Nailed Your Onboarding Process? Here’s Why You Should Think About 'Reboarding' Next

Nearly every organization has some form of onboarding to acquaint new employees with how things work at their business. Reboarding, for its part, could be thought of as onboarding’s lesser-known cousin — the two processes share some similarities, but reboarding’s end goal is to help acclimate both new and long-tenured employees to new ways of working or changes to a company’s culture.

For instance, employees who were hired remotely during the pandemic may need to learn new processes as workers return to an in-person office. Reboarding can help with that transition. And all employees, whether they’ve been at a company for two months or for a decade, may need a reboarding session as more and more businesses adopt a hybrid work model and asynchronous modes of communication for the first time. Reboarding can also be helpful in reacclimating employees who have been away for an extended period, such as those who have been furloughed or had to take medical leave. 

To retain a happier, more productive workforce, here are four elements of an effective reboarding strategy: 

1. Approach reboarding as a journey

Like onboarding, reboarding isn’t a one-and-done process — both should be framed as a journey. 

Amy Schultz, global head of talent acquisition at the design software maker Canva, introduced reboarding to help recent hires who had joined remotely during the pandemic get a better understanding of the in-person workplace. But Amy soon realized the whole team could benefit. 

“When someone is onboarding,” Amy says, “and taking in information in a really stressful time, they don’t take it all in. Organizations may want to think about opportunities for people to reboard and refresh a lot of the onboarding content.” 

That part of reboarding is aimed at your newer employees. “But then,” Amy says, “there’s also this whole group of employees who’ve been part of your team since before the pandemic. They may need to relearn ways of working now that include, say, more adaptability and asynchronous communication. And certainly our managers who are now leading highly distributed teams need some coaching on ways to do that more effectively.”

At first, Amy says, some Canva employees weren’t sure what to make of reboarding. But they saw the value after she explained how critical it is to reacquaint everyone with the company’s growth, new processes, and better ways of working. In the end, Amy reports, they said, “Oh wow.”

2. Listen to your employees

As companies establish a new culture or way of working, leaders should ask employees to reconsider long-established work habits. Prime that discussion by actively seeking out employee perspectives. 

There may be no easy fix if employees feel uneasy about a major transition, such as unfamiliar processes or new goals. So there should be multiple ways to listen to employees and negotiate the change. Whether companies leverage surveys or one-on-one meetings between employees and HR leaders, they should incorporate employee feedback into the reboarding process. 

When Viceroy Hotel Group introduced a reboarding process for hotel employees, many of whom had been furloughed due to the pandemic, the company returned to two of its principals: “We are hosts first and always” and “we are thoughtful in every detail.” 

In other words, the company wanted to warmly welcome employees — not just guests — and show empathy for their needs, big and small. To that end, the company hosted “pulse checks” with hotel managers and staff around the world to check engagement and listen to concerns. Roberto Vizcaino, vice president learning and development at Viceroy, and his team rolled out reboarding video content that addressed employee concerns. The videos, which employees could watch at home before stepping into a hotel, included messages from CEO Bill Walshe and each respective property manager. 

“Everybody has gone through very difficult times,” Roberto says, “and we are in this so-called new normal. So, I think by listening and demonstrating empathy is how we are bringing this element of our culture into action.” 

3. Make information easily accessible and engaging

SH Hotels & Resorts borrowed interactive elements from their onboarding process to make reboarding fun and approachable. For example, the company laid out its strategy in a “Reboarding Virtual Roadshow” video. It also created a mobile app for reboarding employees that included training videos and quizzes that covered job-specific responsibilities, new safety measures, and the company’s renewed focus on sustainability.

There can be a lot of information for employees to learn during the reboarding process. Kayla Tarr, assistant director of people operations at SH Hotels, says she and other leaders put a lot of thought into making sure the information was digestible. It also had to be easily accessible so that employees could return to the information at a later time. 

“Most importantly,” Kayla says, “we need all our teams to learn all of this.”

People shouldn’t just be on board. They should be all in. 

4. Keep reboarding intentional and practical 

What sets apart an effective reboarding program? Setting everyone up for success. Nobody wants to feel like the company is wasting their time. Even a retraining session on how to use the organization’s technology can provide helpful tips as part of the reboarding process for both new and veteran employees. 

Reboarding is a good time to encourage employees to work differently and to focus on what’s most important, says Linda Post, former chief medical director of UnitedHealthcare Community of Ohio.

“Use this opportunity to see and explore,” Linda says. “Seize this time to identify the ‘busy’ work that we may have been doing and didn’t even realize that maybe we shouldn’t be, so you can focus on what’s really important.” 

Final thoughts

Companies don’t have to reinvent the wheel to prepare their workforce for whatever transition lies ahead. As they would with onboarding, leaders can use reboarding to set up employees for success by listening to their people and clearly reiterating their vision and values. 

A thoughtful reboarding journey — whether it’s a four-hour seminar or multiple activities spread over weeks or months — allows companies to confidently roll out the welcome mat, again, and to offer needed career support.

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