Monday 18 March 2019

Onboarding - and why it is important




Recruitment is one of the most important management functions. Ultimately, it is about getting the right people, with the right skills, expertise and attitude, who are aligned to the values and culture of the organisation. We all know how difficult it is to get it right, we all know the pitfalls of not doing it well enough and well all know how difficult it is to retain the right people.

Once completed, the recruiting manager gets a big tick in the box. Job done ! But our experiences show that getting the people into an organisation is only the start of another and more important responsibility, which I personally find very exciting, that of onboarding.

As a term, the use of the word ‘onboarding’ is relatively recent. This has replaced earlier terms like ‘orientation’, perhaps because it is about making a new entrant more comfortable with the work place and the colleagues, and enabling them to understand the organisation and settle down well. ‘Induction’ is another popular term, which involves either focussed and tailored sessions about the organisation and getting to know about the various teams or departments in the organisation, the policies and processes, the ways of working etc.

‘Onboarding’ is presumably a more comprehensive term which is all the above, but it is also about enabling the person to be fully on board. It is about understanding the role that the person is recruited to, its connection with the mission and purpose of the organisation, the key inter-relationships both internal and external, and very importantly, the culture and values that underpin an organisation.

So how can onboarding be effectively done ? Here are a few things that I have found quite useful :

1.    Organisational history and purpose: One motto that I have found quite useful is : Respect the past, live in the present and be aspirational about the future. It is so important to know where the organisation has come from, what were the key phases in the evolution of the organisation, how do we understand the history of the organisation. That is what would help us in enabling new joiners to better understand the context in which we are working, and getting their heads around the rationale behind the various changes in the evolution of the organisation.

2.    Clarity on the role : It is quite reasonable to expect that a new joiner would know what their role is. After all, they would have gone through the recruitment pack, which enabled them to prepare for the role and that’s why they got the job, isn’t it ? Often, it is not that simple. When a person comes in, they do have some understanding of the organisation and the role, but do not take it for granted. They need to understand the role in the context of what the organisation seeks to achieve and its purpose. They need to understand their role vis-à-vis that of others in the team and in other teams. They need to understand the distinctive contribution they need to make. They need to understand what is expected of them and the basis on which their performance would be assessed. They need clarity on the role, in terms of their objectives and measures of success.

3.    Culture and values : We all have seen various ways in which people try to explain the culture and values of the organisation. It may be on wall, on the intranet site, on post cards, in documents. The trouble is, when we ask people about these values or explain the culture of the organisation, it often depends upon who you speak to. As it is often said, culture is more about how people experience it rather than how people explain it. It is that intangible, it is what people feel about being in an organisation. There needs to be opportunities and space for the person to understand this, to ask questions and to be guided in enabling a better understanding, and therefore, a deeper commitment to the organisational culture and values.

4.    Accompaniment : A new role in a new organisation can be daunting in itself. It can be particularly so for a person who is relatively young and starting a new career, someone returning after a long break, someone settling in from overseas, someone who is from a different sector, someone who is moving up or sideways in a career. The first port of call is  usually the line manager, who is responsible for the day-to-day accompaniment, with a mixture of coaching and mentoring. In some cases, it could be the someone from the HR/People team. While these are more formal and established touchpoints for contact, it would be worth thinking of a system of ‘buddying’ if the person is up for it and if the role is complex enough that requires some such buddying arrangement. Some organisations would also engage external coaching for senior roles, as they need to quickly get to grips with complex leadership challenges.

It is very difficult to estimate the exact length of time that the process of onboarding would take for it to be effective. But in my experience, it is rarely less than six months and it could last for up to a year, especially in more senior roles and in international organisations, that would require them to travel, get to the more international parts of the organisations and the programmes. What I have seen is that when done well, it is a huge investment of time and resource that is well worth the effort as it is all about making the person settle down well, which in turn, drives engagement and retention. The last thing organisations want to see is someone leaving within a year or two of joining or someone who is unable to perform, primarily because they were not supported especially in their early days !

(Originally published in the Third Sector, March 2019)