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As always, I hope you and yours are keeping healthy and well.

This week’s topic, by particular request, is on-boarding, which is, in some organisation’s eyes, induction gone fancy. (obviously it’s not, but more explanation later). It may seem strange to be talking about on-boarding at this time, but I have two reasons. Firstly, and the most obvious, is as a guide to organisations who are recruiting new employees (because that is still happening), and secondly to highlight what we can take from on-boarding activities which will help us support each other in future weeks when the workplace will be changing.

Although the numbers differ depending on the study you read, some would say that retention rates can be improved by circa 80% and productivity by circa 70%, when on-boarding is done well.

So, first things first.  For the purpose of this document I am defining on-boarding as the time from acceptance of offer through to the first 6 months in the role. It is the second aspect of the Employee Experience or Employee Journey, the first being the recruitment process, and is about building on the emotional connection between employee and employer. I would argue that the shift from candidates being in the recruitment process to the successful candidate being in the on-boarding process is minuscule. The employee experience starts at the first engagement, whether responding to an advert, clicking apply here or picking up a call from a recruiter – the scene is set, and how they are treated and how they feel will determine the impression they have of your organisation. 

Just to warn you, now it’s time for a rant … recruiters or HR teams not responding to candidates, applications going into a black-hole, asking candidates to jump through disproportionate hoops of interviews, assessments, application forms etc, and candidates having to wait weeks, if they hear at all, for a decision!  Whilst there can be mitigating factors for why these things happen, we must show respect to candidates or we’re stacking the odds against securing the talent we need. And I know that the landscape is changing, and unemployment is sadly on the increase, but some job types and skills will remain squarely in candidate-led markets, so before we all assume there will be talent-a-plenty, this might not be the case.

Anyway, rant over and back to on-boarding, and in our current circumstances virtual or remote on-boarding.  

Many organisations talk of induction, orientation or socialisation, and in my opinion, they are all aspects of the same thing, i.e. on-boarding, so let’s keep it simple. On-boarding starts with offer and acceptance and includes, absolute clarity around the role, the expectations, the team, hours of work, culture etc etc. In order to ensure that a new employee feels confident in their decision to move role and can clearly imagine what this new job will be, there is more to this than just form filling, contracts and the list of benefits.  Personally, I think there should be two tiers of on-boarding and, in my opinion most organisations do one or the other well, but rarely both. The first tier is all about the corporate or bigger picture and can easily be dealt with through corporate videos, highlighting useful pages on the website, sharing strategies, literature or marketing materials. The second tier is the local team or office, the people the new employee will actually be working with day-to-day – how do you give someone a feel for this before day 1, especially just now? It is simply a case of asking “what will make them feel welcome?”

By giving the new employee the opportunity to get to know their manager well and by keeping in touch through regular video or phone calls or e-mail, not in a stalker way but in a way that gives them confidence, “because I pick up the phone to you, you know that you can pick the phone up to me”. We know how many times we say, “just pick up the phone if there’s anything …”, and people don’t; perhaps the manager booking a call to talk them through the latest business update or strategy slides would be useful. Meeting the team face-to-face is currently a no-go so what about a live or pre-recorded video where everyone in the team introduces themselves and then a couple of team calls to follow up and allow more ease and familiarity and so the new employee can see personality and character? We recently produced a very professional pre-recorded 30-minute familiarisation video for candidates to meet key executives; this has received great feedback from the customer.

Think of sending links to LinkedIn posts, useful documents or videos or photos of the last CSR activity when we tidied a garden or ran a marathon or ate cake! Anything which shows the new appointment the personality of their colleagues and gives them a feel for what they’re joining.

You may have noticed that I have used the word “feel” several times in this article. I genuinely believe that impression, atmosphere, and culture is what will engage a new employee, get them motivated, build trust, have them interested in their role and importantly encourage them to do well and stay. To an extent we can take for granted that they have the skills and experience they need to deliver, the important aspect here is highlighting how the organisation works and allowing them, even before day 1, to work through where they fit within the team. When I’m asked to review a client’s retention or attrition, my first port of call is on-boarding activity – if there is any!

In a previous life I was asked to speak with a new employee who, it was thought, was stealing printer paper. It turned out that her PC was set up incorrectly with the printer and she was taking her mistakes home rather than let her colleagues see. She felt everyone was too busy and was too embarrassed to ask for help. She had considered resigning thinking she was doing something wrong and the business nearly lost an employee who went on to be one of our highest performing customer managers.

Many organisations appoint a buddy or mentor, and this is more important now than ever. New employees need someone to help them find the Q drive, or access IT support, or tell them who to contact for day-to-day needs. The buddy can also help in the first few days by, for example, walking them through their calendar and helping them diary meetings and calls, or making introductions to others in the organisation – we can’t currently do the usual walk round the building, but we can help set up conference calls. This next aspect we all take for granted but still so often get it wrong …. making sure they have the IT and information on how to set up and get access to what they need, especially with the added pressure some will feel about doing this remotely.  Most people have feelings of insecurity on their first days (regardless of seniority) and we want to do all we can to alleviate this; and just because the new employee is a senior manager, don’t assume they won’t appreciate a helping hand.

Their first day at work with your organisation is likely to be a day at home, so no change there, but how do you make it feel different?  Doing what has been outlined above will go a long way to making the change and I know it sounds shallow but the other thing to consider is branded stationary, pens, notebooks etc. so someone sitting in a home study or at a kitchen table has images around them of where they work and they feel part of something new. Another idea is having a team lunch or coffee break so that the employee can continue to get to know their team.

In all this, the other issues to consider are any adjustments needed in equipment or additional needs and clarity around how the employee wants to approach this with the team. I recently found out that one of my clients is dyslexic. I had assumed that his spelling and typos were due to his busy workload and speed typing on his iPhone – his workplace still don’t know – think how much easier it would be for everyone if they did. He didn’t feel he had an opportunity to share this in the early days and feels it’s now too late.

So, on-boarding is important. It is often something that is muddled through, the necessary is done, ticking the health and safety boxes, making sure we’ve talked about ergonomic chair positioning and given access to the multiple pieces of on-line learning … that’s all important but not nearly enough. It is something that can be delivered in steps and stages throughout the new employee’s notice period and is a task which the team can all deliver together. Whether you are a manager, a team leader or a team member you have an important role to play in on-boarding.

I said at the outset that there were two reasons for this topic. The second reason is the lessons we can take from on-boarding activities to help us support each other in future weeks when the workplace will change; it will be new to us all. What the new workplace will look like is still uncertain and when we will be back is also, for many, an unknown quantity but thinking around the “feeling” aspect of on-boarding and the emotional connection we need … how engaged are we, what have we struggled with over the last few weeks, what concerns do we have about going back to a workplace or what concerns do we have about continuing to work from home? All of these are real feelings, each bringing anxiety, relief, concern or joy. For most of us, we will have another new way of working (at least the second this year) and like on-boarding for a new employee, we should be planning for it to ensure that everyone is comfortable, confident and competent. In these difficult times, we all want to do what it takes to maintain productivity, to get back on our feet quickly and with the least amount of stress. If a team can work together to welcome a stranger into its midst, then surely, we can work together to welcome those we know well.

Next week, we’re on the topic of Wellbeing (thank you to those who suggested that) and to make sure it is practical and useful I have put a short (2 mins) survey together – delighted if you want to contribute:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/KNNBJFT

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