Page 124 - Successful Onboarding

Teaching Culture So That Our New Hires “Get It” • 113

Best Principle #8: Brand your onboarding program—and
brand it appropriately.
Outfitting the onboarding program with a unique brand sets the tone and
distinguishes the corporate culture from an external brand identity.
According to one executive we spoke with, branding new-hire programs
does not only “improve the new employee’s perception of the company,
but it provides continuity from the heavily-branded recruiting process.”
Starwood, one of the world’s largest hotel and leisure companies, offers its
branded StarwoodONE intranet for use as a common ground for new
hires. This portal connects employees across the firm’s different brands,
serving as a reference resource for all things Starwood. Starbucks pursues
internal branding on the first day of a new hire’s tenure by offering what
is known as the “Starbucks Experience.” The firm spends the first hour of
this day in coffee education, allowing the new hire to taste a half-dozen
or so different roasts, much as a sommelier would taste wine. Leveraging
its unique brand, Starbucks ensures that a new hire feels he or she works
for a unique and world-class employer with a clear and cohesive culture.
Sometimes a firm seeks to achieve absolute congruence between the
organizational culture and a firm’s external consumer brand. In this case,
the company should be sure to permeate all onboarding materials with a
look, feel, and messaging consistent with the brand. Apple provides a great
example here. Masterful at conveying its brand values of simplicity and
high-end experience to consumers, Apple also applies the same concep-
tual and design vocabulary to the welcome and employee orientation
packets it offers new hires. Enthused with the trademark simplicity and
intuitive nature of these materials, one new hire reported: “… any com-
pany that can give this much attention to detail just in their HR paper-
work should be fun to work for. I am looking forward to this new
adventure.” In Apple’s case, the onboarding experience reflects the cul-
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ture that the firm wants to maintain. It sets the standard for what man-
agement wants new hires to adopt on Day One.

Best Principle #9: Get everyone involved.
Other onboarding advisors recommend that employees receive the names
and start date of new hires so they can extend a warm welcome. This is
great, but it would help far more to alert surrounding veteran employees
to the identity of the new hire’s mentor. That way, veteran employees can