A JOURNEY THROUGH THE LANDSCAPE Of EMPLOYEE ONbOARDiNG

2012 SURVEY RESULTS

SPONSORED BY

WERE Off!

T CUL

ON RAL

BoA

RDIN

G BIN

Go!

5% 9RO DUCTiON

INT RATE TO CORPO HiES PHiLOSOP

SS Y/BUSiNE COMPAN ERViEWS UNiT OV

85%

% 85 LiCiES &

PO ES PROCEDUR

E. WhIL HELLO! STAY A (PLEASE)

BUDDY/MENTORiNG PROGRAMS ... 58.7%
INTRODUCTiON TO COLLAbORATiON TOOLS ... 39.2%

CTi INTRODU USiNESS Y/B COMPAN ATEGiES UNiT STR

65% ON TO

E F R Ec E
SPA

UNiT BUSiNESSRODUCTiON iNT STRATEGYDiRECTiON &

30%

5%
ATEGY GLObAL STR CTiON & iNTRODU iON DiRECT

10%

OTHER

FUN fO

WHMOPALNEY!
CO

R THE

MiLE

NETWORKiNG DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNiTiES ... 35.5%

My dad got onboarded and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.

TRAiNiNG ON TECHNiCAL LANGUAGE OR JARGON

... 50.6%

OTHER ... 14.8%

Introduction
Travel, for business or pleasure, provides some uncontested benefits. Its an opportunity to experience
new cultures, cuisines, and people. Its a chance to see sights you otherwise wouldnt and to become enriched by new experiences. An almost unavoidable by-product of travel is a shift in perspective: once youve seen things in a different light, you are highly likely to challenge your own assumptions, and to reconsider your day-to-day existence and habits. If we consider employee onboarding as just another form of travela journey taken by new hiresits not hard to imagine how an onboarding itinerary could be similarly enriching. It ultimately impacts the new hires understanding and feeling of belonging. It engages new hires by creating networks of mentors and buddies, provides activities to experience a firms culture, and allows an exploration of how we do things here that affects ongoing behaviors and desires to contribute. A good onboarding program can provide two-way benefitsnew hires can explore and experience company culture in a guided way, and their mentors and peers can learn more about the new hires strengths, growth areas, and how to best engage their skills. If your firm is adding new employees, youll want to ensure that they are engaged and understand expectations and goals. You want them feeling confident that they chose the right employer by understanding your philosophy, values, and strategies. Of course you would like them readily productive and meeting anticipated milestones as quickly as possible. And now that youve found these new hires and acclimated them, you want them to stick around. Intrepid Learning polled over 400 professionals for insights into their organizations onboarding process and practices. We have compiled a travel guide from the resulting information that may be of help to you in understandingand setting the course ofyour companys onboarding journey. The cars all packed, so grab your coat and jump in. Were off.

ONBoARDIA
DRIVER LICENSE
ClASS C YOUR NEW JOB EnTERPRISE PARKWAy SPRInGFIELD, OB 12345
ID: 012 345 678

ISSUE DATE: 08-16-12

Eileen Van Tyne

EILeeN VAN TYNe is a senior learning consultant and manager at Intrepid Learning. She has spent more than 11 years working to help clients including Autodesk, Microsoft, Adobe, Walmart, SSgA, and Southern California Edison achieve business goals through learning solutions. Her experience includes analyzing, designing, and developing solutions for partner sales, leadership development, customer service, and sales tools and processes. These solutions have included curriculum mapping, virtual classroom training, eLearning, performance support, informal learning, and instructor-led training. Prior to Intrepid Learning, Eileen worked as a senior consultant for The Mosaic Company, where she was responsible for designing and developing training solutions for a variety of clients and leading and mentoring teams to execute those solutions. Eileen holds a bachelors degree in English from the University of Washington.

2012 Intrepid Learning Solutions

BUDDY/MENTORiNG PROGRAMS ... 58.7%

Q1: When does your company begin the onboarding process?

What kind of traveler are you? Do you begin by gathering pictures, links, and recommendations? Do you scour books and websites to plan the trip down to the last meal? Or do you decide on a destination and just get in the car to see what adventure awaits? You may choose your travel style depending on the purpose of the trip or whos going along for the ride. Last-minute spontaneity isnt necessarily the best approach when you are trying to calm the nerves of a nervous new hireor bring them to competency as quickly as possible. According to our findings, more than half of our respondents are beginning the onboarding process prior to Day 1. Pre-Day 1 activities can include completing forms, accessing systems, and connecting with peers and supervisors.

INTRODUCTiON TO COLLAbORATiON TOOLS ... 39.2% NETWORKiNG DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNiTiES ... 35.5%

TRAiNiNG ON TECHNiCAL LANGUAGE OR JARGON

... 50.6%

MiLE

OTHER ... 14.8%

BEfORE DAY 1 52.1% ON DAY 1 OR LATER 47.9%

Wahoo!

Q2: How long does your companys onboarding process ocially last?

Your method of travel is often determined by the length of your anticipated journey. Its easy to rough it on a short trip, but longer voyagesthe ones that take you out of your element and change your perspectiverequire considerable investment and coordination. A lot of people split the difference and go for the Goldilocks journey: not too short, not too long, but just right. We found this theory held true for onboarding as well. Some of the firms that responded to our survey prepare their new hires for a long-haul onboarding processanywhere up to a yearwhile some keep it to a week or less. The majority of firms that responded to this question have an onboarding program that lasts between one and three months.

12+ MONTHS ... 1.2% 1 DAY ... 17.0% 2 WEEKS ... 11.7% 1-3 MONTHS ... 24.9% 1 WEEK ... 19.6% 1 MONTH ... 10.5%

4-5 MONTHS ... 5.0%

6-12 MONTHS ... 10.0%

Q3: What percentage of onboarding content is deferred until new employees have reached certain milestones in their onboarding process?
Why defer content during the onboarding process? Organizations may want to segment content to give new hires the opportunity to attain and demonstrate a certain set of skills before they are expected to master more complex knowledge. Or they may simply want to avoid asking their new hires to drink through the firehose and absorb too much too soon. Almost all of the firms we surveyed deferred at least some content in their onboarding process until employees reached certain milestones. It is worth noting that all firms that reported deferring onboarding content had programs that last longer than a month. We saw a strong correlation between the length of an onboarding program and the amount of content that is deferred based on milestones.

PERCENTAGE Of ONbOARDiNG CONTENT DEfERRED

less than

20 20 40 40
to

51.0% 26.8% 13.7% 7.2%

Are we there yet?

60 60 80
more than

to

to

80

1.3%

Q4: Which part of your organization owns (e.g., designs/develops, manages) the onboarding process?
Think back to family vacations from your childhood. Who was in charge of the trip? For many of us, Mom may have planned the route and the siblings dictated the unexpected stops, but Dad was behind the wheel. As with any journey, there may be many influencers in determining the path that onboarding will take, but it ultimately comes down to one owner to move the process forward. When theres one owner of the onboarding process, the chain of command is clearer and responses to changes and trends coming from the parent organization are faster. Our findings show that Human Resources owns the onboarding process most often, followed closely by Training/Learning & Development organizations. Interestingly, the smallest percentage of ownership was held by an onboarding specialist.

TRAiNiNG/LEARNiNG & DEVELOPMENT25.3% OTHER 14.4% INDiViDUAL bUSiNESS UNiTS12.0% RECRUiTiNG DEPARTMENTS2.9% ONbOARDiNG SPECiALiST2.7%
Who brought snacks?

HUMAN RESOURCES 42.7%

Q5: Which part of your organization delivers the largest percentage of the onboarding process (regardless of ownership)?
When you travel, you often hand yourself over to the whims of fate. Voyages tend to be full of surprises and unexpected detours, and what you see is not always what you get. So its worth celebrating when a situation is actually as uncomplicated and straightforward as it seems. Onboarding content can be delivered through multiple means: instructor-led training, eLearning or virtual sessions, through mentors, or a buddy program. But when we investigated which parts of organizations were delivering the largest pieces of the onboarding process regardless of ownershipwe uncovered a reassuring fact. For most respondent firms, the most common owner of the onboarding development process, HR, also delivers the largest percentage of the process, followed by Training/Learning & Development (30%). Its comforting to know that some aspects of a journey can go exactly as planned.

RECRUiTiNG

DEPTS 0.0

OTHER6.8%

ONbOARDiNG SPECiALiST  2.4%

INDiViDUAL bUSiNESS UNiTS  23.7%

TRAiNiNG/LEARNiNG & DEVELOPMENT30.0%

HUMAN RESOURCES

.............. 37.2%

Q6: What activities are included in your onboarding process to help new hires learn your corporate culture?
Part of the joy of travel is experiencing local culture by participating in unusual activities. From bull running to bingo, there is always a new experience just waiting to be had (preferably one that will leave you with a story to tell). But the most meaningful activities arent always the ones listed in the guidebook. It often takes a local to give you insight into the activities that will be the most enriching and memorable for you. An onboarding program can serve as a tour guide, pointing out the elements of culture that are special to an organization and that should be adopted by a new hire. Almost every onboarding program we heard about includes an introduction to corporate philosophies, and most include both company/business overviews and exposure to policies and procedures. Surprisingly few firms, however, reported including an introduction to global strategy and direction.

CULTURAL ONBoAR

DING BINGo!

INTRODUCTiON TO CORPORATE PHiLOSOPHiES

95%

COMPANY/BUSiNESS UNiT OVERViEWS

85%

85%
POLiCiES & PROCEDURES

INTRODUCTiON TO COMPANY/BUSiNESS UNiT STRATEGiES

65%

SPAcE

FREE

BUSiNESS UNiT STRATEGY iNTRODUCTiON & DiRECTiON

30%

GLObAL STRATEGY iNTRODUCTiON & DiRECTiON

10%

OTHER

5%

FUN fOR THE

Bingo!

WHOLE

COMPANY!

Q7: What activities in your onboarding process are designed to help socialize new hires into the workplace?
As new hires acclimate to their new firm, socialization gives them touch points that serve as landmarks on a map of the onboarding journey. Incorporating social elements into an onboarding program like buddy programs and collaboration toolscan assist the new hire in creating connections with peers, mentors, and others. Creating a sense of belonging and positive association within the new environment can improve your new hires level of engagement. Our research found that socialization is most often incorporated through buddy or mentoring programs, and provides a safe space in which to ask the myriad questions that arise during the first days and weeks at a new job. More than half of our respondents organizations also provide training on technical language or jargon as a way to remove communication obstacles for the new hire.

BUDDY/MENTORiNG PROGRAMS ... 58.7%

INTRODUCTiON TO COLLAbORATiON TOOLS ... 39.2% NETWORKiNG DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNiTiES ... 35.5%

TRAiNiNG ON TECHNiCAL LANGUAGE OR JARGON ... 50.6%

This place feels so familiar.

OTHER ... 14.8%

Q8: Does your rm gather quantitative measurements on its culturalization or socialization activities?
Its easy to succumb to the highway hypnosis of the onboarding process, both for new hires and for those designing and driving the program. Traveling in a haze doesnt allow organizations to accurately measure the effectiveness of their onboarding program. According to our respondent firms, more than 43% have some quantitative measures for their culturalization activities, and more than 33% of responding firms had some quantitative measures for their socialization activities. By defining metrics and gathering hard numbers around socialization and culturalization, firms are able to present valid data to their business stakeholders. This also allows them to make better decisions about how to train and retain their employees, as opposed to simply monitoring when and how much of the onboarding process has been completed.

SOME

32.2%

YES

11.3%

NO 56.6%

SOME

CULTURALiZATiON
NO 66.8%

24.5%

YES

8.7%

SOCiALiZATiON
Bathroom break, please.

Q9: What percentage of onboarding activities does your company offer through informal or social learning?
Informal and social learning can be thought of as types of onboarding postcardsquick missives that help communicate information about what new hires are learning. An organization that uses social learning technology can encourage new employees to post questions and feedback as they progress in their onboarding journey. The new hires can be tasked with responding to questions about what they are absorbing and retaining as a social learning opportunity. They can even be challenged to create informal learning content of their own, both as a means of learning measurement and as an opportunity to share their insights. Despite the benefits and opportunities provided by informal or social learning activities, our results tell us that they have not yet been widely adopted as part of the onboarding process. Most firms rely on informal or social learning for less than 20% of onboarding activities, including those firms that dont use them at all.

HELLO! STAY AWhILE.

(PLEASE)

MORE THAN 80% 2.5% 60% - 80% 9.3% 40% - 60% 12.9% 20% - 40% 18.5%

LESS THAN 20% 56.7%

Are we there yet?

Q10: Do you have a standard process for presenting onboarding results and statuses to business stakeholders?
During a road trip you should periodically stop to fuel up, check the oil, and gauge the tire pressure. You may also need to ask for local recommendations (or directions, depending on how lost you are). Similarly, those in charge of their organizations onboarding program need to periodically check in with their stakeholders, to share progress and address current challenges. If stakeholders own the onboarding content, this provides a chance to adjust content or methods to ensure that the program addresses current needs and flexes as those needs change. A standard process helps to benchmark progress with onboarding, and allows decision-makers to make fully informed choices. Surprisingly, of the 367 firms that responded to this question, only 27% currently have a standard process for presenting onboarding results to business stakeholders.

73%

NO

YES

27%

NEW GUY

IM WiTH THE

DURiNG THE ONbOARDiNG PERiOD

ONcE

7.2%

AT THE END Of ONbOARDiNG

ONcE

50.5%

DURiNG THE ONbOARDiNG PERiOD

MULTIPLE TImEs

42.3%

Q11: How frequently are you required to present onboarding results to business stakeholders?

Souvenirs are a way to bring back a piece of your travels: tangible evidence of your journey and the adventures you had. Consider that an onboarding program has the potential to directly affect business results: employee engagement, time-to-competency, and retention. Presenting resultssouvenirs from the new hire journeycan provide insight into onboarding success as a whole or reveal progress at a more detailed, individual level. Of the firms that reported presenting onboarding results to business stakeholders, more than half only present their results once, either during or at the end of the onboarding period. Still, a significant percentage of respondents report results multiple times during the onboarding period, allowing stakeholders to view a more accurate picture of the entire onboarding process. Not surprisingly, we observed a correlation between the length of the onboarding program and the frequency with which onboarding results are communicated to stakeholders. In other words, the longer an onboarding program lasts, the more likely a firm is to present findings to stakeholders multiple times.

Can we stop at the next stand too?

Conclusion
When I prepare to travel with friends, I always ask, What are your goals for this trip? The point of the query is simple: to avoid any regrets about how we spend our time and money, we clearly define our main goals and see what other wishes and priorities materialize. The same process can be applied to creating an onboarding program. When carefully designed and executed, an onboarding program has the potential to cultivate engaged employees prior to Day 1 and to significantly improve time-to-competency. So what does this mean? According to the Aberdeen Groups 2012 research on onboarding:
Organizations looking to gain a competitive advantage face two critical and somewhat contradictory challenges in onboarding. First, they need to make leaner and smarter decisions around talent in order to drive organizational growth. Secondly, organizations need to engage new hires in order to retain talent and strengthen branding initiatives. For many organizations these pressures require a new look at their traditional approach to onboarding. (Laurano 1-2)

References: Aberdeen Group. Laurano, Madeline (2012). Looking Ahead: Extending the New Hire Experience to Achieve Business Results.

SPONSORED BY

Short and sweet, this means that onboardings importance is clear, but its ideal execution is more nebulous. Here are a few ways you can begin to think about onboarding for your organization: Consider the long-term. Instead of creating a stand-alone onboarding program, how might it be integrated into a larger learning and professional development initiative? Conversely, how can onboarding program elements like networking and mentoring be extended throughout the employee lifecycle? Measure and report results. Determine where onboarding success can influence other business goals. By applying metrics to success, periodic checkpoints can highlight areas of success and where fine-tuning may be needed. Leverage whats working well. Look to groups in your organization whose new hires meet their onboarding milestones consistently, or in which new hire retention and engagement levels are high. Repurpose best practices that are already proven within your culture and make them your own. Defining what effective onboarding looks like for your organization wont be an overnight effort, but it can be very rewarding. Enjoy your journeydont be afraid to try new things and to learn along the way. Happy onboarding, everyone!

ONbRDG

2012 Intrepid Learning Solutions

Demographics

TOTAL NUMbER Of RESPONSES

446

RESPONSE DATES START AUGUST 9, 2012 RESPONSE DATES ENDAUGUST 16, 2012

WORLDS BEST

NEW HiRE

# Of COUNTRiES RESPONDiNG18 # Of STATES RESPONDiNG 40 # Of RESPONSES fROM THE US274 # Of RESPONSES fROM OTHER COUNTRiES45 # Of RESPONSES WiTH UNDEfiNED LOCATiONS127

# Of fiRMS THAT COMPLETED START-TO-fiNiSH 311