Onboarding programs have missed the mark for years in making new hires feel connected to their organisation and, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s crucial for HR leaders to update and improve these initiatives to set up new hires for success, according to Gartner.
“In a virtual world, it is harder, and more critical, to connect new hires to organisational culture,” says Lauren Smith, vice-president in the Gartner HR practice. “Functional leaders must build this bond through an onboarding program that shows empathy for those experiencing it, demonstrates values in action and plants the seeds for peer relationships.”
To connect new hires to the culture through onboarding, HR leaders should do the following:
* Redesign onboarding to centre on connection, not just productivity;
* Link organisational values to on-the-job decisions;
* Support development of a cross-functional network.
Prioritising connection over productivity
The shift to virtual onboarding during the pandemic has often created an isolating experience for new hires as live training with peers was replaced by prerecorded virtual sessions, and Q&A conversations became FAQ pamphlets and “how-to” guides.
This focus on productivity led to new employees without connections to colleagues or the organisation’s mission and values.
“To build trust with new hires and reaffirm their decision to join the organization, leading HR functions are re-examining their onboarding experiences and adapting their programs with empathy in mind,” Smith says. “Rather than merely acknowledging the difficulties of remote onboarding, organisations should create opportunities to integrate the new hire into the existing community and make the process simple and seamless. Some organisations are also mapping the new hire journey and offering personalized support at emotional junctures.”
According to Gartner research, HR leaders indicate that when employees understand and feel connected to the organisation’s culture their performance improves up to 22%.
Translating values to on-the-job decisions
Employers often communicate around their mission and values via several channels, including organisation-wide communications from HR and senior leadership, corporate messaging and co-workers demonstrating how their values play out in day-to-day work.
Yet, most employees do not know how to translate cultural values into what they should do in their day-to-day jobs.
This problem is more acute for remote new hires who do not “see” the organisation’s values play out day to day in their colleagues’ behaviours and interactions.
Functional leaders must explicitly demonstrate what the values look like in action and how they translate to behaviours.
In today’s virtual environment, progressive organisations are utilising simulations that provide new hires with the opportunity to apply company values to critical business decisions.
In these simulations, new hires team up to work through real-life business scenarios, discuss their responses and receive constructive feedback on how the responses aligned with business values and ideal behaviours.
Providing a cross-functional network
Employees are more likely to stay with an employer when they feel connected to their colleagues. The abrupt shift to a fully remote or hybrid work environment has made building relationships with co-workers more challenging.
A September 2020 Gartner survey of more than 3 000 employees revealed that 46% said they were interacting with coworkers less often since shifting to remote work; 53% of employees reported that their interactions with colleagues were more transactional rather than meaningful.
“Managers and functional leaders can facilitate connections for new hires by creating visibility into employee profiles and offering communication tips and conversation starters,” Smith says. “Some organisations pair new hires with a peer mentor at the same level from a different department or business unit.
“The mentors can offer a different perspective on organisational culture and provide guidance on how different teams operate and interact with each other, building positive relationships with multiple stakeholders and how to interpret the broader organisational culture.”