Everboarding or perpetual employee adaptation. What is this phenomenon and can it be useful for business

Employee adaptation is a very important part of work that affects the success of the business in general. Onboarding affects team engagement, team productivity, and the length of time each individual employee works. But what if one could make onboarding everlasting and increase these metrics? Let's find out what everboarding is, how it is useful and how to implement it.?

Why normal adaptation is no longer sufficient

?The onboarding tools that companies use today have already lost their relevance many years ago. Presentations about corporate culture and work ethics, brochures with illustrations of the dress code, general meetings where people are told about the company and its activities: all of this is not only uninteresting to employees, but is instantly forgotten.

Studies show that 75 per cent of what is learnt is lost in the depths of memory within the first couple of days. And, as a consequence, this approach to adaptation ceases to bring results. This is especially relevant in the current environment, where the market is constantly and unpredictably changing.

?The market and business in recent years are constantly undergoing changes, so employees must also update their skills on a regular basis. Today, everboarding or "perpetual adaptation" is just becoming a counter measure. After all, it is based on continuous and personalised learning.

And, unlike adaptation, it covers many more business needs, among them:

? quality work with hybrid and remote teams;

? supporting the learning environment and closing the training needs of employees;

? retention and attraction of specialists;

? ongoing team development and performance improvement.

Why it is worth implementing everboarding

?Classic onboarding is usually a rather formal process. During it, employees learn the rules, policies and norms accepted in the company.

?Yes, of course, it helps newcomers to get to know the business, learn a little more about the team, the working environment and what awaits them. But, unfortunately, this format does not cover the training needs of employees, does not help in establishing communication within the team and does not increase the involvement of specialists.

Everboarding, on the other hand, does the opposite. In fact, thanks to it, you can give each employee the knowledge, skills and opportunities for realisation that he or she needs.

This practice will also help to create a coaching environment in the team and establish communication at all levels. According to Deloitte, "everboarding" adaptation and training increases the chance of launching new business products by 92%, increases productivity levels by 52% and increases the chance of succeeding and outperforming direct competitors by 17%.

Everboarding is a journey, rather than a destination. To implement it, you need to change your perspective on adaptation and look at it as a continuous process. This view should be translated by the company's leadership to all employees. The team may not accept change at first, and that is why managers need to provide a personal example.

Everboarding and its tools

?It is obvious that individualisation of any process requires a huge investment of both material and non-material resources. But not every business can afford it. And, to be honest, you don't always need big budgets for the purposes of retention and engagement, as well as for the implementation of everboarding.?

Here's a list of tools that will develop your learning environment and work perfectly for both newcomer onboarding and motivating current employees:

? Masterminds. These are great for small groups of 10 people or less. The essence of masterminds is networking: you organise a team meeting, all participants share difficulties and concerns, and later exchange ideas, experiences and solutions to problems. This format allows you to learn from the experience of your colleagues and get a new perspective on many things.

? Retrospectives. In my team, I organise them on a weekly basis. At these meetings we share what happened during the working days, what problems each of us has faced and what victories we have achieved. Retrospectives, unlike masterminds, are not about finding solutions, but rather about reflection and creating a supportive atmosphere in the team.

? Tutoring. If you want new employees to get involved in the work process faster and better, consider tutoring. Assign a new employee to a more experienced person who can teach them about business processes and work details. This will also give the tutors themselves an opportunity to show their leadership skills.

? Internal training sessions. A great option to teach employees new things and give them a chance to express themselves. Invite employees who will be willing to share their experience and expertise with colleagues as speakers.

? One-to-one. One-on-one meetings with a superior are also a great everboarding tool. During them, you can learn more about the employee's motivation, career track and goals. This will help to keep engagement and find a personalised approach to each team member.

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"Everboarding" is a great practice that will help develop not only the team, but subsequently the entire business. There is no universal recipe for implementing everboarding, so start gradually, watch employee reactions and gather feedback to arrive at the most effective working model. Try new tools and don't be afraid to experiment, because a business cannot survive long and successfully without change.