Onboarding does not need to be the responsibility of Human Resources only. Business line managers, supervisors and team leaders could, and should, be onboarding new employees at the department or workgroup/team level.
Onboarding at the department or workgroup level will be different that onboarding completed by Human Resources. Consider the following components to be covered/shared when onboarding new employees specifically into a department or a workgroup:
- Organization chart for the department or workgroup
- Roles and responsibilities of each department or workgroup member to provide an understanding of how the new member fits into the group
- Contact information for peers within the department
- Documented processes and procedures for how the work gets done
- Workflows used within the group on solving problems, making decisions or resolving conflicts
- Information on one-on-one meetings, team and department meetings and expectations around attendance and participation at such meetings
- Security or other procedures that are important within the department or group
Be sure to arrange for a peer buddy for the new employee! Someone they can go to for guidance and to ask any questions. (This is the person that the new employee can ask all of those questions he/she feels may be silly questions.) The buddy also can help the new employee to navigate throughout the organization; showing the new employee the informal methods to get decisions made or solve problems.
As part of the onboarding experience, arrange for the new employee to job shadow others in the department or workgroup if it makes sense. (For one of Abudi Consulting Group’s clients, our onboarding program designed for the client included time allocated for job shadowing on a manufacturing line.)
And don’t forget about integrating the new employee into the group! Arrange for the new employee to meet with each of his/her peers. This can be done in a variety of ways: arranging for one-on-one meetings over coffee or lunch, holding an all team meeting, or, for larger groups, having smaller group get-togethers.
Onboarding new employees into the department or workgroup – above and beyond the onboarding done by Human Resources – enables for new employees to get up to speed and productive more quickly. Which means they are contributing to the bottom line sooner!
We are in agreement here. The culture of the organization (to determine a cultural fit) as well as vision is essential for potential new hires to know to ensure there is a fit. Things like the informal ways things get done is best done after an individual has been hired as well as specific processes and procedures (formal) within the particular workgroup. Thanks for reading and for your comments!
Gina,
I agree with you that beyond the HR dept; the specific unit where a new staff would work should show the nuances within such a unit.
However, during the hiring process …that is a stage before the last and the last interview or chat, the culture and the outlook of the organization must be shared with prospective staff.
Also he or she must be told a few details of the unit pencilled down for the new staff.
As humans we don’t like suprised.
So, the parties at the two sides of the interview table should know what is expected from each other to a certain extent.
This reduces possible friction in assimilation.
(that is not to say the secrets of the org. must be divulged by the HR during the hiring exercise if you know what I mean)
But no suprises by each party. tough but doable