With the Great Reshuffle comes the Great Onboarding…
As employers rush to backfill roles left open by the Great Resignation, there is a critical need to find and retain skilled employees. According to Glassdoor, effective onboarding can help new hires ramp up faster, boost productivity by up to 70%, and lead to an 82% jump in retention.
In a February 2022 Onboarding Research survey conducted by Ipsos/Eagle Hill Consulting, new hires revealed that employers don’t adequately cover their basic needs to be successful, such as:
- Who are they key individuals they need to build relationships with?
- What are the organization’s goals?
- How do employees fit into those goals? What’s expected of them?
The Forbes Human Resources Council goes so far as to recommend personalizing the onboarding process to meet employee needs.
Beyond these basics, what can you do to facilitate your own onboarding process and set yourself up for success?
Look ahead and speed up your learning: assess your strengths and weaknesses, fill the gaps
For new leaders, it can be tempting to hold on to the past and stick to what you know. Instead, look ahead.
- What areas do you need to grow in order to be successful?
- Where are the knowledge gaps you need to fill?
- Where are you most vulnerable?
- What areas will you need help?
I made this mistake in my first senior management role at a startup – rather than recognizing my vulnerable spots and leaning on my manager or team, I was stressed and overwhelmed with ambiguity, and failed to deliver my first project to the executive team in a timely manner. And I was expected to perform at a higher level by managing through uncertainty, and collaborating with my team to make quick decisions.
Having worked at many startups, I learned to think like one, where it’s more crucial to make fast decisions, experiment, and keep projects moving, than to strive for perfection. Test, rinse, and repeat.
Adopt a learning mindset and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Companies have their quirks and ways of doing things that, at first, can be overwhelming for new hires, so it’s important to seek help to learn how things get done.
Expand your network early on
Take the time to get to know your team members and other colleagues beyond your immediate circle. Don’t underestimate weekly coffee chats. This is invaluable advice from a former mentor, and especially for task-driven introverts like me who tend dive right into projects.
In many organizations, you’ll need the support of people over whom you have no formal authority. This includes peers, internal partners outside your team, or external vendors and customers. Which of these individuals could be critical to your success? How will you invest the time to create relationship capital, early on?
Looking ahead, who can you count on to be your allies? Who can help you identify key players? What are their blind spots? Whom can you turn to for political advice? Navigating land mines?
It’s best to build those connections early on – you don’t want to reach out to them for the first time when you need something from them.
Making good connections and building those relationships over time will pay off. It’s all about building trust, and likewise your colleagues will be thinking, “Can I trust you?”
Get early wins
Once you get the lay of the land and know what’s important to your manager and the organization, focus on a few concrete goals that matter the most, with tangible results you can deliver.
Early wins can excite and energize your team, and build your credibility.
Design an alliance with your boss
A big part of your learning plan is to understand your boss’ expectations – from business priorities to personal and management style.
- Which problems are top of mind for them?
- What does success look like and how will those be measured?
- Which communication channels do they prefer?
- How do your styles differ and what will you do to adapt?
- What do you need from your boss, to be successful?
Stay balanced
As you transition into a new role, take the time to reflect regularly on your situation.
- Are you feeling excited and confident? Or stressed and anxious?
- What’s been going well so far? Not well?
- What has surprised you the most?
- Who can you share your insights with, to get the perspective you need?
- What will you need to do differently, if at all?
It’s a good time to lean on your support system – people who love and believe in you – for counsel or mentorship. Or simply listen to you and ask good questions, to provide the guidance you need.
Other Resources:
The First 90 Days (by Michael Watkins)
Onboarding a New Leader – Remotely (Harvard Business Review)
Best Virtual Onboarding Practices (Glassdoor)
