Page 157 - Successful Onboarding

144 • Successful Onboarding

After conducting this initial session, Cynthia works with each new hire
to create a personal development plan and match them with a more expe-
rienced mentor. Over the next 90 days, the new hire and mentor meet
weekly to discuss progress, expectations, and goals. Once new hires have
demonstrated proficiency in the core sales assistant competencies,
Cynthia and their mentors identify “stretch goals” for the remainder of the
year that align with the new hire’s personal interests and objectives.
What drives Cynthia to devote such time and effort to developing her
new employees is her keen awareness of the employer-employee compact.
“A manager has an obligation to the new employee,” she explains. “You’re
making an implicit promise to give employees the opportunity to be suc-
cessful. It’s a win-win for everyone. The more successful and happy employ-
ees are in their careers, the happier I am in mine. Beyond that, satisfied
employees sell more and bring in more revenue for the company—and I
do well when that happens. They also more easily and wholeheartedly
embrace new initiatives and are more cued into our strategy, the good ones
really want to prove themselves, and its best to get them turned on early.”
Unfortunately, many hiring managers do not think in terms of a com-
pact between employers and employees. We often hear hiring managers
remark that it is a waste to invest in career support and planning before
new hires have demonstrated their worth as employees. But this is inverted
logic. The truth is that investing early helps distinguish great employees
and increases the chances that they will want to stay with the company.
Effective early career support programs also yield a higher number of great
employees who reach full productivity faster.
Larger and more progressive companies have long invested in high poten-
tial personnel, whether it’s funding MBAs or providing leadership develop-
ment coursework. They have embraced the idea that helping employees
develop their careers is worthwhile, and indeed, vital from a competitive
performance standpoint. This chapter contends that firms should take three
steps for Early Career Support in the context of an onboarding program:

1. Personal Progress. Engineer a support system that stimulates real
and perceived progress throughout the employees’ entire first year.
2. Personal Prospect. Apply the development and career-planning
concept earlier in the employee life cycle; i.e., in the first year.
3. Access. Extend the model to all new hires (not just the lucky few).