Recruitment
HR Professional
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By William Dann

 

How effective is your on boarding process?

People tend to love new starts – a new relationship, a new friend, a move to a new city and, more to the point, a new job.

 

The importance of a quality orientation for new employees can’t be stressed enough. Despite its importance, few organizations and supervisors do this well. The reasons for this are numerous, including the press of today’s work and the tendency of supervisors to avoid “insulting” the new employee and so assume that the new employee, given their resume, will know what to do.

 

Thus, new hires can be disappointed in the onboarding process and come to feel as if they have been set up to make mistakes that could have been prevented. Organizations consistently fail to take advantage of the “honeymoon” period for new employees – characterized by high motivation, a positive attitude, openness to new experiences, willingness to learn, commitment to produce at a high level and to offer suggestions for how to make things better.

 

In addition to the usual tour of facilities, introduction to benefits and policies from HR and meeting fellow employees, what should be in the onboarding process to overcome this disillusionment and maintain high commitment?

 

Clear expectations
What are the results or final outcomes the employee needs to produce? Most job descriptions talk about what one should do, and skip describing the expected results. To ensure clarity, define jobs by products as well as activity.

 

What does good performance look like?
Different organizations, managers or supervisors may have differing ideas as to what good performance entails. Communicate with new hires exactly what a top performer in their role looks like, including necessary tasks and final outcomes.

 

It can also be beneficial to discuss with new hires any workplace behaviours or strategies that are unfavourable to a particular organization so the employee isn’t caught off guard in the future. However, keep the conversation as positive and constructive as possible.

 

Clarity on how performance will be measured
What data, if any, will the supervisor be looking at to determine level of performance? Evaluations should be as objective as possible, which means they should be data-driven. Communicate clearly to the new hire how their manager will be assessing their performance.

 

Authority
What decisions will the employee have autonomy on? What decisions require consultation with a manager (at least in the short term)? Informing new employees how much authority they have will empower them to make decisions on their own where they’re able to, and gives them more concrete guidelines for when they should be reaching out for assistance from their manager.

 

Agreement on future actions
After laying out all of the above, go back through the expectations and assess with the employee what assistance they need to be successful in the short term. Decipher the employee’s expectations in terms of training, coaching, consultation and managerial support. Discuss a training schedule and offer support in terms of reviewing draft products and setting up meetings to review progress.

 

If the new hire feels they have the confidence of the management team as well as support for when they have questions or concerns (and have experienced a culture where it’s encouraged for them to voice concerns), their “honeymoon” period should continue well into the future.

 

How long does the onboarding process take? While there is no definitive answer, it doesn’t end until the employee unequivocally understands the concepts above. Managers and HR professionals can check in with the employee periodically to ensure that the onboarding process is progressing as expected.

 

It is important to establish early on that as a supervisor or HR professional, you view your job as partnering with the new employee for their success. For employees who have previously felt judged or not supported, this can make them feel comfortable and valuable to a new organization and avoid future recruitment requirements. The rewards in terms of motivation, performance and quality of working relationship are huge.

 

William Dann is president of Professional Growth Systems and author of the book Creating High Performers: 7 Questions to Ask Your Direct Reports.

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