Page 223 - Successful Onboarding

The Onboarding Margin Life Support System • 207

measurement of new hire orientation activities, process map develop-
ment tools for activities automation, and implementation best practices.
Client constructed as well as commercial software include features that
provide design and implementation tools for identifying and developing
top performers, workforce management tools to redeploy internal talent,
career path planning tools, and a “talent record” database that details
development and performance information for each new hire. This data-
base allows HR managers to search for internal candidate matches when
positions open up, and it also includes tracking and reporting tools.
Overall, the software allows for much greater efficiency in the perfor-
mance of administrative tasks, especially as relates to the transition from
recruiting, new hire documentation, and internal candidate searches.
The software is fairly easy to implement and is compatible with many
current systems. Since commercial packages have already been created,
HR staff can focus on other, higher value tasks with a more strategic
focus rather than designing a new program from scratch. Various pack-
ages offer different levels of customization and flexibility. Of course,
many clients elect to develop platforms internally, providing for even
greater degrees of customization.
Our own clients have had great success in automating parts of their
onboarding programs, particularly by front-loading many normal Day One
or Week One administrative activities before Day One—what we often call
“pre-start” or “pre-boarding” in the Prepare phase. Time to productivity
increases because the firm can start working on other key onboarding com-
ponents, such as strategic education or networking, on Day One rather than
spending time on benefits or other “basic” elements that have been pushed
forward to a pre-start time frame. There is greater compliance and a more
complete “paper trail” with these online delivered processes. Also, having
new hires engage with the firm (and accomplish both pre-start work and
learning) can further excite the new hire about the new job in the days and
weeks before starting and allow you to more effectively “prime the pump”
and hit the ground running. Software can also engage new hires by help-
ing them to plan for and even establish cohort and other relationships of
interest before Day One via social networking.
The key element of onboarding automation, especially as relates to pre-
boarding, is the new hire portal. Access to an online portal can facilitate