Successful On-Boarding

By: Sophia Truong, Malena Casteel, Mandy Lee, Roa’a Alsulaiman

What is On-boarding? (Brandt, 2010)

Act of transformational leadership. This is true for both hiring managers and for the new employees themselves

Purpose: Help new employees learn about the new company and its culture

Why is it important? (Graybill, 2013)

Large amounts of money and time are invested in recruiting new employees-companies cannot afford to disenfranchise a new hire

It assists organizations in ensuring that new employees are up and functioning as soon as possible

If implemented properly, it will enhance new employees transition into the organization and help them become more engaged

Demographic and Developmental Age

Demographic: People in a corporate work force. Upper-management and executive positions

Developmental stage: Adolescence, early adulthood, adulthood, and old age

The first 18 months a new employee is with a company is when they are the most vulnerable to leave

About 1/3 of new managers and executives will fail at their new jobs within 18 months

Total cost of employee turnover is estimated at 150% of salary

Half of the workforce wants to change jobs every 3 to 5 years

Generation Y expects to have 5 to 7 major career changes, as compared with 2 to 3 by baby boomers

Employment Statistics (Moore 2008)

Employee Engagement (Bhuvaniah, 2014)

Great ways to manage engagement in organizations is through: Managing Stress

Control stress levels by taking simple steps such as prioritizing the task to control work load burden, recognizing their every quality, constant monitoring and giving employees’ opportunity to manage their work

Promote Employee Well Being 63% of employees are “not engaged” due to lack of motivation (Gallup worldwide poll, as cited by Bhuvanaiah et al., 2014). Physical, emotional, mental and spiritual need fulfilment energizes employees for delivering higher performance and gives them a feel of safety, trust and wellbeing

Facilitate Self-Management Facilitate with clear objectives, a broad picture of how their contribution meets with organizational requirements, autonomy in task handling Provide positive judgment over meaningfulness of task activities

Strong correlation exists between employee engagement and intension stay according among 7,000 employees surveyed

The first 100 days (Fritz & Vonderfecht, 2007)

Some organizations require the first 30 days executives are to attend meetings but not participate

This portion of on-boarding creates a mindset of listening and learning as a foundation for mastery and influence and help the executives avoid some of the most frequent mistakes made

Four Components to On-boarding (Snell)

1. Process Analysis

2. Implementation

3. Integration

4. Reporting

Process Analysis (Snell)

Review of On-boarding Analysis

Implementation (Snell)

Configuration of the on-boarding technology with for example a new hire in administration portal, work flow, correspondence management, and custom forms

Integration (Snell)

Involves integration of new hire information and external systems

Reporting(Snell)

Designed to push key metrics in analytics for monitoring the process and driving continuous improvement

Goals for EmployeesHelp employees become quickly acculturated

Help utilize corporate resources, and business-specific methodologies and approaches

Feel welcomed and valued

Provide a consistent experience

Effective On-boarding tips (Moore, 2008)

Malleable on-boarding styles to fit into different personality types

Networking before joining an organization

Identify key issues specific to your population

HR should be open to innovative ideas from employees

Make expectations for new employees clear

2 employees

1 manager

Experimental group: Positive reinforcement, effective socialization, safety measures. Be a helpful mentor (can only say verbal praise, pointing, head nodding)

Control group: Limited directions and apathetic energy (can only say no, ignore, or turn away)

On-boarding Activity

Was the task difficult?

How did it feel to have limited guidance?

How did it feel to have a resourceful guide?

What did the observers notice?

Discussion

Peer reviewed study: Effectiveness of a Computer Based Educational Program on Nurses Knowledge, Attitude and Skill Level Related to Evidence-Based Practice (Hart 2008)

n = 744 nurses taken from a convenience sample

Assessed nurses views and attitudes on EBP and their use of them before and after using a computer based educational program.

Initially the nurses reported valuing EBP but not using EBP regularly in their work when caring for patients.

The study found that once the nurse’s environment supported the use of the computer based educational program they were much more likely to use EBP in their daily care for patients.

Conclusions: “building a culture in which research is valued and EBP becomes the norm among nurses and nurse leaders is essential to the progression of nursing practice.” “Organizational infrastructures are essential for promoting EBP and research utilization in clinical settings.”

Bottom line: Nurses felt they weren’t supported by management or had the resources to access and use EBP in their practice with patients. The study, through questionnaire, discovered that when nurses felt supported by their management, especially the management they interact with the most, they were more likely to use EBP. The study suggests having an infrastructure which values EBP and management that places it at high importance and establishes this from the beginning with their new nurses, similar to having a strong on boarding program which is set up and organized and meeting the needs of both the new hire and the organization from the point of employment.

Work adjustment is “a continuous and dynamic process by which a worker seeks to achieve and maintain correspondence with a work environment.”

Work adjustment theory is concerned with an individual’s satisfaction and how much other people are satisfied with the individual’s work performance, as well as turnover, absenteeism, tardiness, devotion, job morale, and productivity.

The work environment must satisfy the individual’s needs and the employee must have the skills needed to meet the job’s requirements.

Work Adjustment Theory (Sharf, 2013)

identifying new employees’ values - understanding the new employees values and how to incorporate the new employee into the company while respecting their values and individuality. personality styles - understand the new employee’s personality and the needs of their personality (needing more or less attention and introduction into the company. general abilities - understand the new employee’s strengths and what the employee feels they can bring to the company interests - include the person in the areas they are most interested and what the new employee feels they are good at.

Work Adjustment Theory in On-Boarding (Sharf, 2013)

Work Adjustment Theory Continued

Measuring the requirements and conditions of occupations: Identifying the various requirements each job needs when hiring on a new person and taking all responsibilities into consideration when selecting a new employee and when acclimating them to a new job.

Identifying the values of the new hire and matching abilities, values, and reinforcers to the company and position requirements.

Job adjustment counseling - managers providing the support needed for new employees to acclimate to their new work environment. Job adjustment counseling can be part of a successful on boarding program.

References

Graybill, J. O., Carpenter, M. T. H., Offord Jr, J., Piorun, M., & Shaffer, G. (2013). Employee onboarding:

Identification of best practices in ACRL libraries. Library Management, 34(3), 200-218. doi:

10.1108/01435121311310897

Bradt, G. (2010). Onboarding: An act of transformational leadership. People & Strategy, 33(2), 4-5.

Bhuvanaiah, T., & Raya, R. P. (2014). Employee Engagement: Key to Organizational Success. SCMS Journal

Of Indian Management, 11(4), 61-71.

Moore, M. (2008). Spotlight on Executive Onboarding. PA Times, 31(10), 5.

Ndunguru, C. A. (2012). Executive onboarding: How to hit the ground running. Public Manager, 41(3), 6-9.

Hart, P., Eaton, L., Buckner, M., Morrow, B. N., Barrett, D. T., Fraser, D. D., . . . Sharrer, R. L. (2008).

Effectiveness of a computer-based educational program on nurses' knowledge, attitude, and skill level

related to evidence-based practice. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 5(2), 75-84.

Snell, A. (2006). Researching onboarding best practice. Strategic HR Review, 5(6), 32-35.