A Roadmap for Creating Development and Training Programs for New Hires Based on their Individual Needs Friday, October 2, 2015
Workshop Leader Michael DeMarco Lead Developer, Human Capital Education Talent Management Alliance demarco@the-tma.org
The End Depends on the Beginning The team with the best players wins, so find and retain the best players. - Jack Welch When you survey recent hires after they ve gone through traditional onboarding, they unfortunately describe it as a mindnumbing experience because of its focus on dry policies and videos, sign-ups and filling out forms. - Dr. John Sullivan Studies show 90% of new hires decide to stay or leave a company within 6 months of taking a new job. - Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan Evans
Strategic Talent Onboarding is Crucial! Through Onboarding, we assimilate new hires into our organization so that they can be unleashed as technically productive and fully engaged, culturally attuned employees A well-managed onboarding program is both well thought out and well-coordinated, with automatable, macro, and micro elements Employer and employee alike benefit from formal (but increasingly FUN!) onboarding processes that help speed new hires to productivity and bolster their engagement and desire to opt-in to the organization High Potential Talent Management 2015 4
Think Win/Win The Recruiting Roundtable finds that effective onboarding programs can improve employee performance by 11.5% And according to the Department of Labor, when new hires take part in a structured onboarding process, 66% of them are likely to stay with the company for over 3 years! In measuring the business impact of 22 HR practices, the Boston Consulting Group rated Onboarding second after only recruiting. A well-structured onboarding process incorporates both macro- (company-wide) and micro- (locationalized and individualized) steps. High Potential Talent Management 2015 5
Macro & Automation Onboarding Hallmarks Align new hires to business history & current strategies Describe company values, mission, culture Reinforce the employment brand Set milestones to gauge new hire success Who are the important people in the organization today? Facilitate new hire paperwork Self-explanatory manuals presented in digestible amounts Company-wide policies and procedures Leverage online technology to complete paperwork efficiently Increased automation Onboarding portals to enable clear, concice communication Increased productivity for HR department Increased productivity for new hires High Potential Talent Management 2015 6
But Individualized Plans Matter, too THIS CAN T BE LEFT TO CHANCE. MANAGERS HAVE TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN! Compare and contrast the departmental or work location culture and values with the overall company culture and values Explain the department or location s strategy and goals how they tie into the overall company strategy and goals Explain how the new hire s role fits into the overarching company strategy and goals Socialize the new employees General Managers & Managers Mentor/Coach, Buddy Team Members Key Department or Locational Rules and Processes Employee objectives, metrics, and learning plan High Potential Talent Management 2015 7
The Challenge! Today, onboarding is the most recent addition to a manager s checklist If you ve got an HR department, find out what they ll do to orient your new employee. Everything else all the important stuff is your job. - Dick Grote The problem is that managers lives are busier than ever, so it s simply not that easy to make sure an employee s first few months at your company are as welcoming, stimulating, and productive as possible. - Keith Ferrrazzi People are very excited and quite vulnerable when they take new jobs, so it s a time in which you can have a big impact the focus really should be on culture and politics.. - Michael Watkins
Exercise #1 Pick a new friend and briefly discuss the state of Onboarding at your organization. Touch on: Automation Macro Approaches Micro Approaches What do you think is your best Onboarding practice? What do you think is your worst Onboarding practice (or lack of practice)? For your typical manager, is Onboarding a Celebration or Burden? If a burden, how is that costing your company?
Pre-boarding For HR: Create a New Hire checklist for managers that addresses Individual onboarding goals Consider the services of companies like Yoi (the Japanese word for getting better ). Yoi focuses particularly on the six-month journey of the onboarding process with tools for managers across 40 focus areas including job specific knowledge and skills, core role competencies, relational integration with the team, and work habit improvement For the Manager: If HR has not created a checklist for you, create your own. Keep it simple at first and add to it over time Speak by phone with New Hire laying out the basics for the next week Make sure simple logistics are in place workstation, computer, business cards, security badge, etc. Prepare a detailed calendar for the New Hire s first week ready, including participation from team members don t wing it in terms of who will be around or not Success Story: Succeeding@IBM offers pre-start date learning and training and it is estimated that those new hires who participate are 80% less likely to leave during the first year than those who don t.
Managers Must Put in the Time (& You Must Enable Them!) As described in the Work Rules, Google sends Managers a Reminder Alert to with five tasks that the manager should perform: 1. Have a role and responsibilities discussion. 2. Match your new hire with a peer buddy. 3. Help your new hire build a social network. 4. Set up onboarding check-ins once a month for your new hire s first six months. 5. Encourage open dialogue. Google revealed that this simple alert email reduces time-toproductivity by 25%, or a full month Managers Should Do Even More if at all Possible!
The Conversation: The Company & You The following can happen in one or more conversation, but all parts are important: Talk about the culture and values, history, and important figures in your company s history (if company collateral exists, this may be quick/summary) Success Story: Warby Parker sends what they call an electronic welcome packet that includes company history, core values, press clippings, etc. Success Story: Arrow Electronics has an interactive onboarding computer game called A Culture for Success where New Hires choose game modules on the industry, the corporate history, and corporate culture followed by quizzes to gauge their success! Talk about the culture and values, history, and important figures in the region/department Explain the existing company strategy and goals Explain the department or location s strategy and goals how they tie into the overall company strategy and goals
The Conversation: The Company & You The following can happen in one or more conversation, but all parts are important: Roles & Responsibilities Discussion: Connect the dots between the New Hire s roles & responsibilities and the department/location strategy and the overall company strategy Begin at the end by explaining what will define success for the new hire Best Practice: Walk the New Hire Downstream so that they meet other employees or even customers who will be depending on their output. Success Story: At Texas Instruments, each new hire (new or transitioning) gets a copy of the performance appraisal (I know, controversial subject these days!) and the manager reviews it to explain how performance is measured and on what they ll be held accountable
The Conversation, You & The Company Candor-building questions from day one can pay dividends Why did you join the organization? What do you think your strengths will prove to be? What are your career aspirations? What is important to you personally about your career? Do you like working alone or in teams? How do you know when you are stressed? What can I do to make you successful? You are getting to know the person as well as the employee, which builds engagement Success Story: Wipro introduced employee-focused onboarding processes that emphasize the individual strengths of new hires. Six months later, those new hires who had participated were 32% less likely to quit than those who had not!
Exercise #2 Pick the same or a different new friend and the managers in your organizations ability to drive the individual new hire onboarding. Consider: How well prepared do you/they tend to be? Is there a template for success? Are they good at the roles & responsibilities, but bad at connecting-the-dots stuff? (Corporate culture, values, and strategies compared to Local/Departmental culture, values, and strategies) Are managers assessed/rewarded for their abilities to Onboard?
Socializing the New Hire The Buddy/Mentor Look for some social commonality to accelerate bonding. Success Story: Google s Buddy Hire Program provides Nooglers (new hires) with a mentor to speed progress toward becoming a productive employee Emphasize expanding business relationships from Day 1 Beyond the Buddy, involve the entire team and get them to share responsibility for New Hire success Schedule at least three different activities (lunch, ballgame, happy hour, etc.) during the first week or two with relevant contacts, not just someone in that week A mentor can help the new hire begin to understand career pathing. Qualcomm provides new hires with a mentor for a full year Create LinkedIn (or internal social media vehicle) communities with three pre-identified connections relevant to the New Hire, two inside the company, and perhaps one outside Create online communities of other new hires and employees that allow them to share traits, interests, etc. think match.com at work! Create a New Hire interest group for sharing experiences, issues, and opportunities virtually and in person Keep it Fun! Millenials grew up gaming and on social media -- replace boring videos, lectures, and reading with games and social tools when possible
Don t Move On! Throughout the week: Remain in close contact with the New Hire throughout the week Ensure that no single day is totally devoted to paperwork or mind-numbing stuff Debrief at end of the week Monitor regularly at two weeks, 30, 60 and 90 days and have an entrance interview these times may vary depending on your culture, the roles, etc. In each session, continue to get to know the New Hire as a person building trust and candor At different times, focus on areas such as job specific knowledge and skills, core role competencies, relational integration with the team, and work habit improvement these are not formal evaluations but candid conversations designed to help At a certain time, assign a formal coach and begin crafting a Development Plan (consider using the CCL s 70/20/10) that begins to document on-the-job, training, and mentoring needs Success Story: 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) allow new hires to choose the team that they join Forever New: Consider extending the length of onboarding beyond your comfort zone L Oreal offers a 2-year comprehensive onboarding process Succeeding@IBM is a 2-year online structured learning that provides ongoing information on values and strategies and tools for building a career in a big, complex company Leverage Big Data to make your onboarding better! Survey your new hires after certain time periods to determine what aspects of your orientation work and what might be improved. Take nothing for granted!
Exercise #e Pick the same or a different new friend and discuss Socializing and Monitoring at your respective organizations: What are your strengths and weaknesses around Socializing? What are your strengths and weaknesses around Monitoring What is the one thing in each category you d like to do differently immediately?
Final Thoughts Treat the process around a new hire joining your firm as a celebration, rather than an administrative task. - Dr. John Sullivan Employee onboarding is the design of what your employees feel, see and hear after they have been hired. - Michael Falcon, founder of Experience Academy Most companies by their own admission pay little or no attention to the onboarding process. - Keith Ferrazzi Celebrate each New Hire. Strategic Talent Onboarding offers you a great opportunity to gain a competitive advantage over those who fail to make it a priority!