Jumping
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The first three months of a new job presents an employee with a typical feeling of disorientation about his or her role at the company. Where is my desk? When do I get paid? And, of course, the blush-inducing: where is the bathroom? Yet there is a steeper learning curve a new hire and employer need to symbiotically fulfill in order to integrate the new hire into the company, and ultimately cultivate a long-lasting and productive professional relationship. Called onboarding, the business management technique goes beyond a company’s basic one-day or one-week orientation program to assimilate a new hire. Rather, an onboarding program integrates a new hire via a more in-depth, communicative introduction to the company’s key players, culture and employee resources. For employees, it’s a time for them to learn and immediately “run” with the tools the company provides for them to become effective employees, says Shelley Zajic, vice president of talent management for Apollo Group/University of Phoenix. “After the first 90 days, it’s pretty much assumed that a new hire has all of the tools he needs to navigate his way through an organization,” says Zajic. “It doesn’t mean that the person is going to have all of the tools to be successful, but he at least knows where to find those tools.” Onboarding also represents a company’s willingness to use the onboarding process as a human capital investment to achieve employee retention. A study by The Wynhurst Group shows new employees were 58 percent more likely to stay at an organization if they went through a structured onboarding program. However, the 2007 study also states that 22 percent of staff turnover occurs in the first 45 days of employment. |
Communicate, communicate, communicate
Zajic says successful onboarding, at its core, relies on new employees and company leaders communicating the employees’ needs and managements’ expectations so the employee can truly embrace the company and its culture.
A company’s communication starts with its recruiter and/or hiring manager, says Zajic. This individual lays out the company’s mission to potential hires so these candidates understand how they would fit. Each subsequent step during the onboarding process should re-emphasize this mission and any changes, including policy or legal regulations that may affect this mission, so employees make appropriate company decisions, notes Zajic.
If deemed a suitable fit, Zajic says a good onboarding program is an electronic one that kicks in the moment the recruiter hits the “offer accepted” button that puts the Human Resources Information System into gear. The HRIS can then immediately email the new hire important documents, such as I-9 tax forms, as well as email all relative departments work orders to ensure that a computer, phone, cell phone and other office basics are at the new hire’s work space on or before the employee’s first day. “A new employee’s productivity tends to be faster when all of those things are completed at one time versus getting a computer one day, but then getting a login password a couple of days later,” explains Zajic.
Make strategic decisions
“When we start a new job, we tend to expect that because we are a new hire, the company is going to teach me everything I need to know to be successful and that is true to a point, but I think it’s definitely a two-way partnership,” Zajic says.
This means onboarding includes employee initiative and strategic decisions, such as:
- Understand the system and protocols: Alleviate any preconceived notions by asking someone with company knowledge about particulars.
- Network with successful co-workers: Ask your manager or other company veteran who is a successful employee and then strategically partner with that person to learn about the company, who’s who in management, how the company profits and how you can better contribute to the mission.
- Understand how you learn: Seek out the best methods to help you learn about the company or your job responsibilities. (i.e., ask questions if you know reading pamphlets won’t make it sink in).
- Validate answers: It’s better to ask for clarity and be confident than to assume you will eventually learn the right way from someone else.
- Open up a dialogue with your manager early on: Managers sometimes need prompting to mentor their team members. Ask the manager one to three weeks into your onboarding what you need to improve or continue doing to maximize the job’s potential. Doing so can evolve into a healthy relationship with your manager, who can give you feedback to enhance your success.
Learning doesn’t end after three months
Although technically considered fully oriented after 90 days, employees should continue to ask management and co-workers questions to maintain a success that is relevant to the company’s current needs.
The same is true for the companies, Zajic says. Company leaders can provide regular updates to employees about changes to company policy or legal restrictions affecting their work responsibilities. But even a good onboarding process won’t guarantee an employee will stay with a company, which is why companies can use the “business intelligence” gleaned during an exit interview to strengthen its onboarding program for future hires.
Marissa Yaremich is an award-winning freelance journalist with more than 13 years of experience serving in various positions as a reporter, researcher or photojournalist at several media outlets, including CBS’s Inside Edition, The Boston Globe and the New Haven Register. She holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in journalism from Boston University.
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