Onboarding #adoption #culture #onboarding


Maggie Starkey
 
Edited

This is really helpful. Thank you everyone for the insightful comments! I was a little surprised I was asked to handle this myself, since new hires and onboarding typically should be handled by talent acquisition/HR and the learning department. Nonetheless, I plan to do my best to help them any way I can.


Rory Huston
 

Hi,
Good thread, and excellent comments so far.
Might be worth adding in thinking about the 70:20:10 rule of learning (e.g. knowledge absorption?); 70% of learning is by doing, 20% observing others, and 10% courses...

The second thing to think about is awareness of what you need to know about, e.g. you might not need to use the QA system on day 1, but knowing there is one will help you look for the resources at the right time (so you learn by doing!). 

What Ive seen be reasonably effective is something like a grade or discipline list of what people need to know, each with a short (5-15 min) video canter through the subject . Point to where resources are stored so the induction process is an overlay, not a receptical of the training.

Finally whilst it's great to drip feed this stuff, it's also good to have the content in an easily navigable home page / link list (see above) so the user can see what they need to know, explore things when they are interested and also find it easily when they really need it post induction. 

Hope that helps add to the comments above!


Patrick Lambe
 

What Tom said, especially on 30, 60, 90 day plans, and mentors. We have worked with organisations that have regular check-ins with direct reports, as well as buddies/mentors, during that first critical period.

Onboarding is often treated like it’s a content download task, and it often focuses on the big corporate picture at the expense of “what I need to know to survive my first month". The truth is, when we are new we have a lot to absorb, so it’s better staged. The pandemic taught us that the things new hires need to know to reduce stress and improve speed to effectiveness are:
  • What’s my job, what is expected of me, and where do I find the resources I need to do my job?
  • Who do I work with or interact with to perform my duties? Who do I need to be introduced to, by someone who is already familiar with those people? Who can I rely on for informal guidance and support on how we work around here? Buddy systems often fail because they are nominal, and do not build provision in for network and relationship building.
  • What technical knowledge and/or skills is/are required to do well in my job, and when do I get a chance to review them with my direct report, to make up any gaps as soon as possible?
P

Patrick Lambe
Partner
Straits Knowledge

phone:  +65 98528511

web:  www.straitsknowledge.com
resources:  www.greenchameleon.com
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On 17 Oct 2022, at 6:44 PM, Tom Olney <tolney@...> wrote:

Good morning, Maggie. 
There are several elements that I see connecting here. First, is there anything in place for Day Zero (first day on the job) so that each new hire has a smooth transition from the loving embrace of the hiring process (hopefully) to joining their team. Talent Acquisition becomes an important stakeholder in anything you plan. Typically, there are several gates that are set up to help the hiring manager onboard their new person with a first week plan, and a 30, 60, and 90 day set of recommendations to help acclimate the new person into the company. Assigning a mentor or at least someone to be that new hires "person" while they learn the group norms and how to do basic things like ordering supplies, filing expenses, and getting answers to "how to do things around here" that are common when you join a new organization. If you do have a KB set up that has answers to basic job-related or company-related questions, this can be a nice place to point them (and start to train them on how to self-serve to get answers). Most organizations have some kind of new hire orientation, too - and that should cover company history, some basics about culture and values, as well as the benefits basics. My last onboarding experience (day Zero) was to spend a day in a training room by myself taking online compliance courses. Things have improved here since my experience seven years ago - but it was a strange way to spend my first day. We also added a course that ties us to our primary customers (in our case, credit unions) called Principles and Philosophies of Credit Unions that tells our origin story and how we fit in that industry. In your industry, you'd also benefit from some kind of "who are our primary customers and what is our unique value statement." 

Hope those ideas help as you look at options. 


Tom Olney
 

Good morning, Maggie. 
There are several elements that I see connecting here. First, is there anything in place for Day Zero (first day on the job) so that each new hire has a smooth transition from the loving embrace of the hiring process (hopefully) to joining their team. Talent Acquisition becomes an important stakeholder in anything you plan. Typically, there are several gates that are set up to help the hiring manager onboard their new person with a first week plan, and a 30, 60, and 90 day set of recommendations to help acclimate the new person into the company. Assigning a mentor or at least someone to be that new hires "person" while they learn the group norms and how to do basic things like ordering supplies, filing expenses, and getting answers to "how to do things around here" that are common when you join a new organization. If you do have a KB set up that has answers to basic job-related or company-related questions, this can be a nice place to point them (and start to train them on how to self-serve to get answers). Most organizations have some kind of new hire orientation, too - and that should cover company history, some basics about culture and values, as well as the benefits basics. My last onboarding experience (day Zero) was to spend a day in a training room by myself taking online compliance courses. Things have improved here since my experience seven years ago - but it was a strange way to spend my first day. We also added a course that ties us to our primary customers (in our case, credit unions) called Principles and Philosophies of Credit Unions that tells our origin story and how we fit in that industry. In your industry, you'd also benefit from some kind of "who are our primary customers and what is our unique value statement." 

Hope those ideas help as you look at options. 


Robert L. Bogue
 

Maggie –

 

I don’t know that you should – or can – approach this from the perspective of new hires.  While that may be the impetus for the effort, the actual effort has to be targeted organization wide.

 

I tend to think about these things as little drips of “the way.”  As in, the way we do things around here.  You can’t deliver that as a part of onboarding because those being onboarded are overwhelmed.

 

The drips are generally a part of consistent communication, are always short, and are mostly stories.  Let’s say that we believe in “X” value then the drip is “We showed how we believe in X with <name>…” and it follows the rest of the story with a 600 word cap.  (1-2 minute read)  Ideally, these are also recorded as a video.

 

I don’t necessarily think about this as a KM function but more of a corporate culture management function.

 

With regard to soft skills, it depends on what “soft skills” you’re talking about.  I think that people generally use “soft skills” as a bucket for human interaction skills – and that those human interaction skills can be codified into approaches, techniques, and skills that are expected in the organization – those should be in learning management.  Of course, learning management is often done wrong, but done correctly with a pre-assessment, people can quickly demonstrate the skill and not be forced to sit through something that’s redundant.

 

It may be possible to link sign-on bonuses with completion of the human interaction skills.

 

Rob

 

-------------------

Robert L. Bogue

O: (317) 844-5310  M: (317) 506-4977 Blog: http://www.thorprojects.com/blog

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From: main@SIKM.groups.io <main@SIKM.groups.io> On Behalf Of Maggie Starkey via groups.io
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2022 7:36 AM
To: main@SIKM.groups.io
Subject: [SIKM] Onboarding #adoption #culture #onboarding

 

I have been asked to lead a large onboarding effort to ensure the new hires are folded into the organization effectively and efficiently.  Our company does a pretty good job of the technical side of onboard, however, they want my help on developing an onboarding plan that includes soft skills, company values, enterprise intelligence, how we work together, etc. I am newer to the KM world, so looking for some ideas on how to effectively do this. Any suggestions or proven methods you recommend?


Maggie Starkey
 

I have been asked to lead a large onboarding effort to ensure the new hires are folded into the organization effectively and efficiently.  Our company does a pretty good job of the technical side of onboard, however, they want my help on developing an onboarding plan that includes soft skills, company values, enterprise intelligence, how we work together, etc. I am newer to the KM world, so looking for some ideas on how to effectively do this. Any suggestions or proven methods you recommend?