Best Practice in Onboarding

It should feel like this!

WHY?

• 70% of new hires make the decision to stay at or leave an organization within their first six months (HCI 2012)

• 25% of all turnover occurs in the first 45 days (People Fluent Research 2012)

• Delivering on Brand Promise is the No1 Employee Engagement factor in Asia in 2013 (Aon-Hewitt Engagement Survey)

• Formal Onboarding increases the chance of keeping a new employee for at least 3 years by 69% (Aberdeen Group 2013)

• Meeting strategic objectives• Building engagement, fast• Accelerating “Time to Perform”

Ideas and Best Practices

Best Practice #1 Onboarding is not induction. It’s a process that begins before someone is hired

Pre-Hire Hiring Before

startingFirst week

First three

months

At 6 months

At 12 months

Ideas Linked to Each Phase

Pre-Hiring• Build your brand in the market place• Educate on culture, values, roles• Allow self selection for fit• Manage a great candidate experience (treat all

candidates like you would a customer)

Candidates have always talked, now they can do it online.Pay Attention to Glassdoor. It’s your Brand!

“The people here [OCBC] are extremely great! Every single day was filled with activity! You will enjoy working here! Caring and Understanding Employers! Learn a lot about banking and customer service. You wont regret working here! Everyone is more going along with the flow, there are community feeling.”

“Anyone considering Microsoft. Think twice whether you want to be at a place where people have little to no respect for you as an individual. This experience solidified my position that I will never work for this company. Horrible candidate experience just means it sucks even more on the inside.”

“The entire process took about 3 weeks. The communication was perfect, beyond perfect. I've interviewed at many top tech firms ……Yahoo! was an exception. The recruiter guided me through each step. I knew from the very beginning the timeframe which was then continuously updated. There was no mystery. No weird subcommittees and internal processes I wasn't privilege to. It was all crystal clear.”

“Nothing difficult or unexpected. [BCG] Only unexpected thing was the unprofessionalism of both HR and interviewers (multiple reschedules, turning up late, lack of structure, not adhering to scheduled time slots, etc)”

What are companies doing?

Building candidate links to the Brand – make it fun, make it useful, be helpful• Marriot Careers and Jobs on Facebook and My

Marriot Hotel• Barclays communicating brand and managing

candidate expectations• Dominos Pizza, Americas Army Game• Leveraging LinkedIn company pages

Google started it…

• Marriott Careers and Jobs Facebook page is a leading example of the effectiveness of social media recruiting.

• 1 Million likes on facebook • 50000 people interacting with the page every week One of

the most surprising leaderboards of the decade.

Barclays and WikiJobs

Others: Domino’s Pizza and US Army Game

http://dominospizzahero.com/

Others: Pinterest

HubSpot

“Don’t be shy about asking for recommendations on your products.”

http://lnkd.in/hubspot

CNBC

“Before posting an update, ask yourself – Would I want to read this story?

Would I want to share this with my connections?”

http://lnkd.in/cnbc

Xactly Corporation

“Post content that interests your followers

and less about how great your company

is.”

http://lnkd.in/xactly

HireVue

“Publish photos & content from top events to show everyone what you are all about.”

http://lnkd.in/hirevue

The IT Media Group

“Encourage employees to like and share your updates with their network.

This helps grow your follower base.”

http://lnkd.in/ITMediaGroup

The Walt Disney Company

“Stay fresh by reaching out to your followers at least once a day, if not

more.”

http://lnkd.in/WaltDisney

Ideas Linked to Each Phase

Hiring

Interacting with the company during hiring is often the employees first experience of the company’s values in practice.

DDI/Oracle Survey 2013:• Of those who did not receive accurate job preview

information, 14% said they were highly engaged and 88% said they were looking for another job.

• Of those who did receive accurate job preview info, 93% said they were highly engaged and only 22% said they were looking for another role.

What new hires wished they’d known?• “The exact assigned position, the expectations and requirements of the

position, and the culture. Honesty goes a long way toward preparing new leaders for the reality of their new position.”

• “More information about the job.” • “The true state of the department and the lag of technology at the company.

It would not have deterred me from accepting, it would, however, have better prepared me for what challenges I would be faced with.”

• “Opportunities within the company, international relocation possibilities.” • “A more realistic preview of the current state of the organization and the

anticipated future challenges. The organization has little infrastructure, which makes every task cumbersome and almost impossible to complete in an effective, efficient manner. Had I known, I would not have accepted the offer.”

• “How my job relates to the bigger picture.” • “I really didn’t know what my job was going to be until I was mostly through

orientation. I didn’t end up staying in that position past the first three months.”

HiringCommunicating brand, culture, values and expectations during hiring:• What is your best possible outcome?• How can you get it?• Who or what can help?

Before they Start

• Send new hires all key documents to complete (Facebook Employees complete all required paperwork before their start date).

• Getting to know colleagues. Research shows new workers stay on the job longer when they're plugged into a social group early on and recommends that managers connect new workers with colleagues and mentors with complementary skills, instead of assuming ties will form naturally.

• Prepare the Desk

Social Media Before and During Induction: LinkedIn or Facebook Groups

Secret Groups on facebook or private groups on LinkedIn: you can keep the group activities hidden from the network, thereby addressing the issue of confidentiality. Secret groups can be leveraged well for the following:-• Controlled Distribution List – You can include only those participants who are

relevant for new hire orientation.• Publishing Content, guides, materials, forms• Assessments – Facebook and LinkedIn groups allow you to create polls and

multiple choice questions. Though limited, this functionality can be used for assessments of new hires or for feedback.

• Employee Engagement – While new hires can definitely interact with one another, the new hire onboarding manager can create opportunities, new hires can also interact with key management team members in the same group.

• Connecting New Hires to Management Team – During pre-onboarding or on Day 1, the new hires could send LinkedIn connection requests to the company’s management team, briefly introducing themselves.

Week 1: Induction• Making Induction personalized can boost retention and performance: In a

study of 605 employees at Wipro in India went through an orientation that focused on their individual strengths. Newcomers shared stories in their lives when they felt "born to act." and discussed how to enable this at work. Those workers were even given sweatshirts emblazoned with their names, and not the company's. Six months later, those who went through the employee-centered orientation were up to 32% less likely to have quit than those who sat through a typical company-focused onboarding process.

• Google which onboarded some 5,000 new hires in 2012, has experimented with its orientation procedures to help new staffers, dubbed "Nooglers," make more social connections and get up to speed more quickly. The company has tested whether the size of an orientation group affected how new workers assimilate. Workers who went through orientation in cohorts of about 12 people felt the most comfortable and created stronger social bonds than those put into larger or smaller groups.

Pepsico Employee Onboarding Community

Gamification & Induction

• Companies that incorporate gamification into their onboarding process, experience:– Better performance– Higher levels of engagement– Higher retention rate– Better alignment between onboarding and

Learning & Development initiatives

Gamification: Practice your Job

Gamification: InductionDBS Bank - Induction Program - Online Game

• An induction training designed for new recruits. The course is based on a travel theme and is driven by a mentor. The journey begins by issuing a boarding pass to the learner and starts from banks' global branches to the branches within India and further to the corporate HO and eventually concluding at the office desk allocated to the learner. During the journey, it talks about organization values, growth data, multiple setups, internal systems, and policies that govern the bank culture.

• The course is woven within a maze and the learner would clear the maze to proceed from one stage in the journey to another. During each stage, the learner would collect souvenirs by visiting various interactivities on course frames which would qualify him/her to attempt the maze game.

• To maintain learner interest, Stereoscopic 3D effects have been built on select screens and these provide a newness and an element of inquisitiveness to the induction program. Engaging videos, personalized welcome messages from department heads, rich media, and select screens in 3D ensure learner interest throughout yet cover the details in a cost and time effective manner.

Long Term Onboarding Strategies

Onboarding at L’Oreal

Starting with a first-day welcome, global beauty company L’Oreal says, “Our aim is to develop successful, committed and mutually beneficial relationships with each of our employees.” The company supports onboarding with a two-year, six-part integration program called “L’Oreal Fit.” The program includes:• Training and roundtable discussions.• Meetings with key insiders.• On-the-job learning supported by line management.• Individual mentoring and HR support.• Field and product experiences such as site visits and

shadowing programs.

EMC2 OnboardingSituation: No specific onboarding programme just training courses/seminars. Relevant info existed on different websites. There was also a lack of commitment from senior leaders who did not understand the full benefits of onboarding.

• Online solution called Fast start aimed at providing all the relevant information a new hire would require.

• Comprehensive company overview, with links to organizational resources. • General and role specific info • Roadmap for learning including milestones and rewards. • A library of online videos.• On line discussion groups and mentors to help answer questions.• Networking and senior executive seminars provided the opportunity to “press

the flesh”.

100% of new employees said it had helped the transition.

Zappos extreme onboarding

One organization that engages in intensive onboarding during orientation is Zappos.com Zappos managed to move from 23rd place on Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list in 2009 to 15th place in 2010.• New employees at Zappos,com learn about the organization’s

values and procedures in an intensive five-week training course, during which new hires are offered $2,000 to quit if they feel they are not a good fit for the organization.

• To date, only about one percent of trainees have taken this offer.

IBMIBM’s “Assimilation Process”IBM created the Assimilation Process, which consists of three steps: affirming, beginning and connecting. Clear timelines for each step became part of the new process.

• Affirming occurs prior to a new employee’s start date and includes welcoming the new employee, preparing a workstation and assigning a coach.

• Beginning occurs during the employee’s first 30 days. On the first day, strict rules are in place to ensure that the new worker is met in person, introduced to the team, has a functional area in which to work, completes paperwork and is introduced an intranet onboarding platform, known as “Your IBM.” During this crucial first month, managers make sure that any needed resources are available, clarify roles and responsibilities, encourage the newcomer, and schedule “check in” times to be sure that the new employee is making progress with “Your IBM.”

• Connecting occurs during the employee’s first year on the job and consists of three phases. After two months, an “ask coach” checks in to make sure things are on track. At this stage, networking is a priority, so the employee is encouraged to find interest communities within the company. Between four and six months into the newcomer’s tenure, the focus becomes his or her accomplishments and understanding IBM’s way of getting things done. By the end of one year, IBM considers new employees to be fully integrated. One of the most valuable elements of the Assimilation Process is the individual assigned as a new employee’s coach—a friend to answer questions, reinforce concepts, share processes and tools, and help transmit the intangible cultural values of the firm.

BOA Merrill LynchBOA’s Six Month Programme has clear stages and timelines

4 Focus Areas in Best Practice

What does the new employee need?

• Self-efficacy, or self-confidence, in job performance. To the degree that a new employee feels confident in doing the job well, he or she will be more motivated and eventually more successful.

• Role clarity—how well a new employee understands his or her role and expectations. Measuring role clarity can help organizations stop potential performance problems before they get worse

• Social integration - Meeting and starting to work with organisational “insiders”. Employees must own and facilitate their own building of strong relationships. Useful tactics include:– Making time to engage in conversations with colleagues.– Arranging informal social interactions, such as lunches or coffee breaks.– Participating in voluntary company functions.– Building a relationship with a stakeholder in taking on new responsibilities and

successfully completing assignments.• Knowledge of and fit within an organizational culture. Understanding an

organization’s politics, goals and values, and learning the firm’s unique language are all important indicators of employee adjustment and down the line are associated with commitment, satisfaction and turnover.

The four C’s of onboardingThe building blocks of successful onboarding are often called the Four C’s.

• Compliance is the lowest level and includes teaching employees basic legal and policy-related rules and regulations.

• Clarification refers to ensuring that employees understand their new jobs and all related expectations.

• Culture is a broad category that includes providing employees with a sense of organizational norms— both formal and informal.

• Connection refers to the vital interpersonal relationships and information networks that new employees must establish.

NoLimits Onboarding Professionals LinkedIn Group