There are many theories on how to correctly "onboard" someone to an organization or a team. Most focus on how to provide the new hire with the information and skills she needs to succeed. But that can only take the hire so far. They will need connections and an understanding of the inner workings and culture of your company to be truly successful. Whether they are transitioning from another part of the organization or are brand new, you can get then up to speed more quickly by going beyond the basics and explaining how things actually get done.
The road to success for the new hire is pot-holed with obstacles that must be maneuvered around in the four domains that new hires need to master: business orientation, expectations alignment, political connection, and cultural adaptation. The last two are often the hardest for managers to convey, and yet the most critical for the new person to understand. For managers the difficulty arises since they are embedded in the culture and not necessarily reflective about it. However, helping new hires understand the informal side of the organization will accelerate their acclimation. Follow these three steps to get your new employee productive faster.
1. Start early
Onboarding really begins with hiring. Start as early as possible in the process to expose your new hire to the organization's or unit's culture and to explain how work gets done. While selling your organization in the interview process is key to recruiting the right person, don't risk his eventual success by not being upfront about how things truly work. Be honest and don't allow your vision of how you wish your company operated to confuse your communication of the reality of the situation.
Always recruit for cultural fit as well as skills and experience and identify transition risks, such as capability gaps or tenuous relationships, before the new hire starts. If he is transitioning from another part of the organization, don't assume that he knows the culture. Companies, even small ones, often have different ways of doing things across units or functions.
The best onboarding process cannot overcome the sins of the hiring process.
2. Get them the right network
As the manager one of the first things you can do for the new hire is to ensure they understand how important the informal or 'shadow' organization is in getting things done. It is your responsibility to explain this, but they will only truly experience it by meeting their colleagues. As soon as they start — or even before — introduce them to the right people. If the informal organization is really important, then the manager can accelerate the new hire's political learning process by identifying key stakeholders and helping to establish connections. As the responsible manager you can also greatly increase the effectiveness of these meetings by creating an inventory checklist that provides cues and guidelines for these meetings, ensuring that the important and relevant data is covered. I try to ensure that the new hire knows ‘why’ they need to know each person on his onboarding lists so as to facilitate a meaningful conversation.
You also need to be sure early in the new job they meet with "nodes" or "culture carriers" — people who others go to for different kinds of information and insight. These won't necessarily be the people who have the highest rank or best title; instead they may be particularly connected middle managers or administrative assistants.
3. Get them working
This may seem like a no-brainer for bringing new people on board. Yet many companies start off new hires with a stack of reading and a series of trainings. Giving them real work immerses them in the way things function at the organization. This doesn't mean you should let them "sink or swim"; definitely provide the support they need. Doing this instead of busy work exposes them to the company culture, introduces them to the ways things get done, and helps them to begin making the critical connections they need to productively contribute.
Principles to Remember
Do:
· Hire for cultural fit as much as for capabilities and skill
· Introduce your new hire to "culture carriers" and "nodes"
· Explain how work actually gets done at your organization
Don't:
· Let a new hire stay in "learning" mode for too long
· Assume your new hire can't be productive from the start
· Rely on the org chart to help explain lines of communication
No comments:
Post a Comment