We often use the journey metaphor when talking about starting a new job. And if you’ve ever had a bad start to any journey, you know how the beginning can impact the whole trip.
TalentLMS and BambooHR recently presented a research report titled Next-gen Onboarding: Redefining the New Hire Journey. While this paper points to generational differences and to the prominence of AI, looking closely at the findings can also help leaders identify system designs and system behaviors that, with targeted improvements, could help people stay for longer journeys.
Ensuring that new team members get a good start is what makes the onboarding portion of an organization’s people development system so very important, and a prime area for system optimization.
6 questions to ask of your PDS.
1 – Is our onboarding approach still heavily orientation focused?
The paper points to the need to invest more time and effort into this early stage. If your approach to integrating new hires is speed oriented – get it done and get to the workstation – then you are probably going to continue to struggle to keep new hires. Orientation is different from onboarding. Many organizations miss this opportunity. Spread the onboarding process out over a long period of time and drop the firehose.
2 – Is our onboarding process informed by and shaped by our retention and training processes?
“65% of employees view onboarding as the start of a continuous learning journey…” So, what happens after onboarding? Does the initial phase of the plan connect seamlessly with the other PDS systems – retention, training, performance management?
Speaking of that continuous learning journey,
3 – How does the new hire know how we will help them grow?
If you’re not using development pathways, now’s the time to start. Share the map of the journey since they are at the starting point. Having an AI assistant involved at this point could be highly effective.
The survey found that during the onboarding process, 39% of new hires admitted to having second thoughts about their decision to join the company. For the youngest generation it was 49%.
4 – Does our onboarding approach instill confidence?
Full customization to suit each person may not feasible, but some adjustments that consider generational differences could help drive success rates higher. An exploration in this area could be very fruitful.
5 – Does our PDS support growth for new hires?
According to Talentlms.com onboarding can often fall short. “When it comes to skill-building, new hires are rushed, left without follow-through, and handed training that doesn’t match their role. If companies want new hires to grow, they need to design onboarding that actually makes room for it.”
Aligning with the onboarding, an optimized PDS supports growth by using personalized development pathways. These help communicate the potential growth, keep team members on track and motivated to achieve the growth, and ensure that all parties benefit from the growth.
6 – Is the communication in the recruiting process supporting onboarding success?
The conversation that began at the recruiting stage should grow and take firm roots in the onboarding process. Showing the prospective team member a template (the development pathway) is also a great start to a successful journey. Communicating with the other PDS stakeholders so they can continue the conversation is also vital.
The onboarding process can often be overlooked when considering continuous improvement opportunities for the people development system. This is a helpful report for teams searching for ways to make improvements to this critical system. It validates the need to understand the supporting elements of the full people development system. Here’s to starting more journeys off well.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
The Optimized People Development System 
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