Use cohorts - Feeling of going through it together
Build meaningful connections
Managers actively engaged
Not just heads down, self directed
Manage first impressions
Invest in relationship building
Seek feedback
Show success early on
Implement the basics before the first day
Make the first day special
Engage leadership in onboarding
Set clear expectations on objectives, timelines, roles, responsibilities
What are the key elements to include that LexGo supports?
Theme 1 - Building meaningful connections during onboarding creates a sense of belonging, support and helps newcomers feel associated with the organizations culture and great community
1.1 Sharing the onboarding experience with other newcomers facilitated a sense of belonging and support
1.2 Building meaningful connections during onboarding helped newcomers feel associated with the culture and community
Easier time acclimating to the community and culture
1.3 Building meaningful connections during onboarding supported participants’ ability to work with others across the organization
A lack of connect with others hindered their ability to perform
- Not knowing what other people in their department do
Theme 2 - newcomers with actively engaged managers / mentors during onboarding experience were easily integrated into organizational norms and created strong working relationships
2.1 Managers - actively engaged supporting the onboarding creates strong work relationships with newcomers
Building trust by leadership being vulnerable during onboarding - making it collaborative
2.2 Mentors - supporter newcomers in learning organizational norms and processes
Able to direct job-related questions or connect socially leads to feeling more integrated in the culture and norms. There’s a lot that isn’t documented and the mentor can fill the gaps.
Mentors helped learn internal processes and systems
Theme 3 - Specific, well executed onboarding plans and accessible, utilizable informational resources set expectations, reduced feelings of being overwhelmed and guided newcomers through onboarding
3.1 Details about the team - names, titles/roles and a recommended frequency for meeting with them on a regular basis
LACKING - just folding someone into things as rthey cam e up felt like a lot of pressure
3.2 information resources only help if newcomers know how to access them
Train on how to find, navigagte and user informational resources
Theme 4 - training that incorporates interaction with others while doing real, meaningful work supported newcomers learning
4.1 - dissatisfaction when training doesn’t include discussion, engagement and interaction
most orgs told newcomers about the org but not as much time letting them engage with the content. Too much information, not enough processing.
4.2 Meaningful work and projects to support learning
Doing the job in the real world is different than being taught in a classroom, and this felt like a classroom.
MAKE IT REAL
Theme 5 - Reflection with friends, family and former colleages to help process learning helps
RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Intentional time and structure for newcomers to build meaningful connections with peers, team members and others.
- Have meet and greet meetings already scheduled
- BUILD SCHEDULE AHEAD OF TIME FOR NEWCOMER
- Formalize mentorship programs and manager participation throughout onboarding
- Create an onboarding plan with details of activities, expectations, important connections, information resources and training on how to access and use info resources.
- Leverage real work/projects (meaningful) with interaction during onboarding training
- Build in reflection prompts to interactions or require written responses
Onboarding frameworks:
Inform + Welcome + Guide