onboarding calendar template with Day 1, Day 2, Week 1, Week 2, Month 1 and Month 2, etc. to lay out your action items. Assign tasks to all key players including the new employee.

Step 3: Assign a buddy to the new employee

This is a critical step that can be destructive if not done properly and sensitively. First, get the commitment to act as a buddy from a current employee who is successful in their job. If the employee has reservations about serving as a buddy, don't assign them to be the buddy. To ensure the buddy-new employee relationship will be a positive experience, try to select a buddy that has similar traits to the new employee.

Step 4: Implement action items per the calendar

A list of possible action items is provided below. Hopefully, you will think of many more items to add to this. Do not feel compelled to 'over do' the onboarding program. Whatever you perceive as creating significant added value is what should be implemented. You may try some things and decide to change or eliminate them as you gain experience and feedback with the program. Be sure to survey the new employee at the end of the 'formal' time to determine what worked best and what didn't. And don't be surprised if the buddy continues to serve in a supportive role.

Getting On Board

How onboarding software speeds up HR tasks and helps workers settle into their jobs faster.

Sean Huurman is not necessarily known as an environmentalist, but he knows how to save a few trees.

In June 2002, Huurman, a managing director at business-consulting firm BearingPoint, was trying to figure out how to carry out a difficult directive from his boss. The task: to swiftly prepare and then post 1,600 offer letters.

Was "Candid Camera" in the house? Hardly. At the time, the Enron scandal was threatening to bring down accounting firm Arthur Andersen, and managers at McLean, Va.-based BearingPoint were eager to pick off some of the talent fleeing the firm. Management felt it was crucial that the offer letters go out — and the acceptances returned — within 48 hours.

Until that point, Huurman says, BearingPoint had a standard way of handling offers of employment: "We printed out letters, sent them out via FedEx with brochures, and asked candidates to send their responses back via FedEx." But with so many letters to crank out, and with other accounting firms eager to snatch up Andersen partners, Huurman knew he had to try something different.

Ultimately, he decided to automate the entire job-offer process, purchasing software from Recruitmax. The application worked so well that BearingPoint has since rolled it out in other offices. The program is part of an expanding group of products known as onboarding software. While the term onboarding is fairly new, the process isn't. Indeed, all companies have policies and procedures in place to help get a new hire up to speed. Increasingly, though, many of those procedures are being handled electronically.

Where's the Pub?
The appeal of onboarding software is obvious. "In the past, onboarding was more sporadic and haphazard," notes Katherine Jones, a research director (enterprise applications) at tech consultancy Aberdeen Group. "That meant a new employee would show up on Monday and his office might not be there and his phone might not be hooked up and the laptop might not be there."

Onboarding software can help eliminate such snafus. Most onboarding programs address different steps in the hiring process. Some, such as Recruitmax Corporate Edition from the Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.-based Recruitmax, focus on the prehiring and hiring processes. Others, including iRecruitment from Oracle Corp., handle hiring and retention. Says D.J. Chhabra, Oracle's vice president of global HR MS development: "[The goal] is to drive as much of the employment processing as possible online."

One vendor, Toronto-based Tercina Inc., has taken an all-in-one approach to onboarding. Its hosted product, Enboard.com, is a portal that covers the entire posthiring and getting-to-know-you period. "Onboarding is a three-step process," explains president Mark Kuznicki. "[It involves] provisioning tools and equipment, orientation, and socialization."

Job candidates at BearingPoint, Huurman says, now receive offer letters online. Prospective hires can then accept or decline instantaneously. If the answer is yes, a new hire is taken right to a welcome page, which features a greeting from the CEO. New employees also go through the first-day orientation online. In addition, they can log onto a "Webinar" that details benefits and other pertinent corporate information. Says Huurman: "All of these things save us a lot of time and money."

How much money? It's hard to say, although Huurman reckons BearingPoint reduced its FedEx fees by at least $14 per new employee. In addition, he says the software helps the consulting firm get offer letters out in a more timely fashion. "When we have that critical offer," he notes, "we know we can turn the documents around in 30 minutes as opposed to taking an entire week."

Getting Onboarding Right

Mantras For Onboarding Success

Everybody involved in the onboarding process would be wise to keep in mind what Scott Bedbury learned while working for one of the most powerful brands in the world. While on a coffee hunting expedition with Dave Olsen, Starkbuck’s chief coffee buyer, Bedbury, author of A New Brand World: Eight Principles for Achieving
Brand Leadership in the 21st Century, inquired about the secret to Starbuck’s branding success. What was – to use anthropologist and philosopher Gregory Bateson’s famous term – the critical “difference that makes a difference?” What mattered the most? Was it all about the coffee beans? Was it the ambience they so assiduously create? Was it the employees they hire? What particular part of their winning combination mattered most? After pondering Bedbury’s question and weighing the variables, Mr. Olsen responded: “EVERYTHING matters.”
When it comes to onboarding, Everything Matters. Every choice, every action, every communication has potential consequences. Not only does every choice have a consequence in terms of how quickly an employee gets up to speed, every choice communicates to the employee something about your organization. Poorly organized, “fly by the seat of your pants” orientations communicate something very different about an organization than does a well organized, professionally delivered program.Recognizing the importance of having new hire orientation reflect and support the company’s culture of excellence, Eric Wood, President of EnviroSense, Inc., requested that his HR team conduct an “orientation makeover.” Because every action carries an implicit message, their new orientation program communicates to employees a message consistent with the company’s culture, mission, and values.

Notes Eric Wood, President of EnviroSense:
In our business, high levels of performance and attention to detail are critical and expected of every employee. In order to ask for this level of performance, we want to make sure we show our employees the same commitment.
The level of support provided to employees after leaving orientation also communicates an important message. Using a “sink or swim” approach to onboarding communicates a loud “We don’t care about or value you” message, while an onboarding process that provides new hires with a mentor and periodic check-ins sends employees the kind of message that leads to engagement and loyalty.
At Community Living Association, a non-profit organization that provides services to individuals with developmental disabilities, employees frequently complained about how awkward it was going into a new home when they were both new to the job and a stranger to their future client. To remedy this, new CLA employees no longer have to “cold call” their new client. Instead, a staff member who already knows the clients makes the introduction. By demonstrating their concern for their new employees’ comfort CLA’s management obviously communicates a far different message than if they had adopted a “That’s just how it is… deal with it” stance. Another significant Moment of Truth that matters greatly is whether your orientation focuses on rules and regulation and neglects the inspirational component of being a new employee. Making orientation primarily about rules and regulations communicates something very different about an organization than an orientation with strong “We’re happy you’re here”, “You’re part of a great organization,” and “This is why your job is so important” messages. One says “This is just another job” the other “You’re part of something great… and you matter.” A corollary of the “Everything Matters” principle is “Little things can make a big difference.” For instance, at Northeast Delta Dental, recognized as the Fourth Best Small Company to Work for In America by the Great Places To Work Institute, senior level managers come to orientation to talk with new hires about what their specific department does – helping them understand the big picture -- and the important role the new hires will play in contributing to the company’s goals – thus, linking their individual “little pictures” with the big picture. Doing this matters. It taps into two of the most important human needs, the need for meaning and purpose – to do something worthy with one’s life – and the need to matter, to know that one makes a difference.
The HR department at NEDD doesn’t stop there, though. To make sure each speaker’s presentation is as relevant as possible, executives are briefed ahead of time about who will be attending and what department they will be joining. This allows them to tailor their remarks to make them most relevant to this particular audience. Such attention to detail and professionalism matters. It tells new employees: “You’ve just joined a company that does things right… You’ve joined a world class outfit.”
In summary, “Everything Matters” will be one of the most useful guiding principles to use when making strategic and operational decisions related to onboarding. Applying this principle means bringing greater attention and mindfulness to each and every facet of the onboarding process. Because of it’s broad applicability and importance, the principle of “Everything Matters” will be a reoccurring theme throughout this white paper.

OnBoarding Benchmark Report

Onboarding

Key Business Value Findings
First impressions last. Future-looking companies recognize that the first impression a new hire makes of their work environment is critical to improving retention rates and improving the company brand. A new employee that feels engaged in the company on their first day of work will have a greater incentive to stay at that company. In today’s environment, support for new hires is not only executed in the recruitment efforts but more importantly, in a well defined, formalized onboarding process.

Onboarding encompasses the variety of tasks and requirements involved with acclimating and engaging a new employee in the company. Onboarding is no longer the new hire “orientation” of the past. The checklists associated with onboarding have evolved into an integrated experience. This report defines onboarding as a process involving: forms management, tasks management, and socialization in the company culture. Companies that incorporate these three components are those companies that will achieve optimal ROI from their onboarding process. The data included in this report is derived from a survey conducted in partnership with the Human Capital Institute and interviews with senior executives in the human capital management community.

Implications & Analysis

Onboarding has gained momentum over the past year. Seventy-six percent of companies are implementing or plan to implement a formalized process compared to only 40% in 2005. Despite this increase, many companies still do not grasp the fundamentals of onboarding. These companies face challenges defining the onboarding process and creating an onboarding roadmap. Although 90% of companies believe that their employees make their decision to stay at the company within the first six months, many of these companies do not recognize or acknowledge how onboarding impacts retention rates and time to productivity. Instead, they rely on paper-based solutions that create added costs and often leave a bad first impression that negatively affects the company brand. Thirty-six percent of companies still do not use any technology for their onboarding solution.

Best performing, future-looking companies distinguish themselves by extending onboarding to the first six months and leveraging technology to assist with forms management, tasks management, socialization, building a network, measuring performance and compliance. Technology, however, is not the panacea for onboarding. Companies need to look to the future by defining the onboarding process, creating an onboarding roadmap, and investing in strategic long-term workforce planning that integrates their onboarding with the pre-hire stages and the post-hire stages.

Recommendations for Action
In addition to the Best in Class actions, companies should also evaluate their processes to ensure they effectively accomplish the following:
• Define the onboarding process and create an onboarding roadmap
• Integrate onboarding with the overall hiring management process
• Extend onboarding to the first six months, the amount of time that an employee makes his or her decision to stay at a company
• Replace paper and spreadsheet based processes and use an automated system that includes forms management, tasks management, and socialization in the company culture
• Create an onboarding roadmap in order to establish a long-term strategic plan for the onboarding process
• Measure short-term retention rates and time to productivity

AnswerSource Employee – On-boarding

Onboarding Employees

Automates the entire onboarding process – incorporates knowledgebase content, forms, and workflow into an easy to use tour framework containing:

		Personalized view, based on user’s role, location and other parameters you define
		Easy navigation – simple “tour” format guides users step-by-step
		Company background, vision, standards and more
		Policies and procedures
		All new hire forms
		Links to other relevant services – such as HR policies and enrollment
		Electronic user acknowledgements ensure compliance Reduces time and dollars spent on new hire orientations Ensures all relevant Company policies are reviewed Captures and stores electronic acknowledgements Ensures all paperwork is completed Improves data accuracy Makes orientations more timely and completed sooner Reduces travel time and expenses Gets new hires to work faster Allows access from home for new employees to complete work prior to start-date.

Leveraging Technology for Effective Workforce Communications

Workforce Communications

Enwisen’s AnswerSource Knowledge Center provides employees, managers, HR professionals and HR Service Centers with personalized HR/Benefits content and decision support tools – supporting the entire range of work/life events from “hire to retire.”

AnswerSource Knowledge Center stands alone or integrates with any Employee Self Service/Manager Self Service transactional platform … is typically up and running in just weeks … and is cost-effective for companies of all sizes – providing maximum price/feature value.