Page 218 - Successful Onboarding

202 • Successful Onboarding

• Creating “mentoring circles” that provide multidirectional flows
and feedback loops, thus expanding the perspectives available to a
new hire; creating vertical, multi-generational “mentoring
families” to mitigate the possibility of poor mentoring;
• Using goal and strengths input to align mentors with mentees,
thus improving engagement of both by creating a sense of unique
“fit” from the first day; and
• Providing guidance to mentors on the issues that they need to be
discussing, the timing of the discussions, and the actions that they
should take.

Mentoring is just the beginning. Almost everything we’ve covered in the
last four chapters requires ongoing and thoughtful administration—perform-
ance management, task assignment, team assignment, pulse checks, buddy
programs, affinity groups, networking events, and content updating on the
web site and other media. In addition, program administration supports the
systemic nature of onboarding over an extended period. Mentoring and buddy
programs, for instance, need to unfold seamlessly in conjunction with the new
hire networking program. Content across the organization needs to be updated
and disseminated periodically and appropriately so that it is up-to-date. One
of the senior leaders in an organization we once worked with opened a pres-
entation to new hires with, “Well, I’ve never done this before, and they
didn’t give me any materials, so I’ll just wing it.” In a world-class onboarding
program, just like a world-class assembly plant or retail center, “winging it”
doesn’t cut it; firms need infrastructure in place to ensure that people and
processes across the organization are coordinated and have the fresh, high-
quality material they need, when they need it.
Companies need to coordinate mentoring with ongoing learning and
development events. They need a system that determines new hires’ learn-
ing needs and matches them to the resources, and the mentor needs to be
part of this process. Such a system will assure on an ongoing basis that the
firm possesses the right resources to meet new hire needs. Timelines and
centralized checklists for development opportunities will be sent out to
new hires, and completed courses will be automatically entered into the
new hire’s profile for later reference. Reminders will be sent out to new
hires and their hiring managers. All of this is plenty of work, yet if the
proper resources are not there, the firm’s investment in mentoring and