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CLO Magazine just published an article in today’s newsletter about new-hire orientation or on-boarding.

This is more fodder that the process constructed for new-hires is another opportunity for competitive advantage as we move further into our knowledge economy.  Organizations that understand this transition and embrace it are developing employee on-boarding programs that target two critical areas: informational and relational.

The informational element addresses the ’stuff’ that new hires need to know.  In the information age this cannot be a data dump though - this information needs to be assessed in terms of when someone needs it (i.e. week one, month two, etc.) and how it can be best delivered (i.e. e-learning, podcast, face-to-face, etc) and accessed in the future.

The relational element acknowledges that no matter how good the information is that is provided, people will eventually come to get most of their questions answered through their network of relationships.  Therefore on-boarding programs that incorporate activities and assignments that help new hires meet other people in the organization and form relationships with them have been proven to allow new hires to be productive faster and also to retain them longer.

‘Knowledge Worker’ is certainly a popular buzzword these days but there is merit there.  How these new additions to the workforce acquire, retain and access the information they need is fundamentally different than is was a few decades ago and most orientation programs haven’t yet adapted to that shift.

Organizations that continue to use the precious few first days of someone’s new role to have them fill out paperwork and watch corporate videos are missing a crucial opportunity to prepare their newest team members to help them succeed in their mission…whatever it may be.

LCB is at it again this month with another great big question - or is it a great, big question?  And…has it been a month already???

The question for March is:

 What would you do to support new managers?

Ray Sims was the first to post and proposed utilizing audio self-paced learning, coaching and a community of practice.  Ray is targeting two areas that have been proven to speed someone’s integration into a new role:

1. Quickly becoming part of a network
2. Relevant knowledge is distributed through-out a long period time

There is too much stuff for people to remember; especially when starting a new role.  Learning to me is about providing easy access to information at the time people need it.  Audio learning, coaching and a thriving community will certainly go a long way in providing muliple access points to the information a new manager will need.

I feel there is also room for another piece here as well.  If learning is about access to information, how do you ensure new managers will experience lasting change in skills, mindset or behavior?  Just as they develop at anything else…practice.

An integration period is a prime time for new managers to participate in an action learning project.  In an ideal world their groups would consist of other managers at various stages of their management career.  The initial sessions would immerse the new manager in activities to heighten self-awareness (i.e. a 360 degree assessment conducted in their former position, a Myers-Briggs or DISC report, a natural abilities test, etc.) after which participants list which areas in which they would like to develop.  Next, the managers are exposed to some foundational content (my favorites are Appreciative Inquiry and systems thinking) that will be the concepts to which they’ll be held accountable throughout the program.

A relevant, timely business challenge is presented to the participants and they are responsible for all data collection, solution design and execution.  All the while a learning coach acts as an embedded reminder to participants of their individual development goals as well as referring them back to concepts from the initial workshops.  Over the course of a few months participants present a solution to the business challenge.  Throughout the time they have been forced to reflect on their own behavior and new concepts via the action learning coach.

It is only through being made to apply the concepts that participants will be quicker to adopt any new behaviors, mindsets and skills needed to be a manager.  Along the way a cross-functional network of managers of varying tenure will be formed and provide a solid foundation for knowledge transfer and knowledge management.  This will also serve to support the overall company-wide community that Ray suggested.  As the grayer managers move on, relationships have formed and developed the infrastructure for the insights, experience and stories to be passed on to the newer managers.

This combination of learning and development create a killer combo for the rapid on-boarding of managers.  It’s not successful because the new-comers are going in to management roles, though.  It’s successful because the new-comers are human and that’s the way we learn and develop.

The beauty is that this is a foundation that can be tweaked for positions all throughout the organization - not just managers.

Interestingly enough I am rushing to respond to January’s Big Question on Learning Circuits Blog relating to speed or quality:

What are the trade-offs between quality learning programs and rapid elearning and how do you decide?

Will the quality of my post suffer as a result of the speed at which I’m trying to get it in while it’s still January?  Or will my tight deadline keep me focused, lean and providing just the necessary information?

The same questions can be applied to organizational learning.  Is it worth it for companies to offer training programs that have been piloted, tested, tweaked, etc. or is it better to provide information in a more raw, unrefined mode.  The answer?  What else…it depends.

There are elements of a learning solution that should be well-designed and refined.  These elements should be used for information that isn’t likely to change.  For the ‘informational’ parts of a new-hire orientation, for example, it may be a worthwhile investment of time and money to strive for a module that looks and runs like a well-oiled machine.  It could provide newcomers with a sense of organization and structure in the fragile interaction with their new employer. 

As these newbies progress in their positions, though, they will come to know most of the static information they need to do their jobs.  It’s the complex, constantly changing environment about which they need up-to-date knowledge. 

For knowledge workers it’s nearly impossible to impart all of the information they need to do their jobs.  It’s vast, tacit and always evolving.  A well-oiled ‘quality learning program’ for people that are well entrenched in their role is many times obsolete by the time it is rolled out.  Rapid elearning allows organizations to put information that will change often into a format that lends itself to extremely fast design time.

So to answer the Big Question I’m taking the Consultant’s Amendment (It depends).  You must assess the content to be delivered:  how likely is it to change, can it be used enough times to justify the costs, what effect will the quality of the module have on the audience, etc.

I’ve written this post quickly.  There are many more examples I could have used and my writing could probably be a little better but this is time-sensitive information.  I have to get it posted in January so I’ve chosen to convey the thoughts that come to me as I sit and write.  Could I have made it better ‘quality’ by spending all month on it?  Sure.  Would that have been worth my time?  Probably not. 

I was able to express myself just by sitting down and quickly writing.  Other topics will not lend themselves to that speed - I will have to do some due diligence before publishing.

I recommend using the same criteria for learning solutions.

Orbital RPM began a consulting project in mid-December.  We have been hired to lead the Change Management and Communications aspect for a Fortune 500 company that will be outsourcing all of its IT services to an outside vendor for a seven-year contract. 

We were pulled in to the project at the last possible minute.  Most of the people on the transition team have been working together for months or years.  People are spread as far as Ghana, Peru, Australia, Indonesia and throughout the United States. 

One of the areas where Orbital RPM offers consulting is on the rapid on-boarding or integration of new-hires so when we started this project last month, my wife (who sells consulting services) and I had a conversation around the on-boarding of consultants. 

Consultants often are engaged in a project for less time than it takes many new-hires to become completely integrated into their new company.  Given that, how can companies quickly integrate consultants that they’re paying top dollar so that they can be productive immediately?  I reflected on this as we were integrated into this project…

At Orbital RPM we have based our New-hire Integration solution on research.  Some of that research came from MIT Sloan School of Management who did a study on the rapid on-boarding of new-hires.  Their results talk about two different approaches to on-boarding a new-hire:

• Informational: making sure a new employee has the knowledge they need
• Relational: making sure a new employee knows who to go to with questions

Most companies favor the informational approach - think training videos, binders, paperwork and how to fill out expense reports all on Day One.  Research shows that, if you had to pick one, the relational approach is much more effective.  Establishing relationships early-on gives people a network they can come back to with questions when they can’t remember a detail from the deluge of information they received on their first day.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been a new-hire so this project was an opportunity to put myself in the shoes of one.  On my first day two main things happened:

1. I was walked around the office building and introduced to other people that I would be interacting with on the project as well as introduced on conference calls with all of the countries listed above
2. I was given Zip files and countless Power Point presentations with all of the information on the outsourcing project that anyone would ever want to know

You can probably see where I’m going with this…which of the two activities do you think has been more beneficial to me?  It was the introductions to people that I’ve leveraged more.  Have the PowerPoints been useful?  Of course, but if I only had the relationships to go on, chances are I could’ve gotten each of those presentations given to me when I needed them just through asking the right person.

This is one of those great instances where the cheaper and simpler solution is the more effective one.  If you don’t have the resources or the budget for a fancy on-boarding process - whether for full-timers or for temporary help - make sure that newcomers know who to go to with questions.  Arrange a meal for others to get to know the new person, have them give a presentation about themselves, anything to get them integrated and comfortable with the people that they’ll need to turn to in the future for information.  Information that people simply can’t absorb all at once.

According to a 2000 study by the Society of Human Resources Management:

“77% of employees go home early on their first day because the organization was not prepared for them – either because a new-hire training program wasn’t offered or because the organization didn’t have the necessary tools (i.e. computer, phone, etc.) ready.”

The first day(s) of a new-hires time are crucial for retention.  When someone walks in the door for the first day, they are constantly assessing if they made the right choice to join the company.  This Fortune article talks about how a well-planned new-hire integration strategy will impact the bottom line.

Considering how much people communicate these days outside of their local circles, making a good impression is even more valuable.  I just visited DoctorJob, where graduates and those new into the workforce share experiences, pose questions and offer warnings. 

A few years ago an employer could mess up someone’s first day and that person would probably complain to their network of friends through conversation or email.  Now if an employer makes a member of DoctorJob’s first day a nightmare, a lot of people are going to know about it.  Beyond just impacting the company from the perspective of the new-hire, this will certainly have a ripple effect for that company’s ability to attract new-hires in the future.  Think that will impact the bottom line?

The same is of course true for the reverse.  If a new-hire is impressed by how they’re received on Day 1, people are going to know about that as well.

There are tons of reasons to have a well planned on-boarding process for new-hires.  Now that people’s ability to communicate globally is expanding, the stakes are higher than ever.