Page 85 - Successful Onboarding

74 • Successful Onboarding

Adequate time length
Given just how many meaningful firsts new hires experience, state-of-the-
art onboarding requires more than just the usual few days or week afforded
to standard orientation. Strong onboarding programs start at Offer Accep-
tance (the point when employees mentally commit to trying to make the
most of the selected opportunity), and continue all the way through the
span of the entire year of employment or a complete business cycle,
whichever is longer for your business. The content of the onboarding
program is then distributed throughout the entire period, as noted in
Figure 2.4—no more drinking out of the firehouse in this model.
Processes of strategic education, personal network development, cul-
tural assimilation, and anticipatory career development take time when
done correctly, and many of the most important first experiences do not
take place until a full year has transpired. We also recommend programs
of this length for another reason. Research has shown that more than 25%
of new hires make the decision to leave their new company three to
12 months after joining.

Figure 2.4 Distributed Content Delivery