Onboarding Best Practices. March 2016

Transcription

1 Onboarding Best Practices March 2016

2 Why is proper onboarding important? Welcoming new employees properly is not only good for morale, but financially prudent. The cost of replacing an entry-level employee is percent of the person s annual salary. And, for mid and senior-level employees it can reach percent respectively. Onboarding done right, reduces turnover. 1 Proper onboarding also reduces time-to-productivity therefore within weeks new and veteran employees are working on close to the same level. On-boarding and engraining employees into organizational culture and workplace is particularly important for diverse new hire retention, particularly when they are under-represented. The first year is often the most telling.

3 Why is proper onboarding financially important?

4 On Boarding Plan Best Practices- Engaging and retaining diverse talent Its important to note that first year is a critical time when diverse talent assesses whether they should stay or go. Engage and connect talent to others early, in the first year. Pre Pre Hire First Day First week Days 3-9mth Establish comfortable work space- tech, ID, connectivity, phones, etc. Plan agenda for first week- mtg key leaders, including ERGs If relocating, offer to provide info on local ethnic businesses, schools, etc Prepare communications to introduce Provide any prereads, materials that may be helpful Ensure building access, security clearance Provide tour of facilities, including introductions to key stakeholders Provide small welcome gift-could include company logo tchotchke Plan lunch with team Plan managers meeting with team Schedule meetings with team and key stakeholders Review all key processes/ responsibilities Review and establish role and objectives. Include review of performance process Review calendar for key meetings, events, activities Ensure orientation, review of benefits, employee communications Invest in Training and allot time for job shadowing if needed Facilitate meetings-erg s, networks, philanthropy Build regular feedback and check-in opportunities Conduct performance review (60 days) Assign a buddy / peer mentor Review objectives and create development plan Connect high potentials to key decision makers Discuss longer term career objectives Check in with HR Assign to cross functional project team

5 How do companies introduce their brand to new hires? The introduction of your brand to a new hire is accomplished in pre-boarding activities. Ernst & Young provides an onboarding portal that includes an online virtual tour that provides their new hires with information about their firm, it walks them through the onboarding process and it answers the questions that are most frequently asked by previous new hires. Warby Parker sends an electronic welcome packet, with the company history, core values, press clippings and what a new employee should expect during their first day, week and month. Also, the night before starting, new employees get a call from their direct supervisor to make sure that they know where to show up and when. MasterCard, immediately after a new employee is hired, sends a welcoming which includes links to company videos, and access to a website where new hires can update their employment information, upload a photo for their badge, read about learning opportunities and complete paperwork for benefits enrollment, taxes and direct deposit.

6 What do companies do beyond day one activities to provide additional touch points for new hires to reconnect and reinforce their decisions to join the company? Extended Onboarding Facebook requires 6 weeks at their onboarding boot camp and Rackspace and Zappos offer a 4-week long onboarding program. Morgan Stanley s Multicultural Professional Development Series provides African Americans and Hispanic Analysts and Associates hired in the past 12 months with engaging professional development sessions and interactions with senior leaders. L Oréal offers a full 2 year long comprehensive onboarding process. Succeeding@IBM is the 2 year on-line learning continuum that provides new hires with information covering corporate values, strategy, tools, and the resources necessary to be successful. JPMC High-Touch Gold Desk supports veteran new hires. For the new veteran hire the Military Human Resources group provides full-time support during the onboarding process and beyond to facilitate successful assimilation and professional development. This includes training for JPMC managers to help them understand the unique strengths veterans bring to the workplace, and training for newly hired veterans focused on the unique aspects of the firm s corporate culture, norms, and processes.

7 What do companies do beyond day one activities to provide additional touch points for new hires to reconnect and reinforce their decisions to join the company? Mentoring Programs IBM Royal Blue Ambassador Provides every new hire with an experienced employee mentor for 30 days in order to help them adapt quickly to working at the firm. Beyond these 30 days, IBM has a volunteer collaborative group known as the grassroots community which continues to help new hires transition into IBM. EY Unplugged This program brings together the ethnically diverse staff from around the US to network, connect and be mentored by minority executives within their first four months with EY. Intel First Year TouchPoint Matches new black hires with more experienced black professionals for the first year of employment. The mentor shares the unwritten rules, helps to navigate roles, getting work done, making introductions. The program is run and managed by the Black ERG. General Mills A dinner is scheduled with an appropriate the ERG representative prior to start date or within the first week. The representative provides cultural unwritten rules in the office as well as social and community resources (events, religious, hair, social, sorority) as needed.

8 What do companies do beyond day one activities to provide additional touch points for new hires to reconnect and reinforce their decisions to join the company? Listen to Feedback In order to reduce early turnover by ensuring that new hires are satisfied with their first job assignment, Facebook (for all employees) and Cisco (new college grads) allows new hires after completing onboarding to choose the team that they join. Address Professional Baggage Cisco s Emotional Onboarding Program helps employees break their emotional ties to their old company. It is a structured program aimed to more deeply engage employees at the start of the job and reduce premature turnover. Managers assign the new employee some sort of project to complete in their first week. Also, managers schedule lunch partners for their new employee.

9 How do you embed company culture into the onboarding process? Employees learn the company culture through the onboarding process new hires are becoming familiar with the company s place in its industry, learning project goals, reviewing training materials and beginning to contribute. Culture is embedded into the onboarding through the people the new hire interacts with. The goals is to create a positive learning environment. One of the keys to a new hire embracing the company culture is the connections and/or relationships they make with tenured employees. This increases an employee s desire and influence within the organization.

10 How do companies provide a customer experience for new hires? A customer experience for new hires is achievable through ensuring new hires have the opportunity to express their thoughts on the on-boarding process. Survey new hires after 1, 6 and 12months. This data can be used to see where improvements can be made. An advanced practice of onboarding includes letting new hires know that if they do eventually quit, the company wants them to remain in contact in hope that they may return as a boomerang rehire.

11 Additional Resources Are There Any Best Practices For Developing Gen Y/Young Professionals? Cornell University Extreme Onboard: How to WOW Your New Hires Rather Than Numb Them -Dr. John Sullivan, HR Thought Leader Is New Employee Orientation Good Business Strategy? MindTickle Research The Powerful Way Onboarding Can Encourage Authenticity Harvard Business Review Onboarding 2013: A New Look at New Hires Aberdeen Group Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success SHRM Foundation If you have any other questions please do not hesitate to contact us by (lindsey.clark@diversitybestpractices.com) or phone ( ).