On-boarding is a strategic process carried out in an organization (Essay Sample)

On-boarding Student’s name Institution 15 Feb 2014 On-boarding Introduction On-boarding is a strategic process carried out in an organization to ensure that newly recruited employees are properly inducted into the organizational culture, policies and procedures. It involves provision of necessary information, on-the-job training and mentoring. The process starts from the time a new employee accepts the offer from the company and extends up to six months or one year depending on the type of company and the nature of job. On-boarding ensures that proper relationships are established between the new employee and the management and is vital in restoring self confidence to the new employee that he is at the right place. It informs the decision of such new employees to stay that contributes to higher employee retention rates. Discussion The new employee should be welcomed to his new employer through a phone call and issued with various documents that facilitate his familiarization with the company. Such documents may include past annual reports for the company, business plans and general regulations applicable in the company. After he reports it is necessary for a human resources officer to take the employee through these rules to enhance understanding and compliance of the new employee to all applicable rules, policies and regulations. It involves teaching and demonstrating legal and policy related rules that are applicable in the company. This stage is aimed at generating employee engagement and understanding of the how the organization functions. It is imperative for an organization to have a new employees’ website that serves as a portal for all the information that the employee may require. Such a website aids in acclimatizing a new employee to any information that he may require or that is of interest (Rollag, Parise & Cross, 2005). Such a website assists in jumpstarting the new employee to some of the contemporary issues pertaining to the organization that may not be covered in the induction sessions. It also serves as a reference point for any clarifications for various aspects as deemed fit by the new employee. The management of an organization can seek to introduce branded on-boarding portals for new employees. Such portals inculcate an impressive perception of the organization in the employee’s mind and restore his self belief that he is at the right place. Such portals contain company employees having fun. The senior management personnel such as the chief executive officer can take such a chance to welcome the new employee to the company. A critical element for generating employee engagement and involvement is by giving new employees some level of power. Such power rests in the knowledge inculcated in the employee on how the organization functions. It makes the employee gain self confidence since the employee is continuously allowed to make decisions that are necessary in his daily performance of duties. The second stage involves clarification to the employee on his roles and expectations on his new job. It is also the duty of the human resources department to ensure that the employee is fully familiar with the benefits he is entitled to for performance of his duties. Despite such benefits being enumerated in the letter of offer, it is always essential for the human resource personnel to ensure that the employee has fully understood the contents of his offer. It helps in motivating the employee since he is informed of career growth and development opportunities that may not have been mentioned in the letter of offer. Knowledge of career path in the company spurs enthusiasm and morale in the employee (Gruman, Saks & Zweig, 2006). The employee is then introduced to the actual duties and responsibilities and expectations. This may take time as it requires inducting the employee on hands on processes that will determine his operations at the company. The new employee is assigned a supervisor or a mentor that is a senior employee conversant with the operations and responsibilities of the new job that the employee has been recruited to perform. This session helps the new employee strategize on how he is going to align his duties and responsibilities. This is a process that can take a month or more as the employee learns various aspects of his job. The process must be conducted thoroughly where the employee is given opportunities or breaks where he can practice what has been learnt before progression to the next level. The employee must be educated to ensure he has essential skills and capabilities to succeed in his job tasks. It involves familiarizing the new employee to technical terms, acronyms and technologies that are used in the company. It ensures that the employee has fully understood the company’s mission, vision, goals, competitive position and strategies. It becomes easier for such an employee to align his or her capabilities to the mission and vision of the company. The new employee must become familiar with the objectives of his office and how they contribute to the success of the entire company. Proper introduction of the new employee to his official roles and responsibilities is necessary for generating self efficacy and confidence in job performance. It also helps in generating commitment from the employee that contributes to reduced errors and increased consultations between the new employee, his supervisors and other members of staff. It is therefore necessary for supervisors of new employees to ensure they inculcate a high degree of role clarity in the new employee by encouraging questions and also giving the new employee some freedom to practice what has been learnt. It is also necessary to introduce the new employee to the organizational culture. It involves ensuring that the employee is familiar with behaviors, beliefs and norms that define the organization. This requires introducing the new employee to all departments and their employees if the organization is not extremely large. It is advisable to introduce the new employee using technological platforms such as intranet resources. The employee must be invited to attend significant company gatherings such as departmental meetings where introductions can be made. The human resources department must ensure that the new employee has understood vital company documents such as the code of conduct, company policies and regulations. It is crucial for the employee to commit that he has understood the provisions contained in these documents by signing a confirmation sheet that is retained by the human resources manager. The employee should also be aided in cultivating and establishing connections and interpersonal relationships within the company. The employee can be invited to company gatherings and social events such as parties where he can interact with most of the company stakeholders. The company can organize for introducing such new employee to stakeholders such as customers and suppliers during such events. It makes the employee have as much information as possible about the company such that within the first six months he is fully integrated into the system. This is because social integration for the new employee is vital in establishing proper interpersonal relationships with various company stakeholders that is considered vital for employee loyalty and motivation. It is also paramount for the human resources manager to conduct a follow up of the new employee and rate the progress being made in his on-boarding sessions at the company. This requires the human resources manager to issue a form where the new employee can describe the main areas covered. This can be done periodically before the elapse of the six months period set by when the employee should be ready to work and be assessed independently. The human resources manager evaluates the nature of the on-boarding process so as to ensure there are no gaps. The human resources manager can interact with the employee face to face to get explanations and assess the quality of understanding that the employee has developed of the company. The HR manager can decide for some areas in the on-boarding process to be repeated for enhanced understanding. Such follow ups help in assessing the success and progress of the on-boarding process (Allen, 2006). Finally the human resources manager conducts the final evaluation of the success made by the employee in the entire on-boarding process. This involves the new employee being issued with an evaluation form that has various questions about the workings of the company. It allows the human resources manager together with other senior management personnel to measure the experience of the employee and his level of understanding of his roles and responsibilities. Conclusion On-boarding activities are essential in restoring self belief and confidence in newly recruited employees at work. The on-boarding process is vital in introducing the service excellence characteristics for the organization that the new employee must meet. It also ensures that the new employee understands the core beliefs, mission, vision, norms and activities as articulated in the company documents such as the code of conduct. The process plays a fundamental role in enhancing employees settle comfortably in their jobs since they have a perfect understanding of the roles and responsibilities expected of them. This has a positive impact on job satisfaction and also contributes to organizational commitment in the employee. This is because such employee feels recognized and appreciated at the workplace. Job commitment is a major contributor to employee retention and loyalty at the workplace. References Allen, D. (2006). Do organizational socialization tactics influence newcomer embeddedness and turnover? Journal of Management, 32: 237-256. Gruman, J., Saks, A. & Zweig, D. (2006). Organizational socialization tactics and newcomer proactive behaviors: An integrative study. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69:90–104. Rollag, K., Parise, S. & Cross, R. (2005). Gettin New Hires Up to Speed Quickly. MIT Sloan Management Review 46 (2): 35–41.