Page 37 - Successful Onboarding
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26 • Successful Onboarding


             Retention rates for new nurses rose from 78.2% in 2005 to 86.1%
             in 2007, whereas the retention rate for new graduates rose from
             60 to 94%. 4
           • Accountability—roles and responsibility. Too many onboarding
             systems flounder because stakeholders do not know what role they
             have in the system, they are not provided sufficient guidance and
             support, and nobody is holding them accountable for fulfilling
             their responsibilities. Strategic onboarding programs perform
             better because clear delineation of roles and accountability for
             performance is baked in. Systems are established to provide
             support at the right moments, using the right tools.
           • Organizational transformation (business and/or cultural).
             One of the most exciting and strategic long-term business results
             an onboarding program can provide involves organizational
             transformation. Given the high rate of employee-based renewal,
             a fantastic opportunity exists to transform a business by enlisting
             new hires in a mission of change—either business change (e.g.,
             entering a new channel or a new business) or a cultural change
             (e.g., a new way of behaving). New hires need to know that their
             firm is enlisting them as change agents; otherwise, they’ll think
             that company veterans have bought into the change, although in
             many instances they have not. New hires also need to understand
             the organizational benefits of change and why change presents
             both a challenge and a thrilling journey for them. When a
             strategic onboarding program properly mobilizes new hires as a
             force for change, the impact on a firm’s bottom line can be
             profound—certainly far more significant than the one-off cost
             savings that many firms now mistake as onboarding’s basic
             benefit.
           • Other/unique to organizations and circumstances. All firms
             are unique. Because a strategic program design includes a
             comprehensive diagnostic phase (detailed in Chapter 8), your
             company will have a chance to discover improvement objectives
             that are unique to you and that comprise big opportunities for
             the organization.
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