Page 177 - Successful Onboarding

164 • Successful Onboarding

personal prospects and ways they can measure their progress against career
development goals.
At Wells Fargo, new bank tellers fill out career development plans at a
point between 90 and 180 days, setting expectations and mapping out their
future careers with the company. As one report has documented, “initial
reactions have been very positive … and turnover is expected to decrease
17
substantially.” This is one of the few examples we’ve uncovered of a com-
pany that has wheeled out career development plans in an attempt to
retain lower-level, high-turnover retail employees.
At General Mills, development plans are written out by new hires in
their first month in consultation with managers to define the skills that
new hires need to develop so as to reach their goals. The manager’s input
serves as a valuable support mechanism and also a means of helping
General Mills meet its own corporate goals. As one 2006 new hire
remarked, “It’s really important that you write out your development
plan because that’s what guides you in your growth as an employee.”
New hires in general come away with a sense of owning their careers
even as they benefit from managers’ guidance.

Best Principle #6: Make early career support collaborative.
In striking a balance between individual and firm responsibility, onboard-
ing should strive to initiate dialogues and joint planning efforts involving
new hires, their managers, and their mentors. Firms like Ernst & Young,
General Motors, and Baird have all improved early career support by mak-
ing it more collaborative. At Ernst & Young, the creation of collaborative
career paths has resulted in higher satisfaction ratings for career resources
among new hires. At General Motors, coaches work collaboratively with
individuals to plan career paths, teach new skills, and improve competen-
cies. The “coaching cadre” is comprised of a clearly identified group of
executives, certified during an intensive four-day summit. This has
enhanced executive development in career path planning while also help-
ing provide personalized planning to suit the individual’s desires and needs.
Chapter 3 illustrated how the new onboarding program at Baird has
been used to effectively instill a new strategic and cultural change for the
financial services firm. At its core, a key element of this program is the col-
laborative nature of the onboarding experience. The joining of the new
hire into a new team involves not only the team lead, but also the branch