Page 248 - Successful Onboarding

Getting Started: Conducting a Program Diagnostic • 229

underlying cause. The temptation was to pin the blame on this employee
for “not getting” the culture, whereas in truth this new hire was a smart
person who erred because her prior employer had established a culture of
public debate and had not established propriety around ideas. In such a
situation, a diagnostic process might uncover three things: first, a frustrat-
ingly high failure rate of experienced new hires (an outcome); second, an
organizational need to bring in a large number of experienced managers
given important growth initiatives (an organizational objective); and third,
exit interviews and job performance reviews indicating that, above all else,
many failures centered around not learning the culture soon and well
enough (a root cause).
This outcome, objective, and root cause analysis would enable program
designers to arrive at appropriate solutions. One solution might include a
longer cultural orientation (using techniques that fit the business processes
and rhythm of the company), a centralized oversight group that actively
monitors new hire acclimation at key determined milestones, and quick
education and instruction for hiring managers and peers on the problem’s
impact and nature. With this last piece in place, existing employees might
prove less inclined to write off an experienced new hire as “disappointing”
or “hopeless,” and more energized to help the new hire adapt to the orga-
nization’s unique mix of performance values. All three pieces of this pre-
scription should be implemented in a gradual, systemic fashion—baked
right into the organization’s processes. Although we’re not discussing yet
the process of specifying these design attributes (we are still in the diag-
nostic phase), it is important to remain aware of them. The diagnostic
phase includes assessment of current systems that contribute to current
problems and can later be affected to make the program systemic and
therefore effective.
Beyond helping organizations craft an onboarding program that applies
real solutions to material issues, the diagnostic phase helps change agents
sell in the program to diverse stakeholders. Performing an initial analysis of
a firm’s current challenges and opportunities provides HR specialists with
data they need to drive change, including quantification of the size of the
challenge and the size of the prize. The process of obtaining information
during a diagnostic phase involves consultation with functional and busi-
ness unit leaders, which in turn enables their enthusiasm down the line.