1

How Would Stronger Onboarding Efforts Assist the Department?

• Research consistently shows the following benefits:– Shortens the start-up learning time for new

employees– Helps new employees become productive faster– Helps retain staff long term, causing less time spent

training staff and in recruiting/interviewing replacements

– Sets the tone and attitude of new employees and how they feel about the supervisor and their unit

2

How Would Stronger Onboarding Efforts Assist the Department?– Promotes better teamwork and loyalty to supervisors

and their units– Promotes greater job satisfaction and better morale

for everyone (i.e. unit does not have to continually pick up the slack when someone vacates, etc.)

– All of these reasons (and more) will create less work for supervisors if thoughtful onboarding practices are effectively and consistently implemented

– However, there must be clear expectations communicated by upper management if this is to be successful

3

Onboarding Defined

• Onboarding is a process in which new employees are assimilated into the workplace and given the tools and knowledge to become successful

• True onboarding should begin the moment a new staff accepts an offer and throughout the first year (not just the first few days)

• While supervisors/managers are a critical component of the process, good onboarding involves the entire unit to be successful

• The new employee also shares a significant responsibility in making his/her onboarding a success

4

A Special Word About Gen Y and Onboarding…

• While all new staff anticipate being onboarded to some degree, most Gen Y will expect an even more concerted effort because– They often see the workplace as their new “home”

and view supervisors as their surrogate “parent”– They will expect an interest in their continual

growth and development, and they will look forward to regular feedback and help with adjusting

5

A Special Word About Onboarding and Gen Y…

• They will appreciate any efforts management makes that shows they are “keeping score” of their successes via good onboarding since they have been raised with a “benchmark” mentality

• Gen Y expects autonomy as well as structure—if management does not show them that they care through a structured program with milestones, regular conversation, and other techniques, we will have a hard time with long term retention

6

What Will Training Cover?• What are some supervisors/managers not

doing in terms of onboarding?• What exactly is onboarding and why should

supervisors/managers invest the time?• What is the psychology of new staff?• What is onboarding versus orientation?• What can supervisors/managers do to properly

onboard staff before they arrive and throughout their first year?

• What can supervisors/managers do when someone in their unit is uncooperative?

7

What Tools Will Be Provided?• Our unit has developed the following tools

to help implement a more formal onboarding process: – Handout to assist with selecting a mentor and

defining appropriate responsibilities–Mentoring Agreement template– Job Shadowing Agreement template– New Employee Onboarding Plan template– Detailed Pre-Arrival and First Day Checklists– Various sample emails to assist with onboarding

staff– 30/60/90 Day Check-in Interview Questions

8

When Can We Launch?

• The module is being piloted to Human Resources managers as well as select staff in the Administration Division on 3/28• Anticipated launch for other

interested divisions is early April