Onboarding: The Path to Long-term Organizational Success

I am a true believer in the power of onboarding and I hope to move you on the path to becoming one as well. I truly wish I had gained an appreciation for and an understanding of the principles of onboarding earlier in my professional life. 

This article is a very brief introduction to the topic, which I have built a multi-day course about called “Successfully Onboarding Your Personnel,” as well as a two-hour workshop called “Teaching New Hires Your Compass.”  In those courses, in addition to incorporating my experiences leading several organizations, I operationalize the academic and professional literature on the subject. My goal for this short composition is to convey to you a sense of the importance of effectively onboarding new employees and why you should care about the topic. 

How New Employees See the World

The picture above is a compass rose. Whether they admit it or not, it is representative of what most supervisors believe new team members should see, a warm, rosy, inviting world of exciting and endless possibilities. A world no high-quality, self-starting performer could fail to see and appreciate. Since the supervisor understands it, and it is all so readily obvious to anyone who is looking, the new hire must completely understand it right from the outset as well—that is, if they are a high-quality, self-starting employee. Wrong, wrong, wrong! 

Newcomers experience anxiety due to unfamiliar environmental cues, unfamiliar social groups, unfamiliar role expectations, and entry shock, where their expectations of what this job would be like runs straight into a reality that may not align with what was envisioned. In this situation, an information deficit exists—new employees do not know all they need to know or where to learn it.  All of this is heightened if the individual is relocating. 

Howard Klein and Aden Heuser wrote a clear description of the situation that new hires face. 

"Beginning a new position is a complex and sometimes turbulent transition with the potential for substantial shifts in emotion and attitude. The excitement and anticipation of pre-entry can quickly change to not just uncertainty but also bewilderment, stress, doubt, disorientation, detachment, or shock."[1]

This reminded me of a scene in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix where Hermione Granger is describing how Cho Chang feels about the death of Cedric Diggory, her previous boyfriend, and her attraction to Harry. Yes, I know this isn’t exactly a business textbook, but hang in there with me. Hermione explains:

“Well, obviously, she's feeling very sad, because of Cedric dying. Then I expect she's feeling confused because she liked Cedric and now she likes Harry, and she can't work out who she likes best. Then she'll be feeling guilty, thinking it's an insult to Cedric's memory to be kissing Harry at all, and she'll be worrying about what everyone else might say about her if she starts going out with Harry. And she probably can't work out what her feelings towards Harry are anyway, because he was the one who was with Cedric when Cedric died, so that's all very mixed up and painful. Oh, and she's afraid she's going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she's flying so badly.” A slightly stunned silence greeted the end of this speech, then Ron said, “One person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode.”[2]

But this is how your new supervisees often feel. Also, think about the reference to Cho’s poor performance on the Quidditch field, stemming from her emotional turmoil. This can happen to newcomers, starting them on a negative trajectory with themselves, their teammates, and their supervisors. 

Given all that, the world new employees most likely see is represented by the compass above—a bit of a threatening place where they feel ill at ease. Even if individuals have previously worked in your line of effort, he or she has not operated in your organization as it currently stands, with the people that are there now, and in the world your organization currently functions in. So, understand that lurking behind all that “opportunity” is a sense of foreboding and threat. Will they be accepted by coworkers and supervisors? Will they fit into the culture? Is this job really what was advertised? What do some of the conversations they hear actually mean? Newcomers may feel as though a magic decoder ring is needed at times.

What supervisors really need new hires to see is more akin to the compass above. One where the world is not perfectly rosy or extremely threatening. The way to get new teammates over their trepidations is to onboard them properly. When onboarded effectively, new hires are not necessarily going to see the rosy world you may believe they should initially—that may come later with experience—but they can see a world of non-threatening opportunities. 

What Onboarding Is NOT

There are many things an effective onboarding program is not:

• Unit in-processing checklist
• Filling out a pile of forms
• Taking a 30-min whirlwind tour of the facilities
• Ad hoc introductions the person won’t remember
• A quick review of the employee handbook
• Death by PowerPoint
• Merely allocating space & resources
• Job training
• Mandatory training
• “Learning the ropes”
• One-day orientation meeting…or a couple of days
• Welcome packet on the desk
• Just HR’s responsibility
• Just the first day on the job
• Just for entry-level employees

Nevertheless, according to research by the Society for Human Resource Management, approximately 40 percent of onboarding activities at surveyed organizations consisted of filling out items like benefits forms and compliance documents.[3] Additionally, sitting someone down with a deck of PowerPoint slides is not a good onboarding program. Neither is training. Training is unquestionably important, but it is not the full extent of what is needed. Orientation sessions help and are necessary; however, they are insufficient in and of themselves since they do not encompass everything required in a program. I listed all the items above which onboarding is not because, too often, they are what onboarding consists of in real situations. 

What Onboarding IS

Now we begin our turn to discussing what onboarding is because it is not well understood. For example, the prevailing sentiment I saw in the Air Force is that any “good” enlisted airman, officer, or civilian will “just figure it out.” If they don’t, then they just didn’t have the “right stuff.” I think this sentiment is utter nonsense and very counterproductive to mission effectiveness, whether your line of work is in the public sector or private sector. 

The definition of onboarding that I use is the one from Talya Bauer and Berrin Erdogan. They state that onboarding "is a process through which new employees move from being organizational outsiders to becoming organizational insiders. Onboarding refers to the process that helps new employees learn the knowledge, skills, and behaviors they need to succeed in their new organizations."[4]

Process is a key word. Effective onboarding is a comprehensive, tailored, and multi-stage learning process. It should begin before the newcomer’s first day at work and be tailored to the organization’s unique environment, as well as the level and type of position being assumed. The focus is on incorporating the new team member into their work center and the overall organization, as well as accelerating them toward making effective contributions to the mission. Uncertainty reduction is critical to increasing predictability between new employees and the organizational ecosystem.[5] 

At its core, onboarding is a learning process. It is learning about a new role and the organizational environment by acquiring information about the skills, attitudes, behaviors, mission, values, culture, and social knowledge needed to succeed. The individual learns what is expected, how to deliver it, and how/when their performance will be evaluated, as well as how their job contributes to overall firm operations. “Just as socialization into a society is an ongoing process of learning a variety of new roles over time (as one matures from childhood and adolescence to adulthood and old age), organizational socialization is also a long-term process.”[6]  In reference to onboarding, it is a learning process that may last up to a year, depending on the position.

Onboarding is a team sport—something missed in most places. It is not just the new supervisor’s job or the Human Resources Department’s job. Onboarding is a multi-player game. Here are the players in the game:

• HR Department
• IT Department
• Training Department
• Security
• Predecessors (if feasible)
• Customers
• Supervisor/Manager
• Co-workers
• Lateral peers
• Stakeholder departments
• Executive team
• Mentor/Buddy

Of particular note, senior leaders need to publicly support onboarding efforts. When this occurs, organizations see an outsized benefit.[7]

Why is Onboarding Important

Onboarding is an issue that employers should be paying close attention to. As Talya Bauer denotes, roughly 25 percent of the U.S. workforce has some kind of job transition each year. And the competition for talent is heated. Moreover, employee turnover is not cheap. Costs are estimated at 50 percent of the replaced employee’s annual income for entry-level positions to as much as 400 percent for more specialized or senior new hires. In addition, research indicates that full productivity for new hires is generally not reached until around the eight-month mark. That figure is compounded for those who, like myself, have been involved with the civilian government employee hiring process, which can sometimes take that long to get the individual hired much less up to speed.[8]

What is more, the statistics related to employee retention and performance reveal something less than an optimum picture.

• 16% leave within 1st week to 3rd month
• Half of hourly workers leave in 1st four months
• 33% of new hires look for a new job within 1st six months
• 23% turnover before their 1st anniversary
• 30% exit before two years
• Five-year attrition rates of 50% are common
• Half of senior outside hires fail within 18-24 months
• 35% of new managers fail in role/leave/are fired with 1.5 years

Poor onboarding programs are leading to early exits and performance issues. Onboarding is a crucial step for both the employee and the employer; however, both seem to undervalue it.[9] 

First impressions go both ways and the old saying holds: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Most companies comprehend the necessity of making a positive impression during the recruiting stage. Unfortunately, this rarely translates to the same level of effort while onboarding the new person the firm put so much energy into hiring. Great onboarding programs provide a foundation for the future success of the company and the individual that should not be neglected. Given the previously identified turnover statistics, companies need to get off on the right foot with new employees. You do not have long to make that good impression and it affects an individual’s assessment of all aspects of the company for a long time. Understand that new hires are very quick to draw conclusions and these conclusions solidify rapidly. As Arlene Hirsch reminds us, “New hires who experience such badly planned and executed initiations may conclude that the organization is poorly managed and decide it was a mistake to take the job.”[10]

A newcomer’s initiation to the organization has predictive power relative to long-term job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and retention—the “big three” attitudinal outcomes organizational socialization is focused on. The good news is that well-designed programs work across all demographic groups, and managers can control programs. Great programs reduce uncertainty and stress, leading to improved time to productivity, and less voluntary turnover.[11]

Reboarding

Onboarding is not just for new hires. It is also useful for those who move across functional or hierarchical domains in an organization. These changes occur even more often than dealing with new hires and are just as, or more, difficult. When an individual changes functions, they are a newcomer to that function. They have new teammates, new managers, and a new cultural environment to function in. Interactions with previously known co-workers now occur in a different context with different interests, especially if the move was to one higher in the hierarchy. Transition plans should take into account the need to reboard the person by resocializing them in the new role. This is rarely incorporated into organizational efforts, but it matters for long-term career effectiveness.[12]

Some Parting Thoughts

I view onboarding as one of the places that organizations sabotage themselves. As Adam Reynolds highlights, “While recruitment and employee development grab all the headlines, it seems that employee onboarding has been overlooked and undervalued.”[13] This needs to change. It is all part of one continuum, and without effective onboarding, the system does not work as efficiently and effectively as it could. Talent is lost—mentally and physically. Onboarding should be viewed as an investment in human capital, not just another expense to be avoided.  

Time is of the essence! The first 90 days are critical to a new hire’s long-term job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. Most of a new employee’s long-term views about your organization will be formed early in their tenure, including if they believe there is a future for them with your firm. After approximately six months, there is almost no chance of achieving even a moderate level of organizational commitment.[14]

Never forget what it feels like to be new. Onboarding sets the stage for virtually every aspect of one's career. When done well, you set the employees on a great trajectory for success. The converse is true when it is done poorly. Do not fall into the “right stuff” trap that they will “just figure it out.” Onboarding is a leadership responsibility. Develop a plan and implement the plan. Executing a great onboarding program is one of the things that can have the most immediate positive impact on your organization and is one of the best things you can do to impact your organization long-term. It allows you to gain, incorporate, develop, and retain talent.  

Always remember:

You will onboard every person who joins your organization…One way or the other!

All employees are onboarded. The choice is to do it well or poorly. If your organization does a poor job onboarding, there is a higher probability that the new person will remain in the mental threat zone and ultimately fail or, at least, not live up to their full potential. Excellent onboarding programs lead to positive outcomes for both the employee and the employer. Great news! You control your onboarding programs. 

I like the following quote from John van Maanen and Edgar Schein as it relates to this situation. They state, “Like a sculptor's mold, certain forms of socialization can produce remarkably similar outcomes no matter what individual ingredients are used to fill the mold.”[15]  Notice the stress on “certain forms of socialization” that achieve those positive outcomes. It is the focus on these forms of socialization that leads to improved onboarding, and ultimately, organizational success. This effort requires continued attention and discussion and provides the foundation for my courses in this area.

[1] Klein, Howard J. and Aden E. Heuser. “The Learning of Socialization Content: A Framework for Researching Orienting Practices.” Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management 27 (2008): 279-336.

[2] Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press, 2003.

[3] Maurer, Roy. “Employers Risk Driving New Hires Away with Poor Onboarding.” Society for Human Resource Management. Last Modified on February 23, 2018. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/employers-new-hires-poor-onboarding.aspx.

[4] Bauer, Talya N. and Berrin Erdogan. “Organizational socialization: The effective onboarding of new employees.” In APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology: Vol. 3. Maintaining, expanding, and contracting the organization, edited by S. Zedeck, 51–64. Washington, DC: American Psychology Association, 2011.

[5] Bauer, Talya N., Todd Bodner, Berrin Erdogan, Donald Truxillo, and Jennifer S. Tucker. “Newcomer Adjustment During Organizational Socialization: A Meta-Analytic Review of Antecedents, Outcomes, and Methods.” Journal of Applied Psychology 92, no. 3 (2007): 707-721.

[6] Taormina, Robert J. “Convergent Validation of Two Measures of Organizational Socialization.” International Journal of Human Resource Management 15, no. 1 (February 2004): 76-94.

[7] Hollister, Rose and Michael D. Watkins. “How to Onboard New Hires at Every Level.” Harvard Business Review, June 27, 2019. https://hbr.org/2019/06/how-to-onboard-new-hires-at-every-level.

[8] Lavigna, Bob. “Getting Onboard: Integrating and Engaging New Employees.” Government Finance Review (June 2009): 65-70; Ferrazzi, Keith. “Technology Can Save Onboarding from Itself.” Harvard Business Review, March 25, 2015. https://hbr.org/2015/03/technology-can-save-onboarding-from-itself; Bauer, Talya N. Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success. Society for Human Resource Management Foundation’s Effective Practice Guidelines Series. Alexandria, VA: SHRM Foundation, 2010. https://www.shrm.org/foundation/ourwork/initiatives/resources-from-past-initiatives/Documents/Onboarding%20New%20Employees.pdf.  

[9] Bauer, Talya N. and Berrin Erdogan. “Organizational socialization: The effective onboarding of new employees.” In APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology: Vol. 3. Maintaining, expanding, and contracting the organization, edited by S. Zedeck, 51–64. Washington, DC: American Psychology Association, 2011; Ferrazzi, Keith. “Technology Can Save Onboarding from Itself.” Harvard Business Review, March 25, 2015. https://hbr.org/2015/03/technology-can-save-onboarding-from-itself; Bauer, Talya N. Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success. Society for Human Resource Management Foundation’s Effective Practice Guidelines Series. Alexandria, VA: SHRM Foundation, 2010. https://www.shrm.org/foundation/ourwork/initiatives/resources-from-past-initiatives/Documents/Onboarding%20New%20Employees.pdf; Peppercorn, Susan. “Starting a New Job? Take Control of Your Onboarding.” Harvard Business Review, August 8, 2018. https://hbr.org/2018/08/starting-a-new-job-take-control-of-your-onboarding; Orgera, Kate. “Why Better Onboarding Improves Employee Retention.” Imminent (blog). January 2017. https://www.imminentdigital.com/wp-content/themes/imminentdigital/assets/images/blog/pdfs/OnboardingBlogPost.pdf; Maurer, Roy. “Onboarding Key to Retaining, Engaging Talent.” Society for Human Resource Management, Last modified April 16, 2015. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/onboarding-key-retaining-engaging-talent.aspx.

[10] Hirsch, Arlene S. “Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Good Onboarding.” Society for Human Resource Management. Last modified on August 10, 2017. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/dont-underestimate-the-importance-of-effective-onboarding.aspx.

[11] Cooper-Thomas, Helen and Neil Anderson. “Newcomer adjustment: The relationship between organizational socialization tactics, information acquisition and attitudes.” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 75 (December 2002): 423-437; Taormina, Robert J. “Convergent Validation of Two Measures of Organizational Socialization.” International Journal of Human Resource Management 15, no. 1 (February 2004): 76-94; Solinger, Omar N., Woody van Olffen, Robert A. Roe, and Joeri Hofmans. “On Becoming (Un)Committed: A Taxonomy and Test of Newcomer Onboarding Scenarios.” Organizational Science 24, no. 6 (November-December 2013): 1640-1661.

[12] Chao, Georgia T; O'Leary-Kelly, Anne M; Wolf, Samantha; Klein, Howard J; Gardner, Philip D. “Organizational Socialization: Its Content and Consequences.” Journal of Applied Psychology Vol. 79, no. 5, (October 1994): 730-743; Hollister, Rose and Michael D. Watkins. “How to Onboard New Hires at Every Level.” Harvard Business Review, June 27, 2019. https://hbr.org/2019/06/how-to-onboard-new-hires-at-every-level.

[13] Reynolds, Adam. “The Onboarding Challenge.” Training Journal, January 2018.

[14] Solinger, Omar N., Woody van Olffen, Robert A. Roe, and Joeri Hofmans. “On Becoming (Un)Committed: A Taxonomy and Test of Newcomer Onboarding Scenarios.” Organizational Science 24, no. 6 (November-December 2013): 1640-1661; Maurer, Roy. “Onboarding Key to Retaining, Engaging Talent.” Society for Human Resource Management, Last modified April 16, 2015. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/onboarding-key-retaining-engaging-talent.aspx; Orgera, Kate. “Why Better Onboarding Improves Employee Retention.” Imminent (blog). January 2017. https://www.imminentdigital.com/wp-content/themes/imminentdigital/assets/images/blog/pdfs/OnboardingBlogPost.pdf.

[15] John van Maanen & Edgar Schein, “Toward a Theory of Organizational Socialization,” Research in Organizational Behavior (1979): 209-264.