Day one for many new employees plays out in the same way. An office tour is held, a new email account is set up and the remainder of the day is spent familiarizing with the workplace.
From there, it can take weeks to gain any responsibility or lead a project as they continue to observe and absorb workplace culture. The Future of Work from PSFK Labs explores how future-forward organizations are restructuring the onboarding process to accelerate the integration of new hires to decrease time to productivity by creating an immersive and memorable onboarding experience.
It’s sometimes hard to fully commit when a new employee is brought on. However, it is also very important for the work culture. According to a 2015 report by ADP, employees who are very satisfied with their onboarding process are three times more likely to identify as “extremely loyal” to their company.
A focus on hands-on activities, early mentorship, deep-dive rotations and skill-sharing helps employees take control over their own progress and learning, to become part of an organization more rapidly. By allowing new hires to rotate through different departments to develop an interdepartmental support network, employees gain a more holistic understanding of the business, which improves every future decision.
“When you’re onboarding, it’s easy to get bogged down in passwords and paperwork…but if you want employees to be invested from the day they start, you need to find ways to work culture into the orientation process”, said Kathryn Minshew, CEO and Co-Founder of Muse.
For a more unique onboarding experience, new hires at Managed by Q help clean the offices of paying clients—regardless of what position the employee is hired for. Whether a coder, salesperson or manager, the rotation reinforces the company’s motto “Everybody Cleans,” leveling every employee onto the same mission. As a legacy from the company’s early stages when ‘all hands on deck’ was needed, it helps to reinforce an understanding of the core business and its workforce.
At mattress maker Tuft & Needle, new hires start their corporate experience by providing customer support to understand organizational needs and feedback. After a while, the employees are phased into their assigned roles but continue to provide occasional support as well. To not only learn about the customer, but of the actual makers of the company, new employees are flown out to Tuft & Needle factories for a first hand insight in the making process and to get to know their out-of-department co-workers. The comprehensive understanding from customer to colleague is what inspires the Tuft & Needle customer-first mentality.
PSFK’s Future of Work report deep dives into the talent and development landscape to identify the conditions and qualities that cultivate tomorrow’s leaders at work.
Source: PSFK Labs
CEOs are spending more time on making the business case for their environmental and social commitments, and they’re building more rigorous mechanisms for addressing thorny issues and mitigating PR risks. To avoid communications missteps, CEOs should ensure they have the organizational capabilities and tools in place to monitor and analyze emerging issues and to gauge the sentiment of key stakeholders.
The vast majority of business leaders responding to a recent survey said they’re concerned they can’t train employees quickly enough to keep up with AI and tech developments in the next three years. A similar amount said AI and other tech disruptions will require companies to rethink skills, resources and new ways of doing work.
If you were to ask a random person on the street what an HR professional does, their answer would probably be conflict resolution, or that HR folks deal with employee salaries and benefits. And while that is part of an HR professional’s responsibilities — to ensure employee safety, respect and accountability — that doesn’t even scratch the surface.
