Page 63 - Successful Onboarding

52 • Successful Onboarding

The inadequacy of most existing onboarding efforts was brought home
to us recently when we spoke at an onboarding conference. Standing
before a hotel ballroom of 150 senior and eager HR leaders representing
some of the world’s premier companies, we asked our audience, “How
many of your companies’ currently have onboarding programs at your
company?” Hands shot up across the room. “Now, how many of you have
programs that span more than two weeks?” Half of the hands lowered.
“More than three months?” Only a few hands remained raised. We
decided to investigate further. In a post-conference poll of our onboard-
ing community of 3,800 corporate HR managers, only 15% had programs
in place that spanned more than two weeks. On this basis alone, it became
clear that many premier companies have orientation programs, but few
actually have effective, full-fledged onboarding programs.
To understand just how primitive and ineffectual the process continues
to be at a vast majority of companies, and how much companies could
accomplish with strategic programs, it is helpful to establish just what the
state-of-the-art looks like. This chapter describes essential characteristics
of an ideal, leading edge onboarding program. We refrain from describing
a single representative program, since again, no onboarding programs as
yet deliver the full value described in Chapter 1. Rather, we offer our
vision of a strategic program that knits together actual onboarding design
characteristics that we have uncovered at progressive companies across
industries. These characteristics are not specific practices, but rather
broader “best principles” that apply to all organizations irrespective of their
industry, competitive situation, and strategic objectives. Comprehension
of these best principles provides companies the guidance required to begin
developing a customized, state-of-the-art program appropriate to their own
unique circumstances and business objectives.

A Brief History and the Weakened Compact

Appreciating the cutting edge in any discipline requires a firm knowledge
of what has already passed into existence. We begin by briefly examining
a summary of the recent history of the employer-employee compact in the
United States and the associated efforts to manage and integrate new hires
over time.