Onboarding program: an effective tool for avoiding staff turnover

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Published: 07/22/2016

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Effective, successful adaptation of a hired or transferred employee to new working conditions is one of the most important indicators of the effectiveness of an organization’s personnel management.

The implementation of adaptive programs is designed to facilitate psychological, psychophysical, professional, socio-economic adaptation, and the integration of a newcomer to the existing production environment.

• Purpose of personnel adaptation
• Responsible for adaptation
• Stages of developing an adaptation program
• Program structure
• Tips for writing
• Examples of adaptation programs For chain store sellers First day
• 2-7 days
• 8-10 day
• 11-14 day
• 15-21 days
• 22-30 day

Types of adaptation

The process of mutual adaptation of staff and employer is divided into several types.

Organizational personnel adaptation program

What is a personnel adaptation program?

It starts with an introductory briefing. The strategic goal of the entire enterprise is explained to the new employee, the structure is explained, how management is carried out, subordination and how problems are solved at the everyday level.

The main task of the personnel department is to clearly define the rules and all procedures in force at the enterprise, so that it is possible to convey this information to a new employee.

Socio-psychological

It is very important that the new candidate can quickly get acquainted with the “atmosphere of the company” and accept the norms of behavior that exist there. The comfortable feeling of employees at their workplaces is the key to the effectiveness of their work. Essentially, the company should do everything possible to make the new employee like them.

Professional

The essence of this type of adaptation comes down to one thing - to replenish the missing knowledge of the new employee. Professional adaptation is of particular importance when an employee with obviously lower professional qualities is hired for a position.

For such cases, you can develop a special plan for the development of professional skills, designed for gradual training over several months.

Psychophysiological

This type of adaptation involves restructuring the psychology of a person who has never had experience working according to a specific schedule. For example, a new employee has never worked 12 hours or now has irregular working hours, with constant business trips.

Tips for writing

To assess the correctness of the program and subsequently evaluate its effectiveness, check whether the following activities were included in it:

1. information about the work schedule and start date was provided;
2. the correctness of filling out the personal file and execution of employment documents was checked;
3. instructions on safety regulations, fire safety regulations, job responsibilities, internal regulations, and regulatory documents were brought to the attention of and signed;
4. introductions were made to team members and administration, detailed information about the enterprise was provided;
5. ways to prevent and resolve conflict situations are provided.

When drawing up an individual adaptation program, conduct a preliminary interview during which you review the candidate’s resume and portfolio.

Collect information about the level of training, work experience, education, preferences in working with clients, wishes for a work schedule, working conditions, amount and form of payment, and claims for career growth.

Make a preliminary psychological portrait, outline the range of possible difficulties and necessary help. Establish a trusting relationship with the employee, achieve mutual understanding. Select a candidate for a future mentor.

You can find psychological tests for employment here. Sick on vacation? Do you want to apply for sick leave? Read here how to do it correctly. You can find out the competent advice and information you need on calculating maternity benefits in our article.

Rules for developing an adaptation program

Several rules for development.

It is clear that the personnel adaptation program is a local document that is not regulated by current legislation, therefore the employer has great opportunities to introduce his “fantasies” into the document and put them into practice.

Although today a certain practice has been formed, and most enterprises adhere to certain stages of adaptation for new employees.

To begin with, it is determined who will draw up the program; as a rule, this function is assigned to the personnel department. Heads of areas and structural divisions should be involved in the preparation of the document to draw up specific parts of the program.

The entire process must be under the “sensitive” guidance of senior management.

The participants in the induction process should then be identified, preferably including:

• the direct supervisor of the hired employee;
• identify a curator;
• Human Resource department.

Important organizational points

In order to provide the organization with human resources and reduce turnover as much as possible, the manager needs to competently approach the organizational process in terms of personnel adaptation.

If the structure of the organization includes a personnel department, then it is most rational to assign the responsibility for developing regulations to one of the specialists. For example, a recruiting manager or HR officer. If the company does not have this structural unit, then most likely the employer will have to develop the standards himself.

The document may have different names. For example, “regulations on personnel adaptation,” a sample of which is presented below. However, regardless of the name of the standard, the document should disclose not only the main stages of personnel adaptation, but also a detailed procedure, a plan of actions that need to be taken to help a newcomer get used to the working rhythm of the company.

But that's not all. The standard must assign responsible persons who will be responsible for the implementation of a specific stage. If a newcomer quits, then you can determine at what stage the “failure” occurred and make the necessary efforts to correct the work at this stage. All this is necessary to retain new staff.

It may be necessary to develop special forms of documents and reports that will be compiled at each stage of adaptation. The forms of such documents should be prepared as appendices to the regulations.

Please note that all responsible persons must be familiarized with the provisions and signed. Otherwise, it is unacceptable to demand compliance with the norms.

Preparatory stage

Several stages of adaptation.

In practice, this stage can be called an internship. A future employee comes to a new place of work for a few hours, the HR department talks about the corporate culture, rules of behavior and internal daily routine.

The purpose and mission of the company is explained. Short-term administration can take 3 days.

On the third day of the internship, the personnel department must make sure that the employee is really ready to go to work, and the team is informed about the new employee’s departure.

If the enterprise has access control, then a pass is prepared. By the day a new employee starts, it is necessary to prepare a workplace, a telephone directory, provide access to the Internet and communications with the outside world and within the company, and provide office supplies.

A mentor is appointed who will supervise the new employee.

End of test

The employer determines the success of the probationary period.

Both parties to the employment contract make certain conclusions, the employee about the enterprise and further cooperation, and the company administration about the employee.

You can provide an evaluation sheet that the employee must fill out. Based on it, it is possible to analyze the degree to which the employee has assimilated the information received, and how deeply he has penetrated into the labor and corporate process. The personnel department surveys “old” employees about their opinion of the new employee, and reviews are collected from managers.

After analyzing the information received, conclusions are drawn and the results are announced to the employee whether he has passed the probationary period or not.

Naturally, the described stages of the personnel adaptation program are not a dogma; each employer independently determines the stages and timing of induction.

It is possible that an individual adaptation program will be provided for different positions.

What does the implemented adaptation program give to the employer?

Those enterprises that have long created an induction program note the positive effect of such an event:

1. Staff turnover is reduced, especially during the probationary period, reduced by approximately 20%;
2. Employees who have undergone adaptation are much more loyal to the company;
3. The costs of involving employees in the production process are reduced;
4. A certain base of employees is being formed who are ardent supporters of the company.

Introduction to a new position

Sergey Mordvin, Rector of the St. Petersburg International Institute of Management (IMISP), Vice-President of the Russian Association of Business Education

Source: Tax Practitioner

Every new or newly appointed employee needs some form of induction. This procedure is especially important during the period of initial development of professional and qualification knowledge. The induction procedure allows you to prevent possible negative consequences of the movement of an existing employee or the hiring of a new employee. Its main task is to help the employee adapt to a new environment and achieve the necessary efficiency of work functions in the shortest possible time. Here is a list of necessary actions.

The induction procedure allows you to prevent possible negative consequences of the movement of an existing employee or the hiring of a new employee. Its main task is to help the employee adapt to a new environment and achieve the necessary efficiency of work functions in the shortest possible time.

It should be noted that this procedure does not constitute training and does not provide the necessary skills or knowledge to perform the assigned work. Rather, it is familiarity with the norms accepted in the organization. Therefore, training and induction are planned and carried out separately.

Every new or newly appointed employee needs some form of induction. This procedure is especially important during the period of initial development of professional and qualification knowledge. Most likely, this will be their first real work experience, and, therefore, they need a more detailed and extensive amount of information.

Induction programs

The induction procedure is quite general. It establishes general rules and prescribes a set of necessary procedures. At the same time, the employee adaptation process is extremely individual, both from the point of view of his personal qualities and from the point of view of his work. To personalize the onboarding process, programs are created for each individual employee. The content of the program depends on the following conditions:

• The content of the work;
• status and level of responsibility;
• work environment;
• personal characteristics of the employee.

Participants of the procedure:

• Line managers ensure the development and implementation of an induction program in the workplace.
• Employees who have the opportunity to provide real support and assistance in the adaptation of the employee.
• Colleagues working in the same department or in adjacent departments.
• Typically, the HR department.

Organization of the procedure

It is recommended to start the first day of work of a new employee a little later than usual, so that all employees are already in place and all formalities can be completed without fuss and haste. Typically, a new employee will be greeted by someone from the HR department and the first step will be to ensure that the necessary paperwork is completed. After this, the new employee is introduced to a supervisor (not necessarily the direct manager), who is responsible for implementing the induction program.

First, the employee receives the tools and equipment he needs to do his job. Then he is taken to the workplace and introduced to his colleagues. And only after that they begin to introduce him to the organization.

A list of possible topics could be as follows:

• detailed history of the company and its development;
• senior and middle management;
• the most important company documents (for example, mission, strategy, quality management, etc.);
• description of the organization's business; policy in the field of work with customers;
• content of work, job description, limits of authority, responsibility;
• quality system;
• interaction with other departments or people;
• safety precautions at the enterprise (instruction);
• a list of documents that a new employee needs to familiarize himself with first.

One of the most practical ways to provide information is to create a package of documents, which consists of regular promotional materials and specific materials prepared specifically for a particular employee.

If the organization has the appropriate resources, a formal workshop is organized for all new hires within the first month. At such a seminar, the basics of the organization's philosophy are revealed, examples of common working practices are given, an idea of ​​possible prospects is given, and the position in the market is shown. In addition, they talk about the main products or services, customers and principles of working with them, and introduce them to the business ethics accepted in the company.

During the first week, a meeting is organized between the employee and the supervisor with the training manager to develop an individual training plan.

During the adaptation process, it is necessary to monitor the employee’s progress in mastering the profession, for which periodic meetings are organized in order to record the achieved results of the induction program.

It is desirable that the adaptation process ends with a formal or certification interview, at which the final results of the adaptation period would be summed up and further measures to improve the employee’s performance would be planned.

List of necessary actions

Before a new employee arrives, you must:

• make sure that the job description is ready and corresponds to reality;
• negotiate with one of his future colleagues about informal assistance and guardianship;
• check if his workplace is ready;
• give preliminary information to all employees about the arrival of a new employee;
• prepare all information materials that will be given to the employee on the first day of work;
• prepare the necessary passes;
• call the employee on the eve of his official return to work and make sure that everything is in order.

First day:

• together with the new employee, review his job responsibilities;
• explain the rules for compensation of possible costs;
• familiarize yourself with information confidentiality requirements;
• familiarize yourself with the internal labor regulations;
• discuss the management style, cultural features, traditions, norms, etc., accepted in the organization;
• familiarize yourself with basic procedures and personnel policies;
• familiarize yourself with the organizational structure and subordination structure (if necessary);
• conduct safety training;
• provide instructions on how to provide emergency care;
• introduce the rules and actions in case of evacuation, show fire exits;
• familiarize yourself with the procedure for communications and connections by position;
• familiarize him with the requirements for appearance;
• familiarize yourself with the requirements of the access system, opening and closing the office;
• introduce the employee to subordinates, colleagues and managers;
• provide him with personal information: location of the dining room, toilets, places for rest, smoking, etc.;
• provide information about the traditions of the department or group in which the employee will work.

Until the end of the adaptation period:

• introduce special procedures;
• introduce him to the specifics of his work in the department and organization;
• analyze competence and develop an individual long-term training program;
• explain how the organization’s administrative and economic system operates, the rules and procedures used;
• familiarize yourself with the requirements and standards of work performance;
• familiarize yourself with the reporting system.

Since the induction procedure is not regulated by any special legal norms, all of the above is advisory in nature. For each organization, this procedure has an exclusively individual character, and it is the internal matter of the organization to decide to what extent to use this or that procedure, what additional aspects to introduce and whether to use them at all.

What problems may an employer encounter at the stage of implementing the program?

Problems in adaptation.

For a staff adaptation program to be truly effective, an enterprise needs to have a certain “base”, namely:

• have at least a general personnel training system;
• an established program for assessing professional and personal qualities of both ordinary employees and managers;
• have a clear organizational structure and personnel management mechanism that would be understandable to absolutely everyone.

If these procedures and processes are not established at the enterprise, then it will be quite difficult to talk about the possibility of implementing the program, and even more so about its effectiveness.

Motivation is the foundation

In addition, it is necessary to consider standards for additional motivation of key employees who will serve as mentors.

Motivation and adaptation of personnel in an organization using an example. Let’s say that the development of regulations and standards in the company was entrusted to the HR manager. Since these are his direct responsibilities, no additional motivation is required. But what about the head of the department who is appointed as a mentor for a newcomer? After all, he has the right to refuse to help, at least this is not his responsibility.

It is important for the employer to interest the employee. It is for this that it is simply necessary to find financial reserves. And, for example, establish an appropriate surcharge for performing duties of this kind. If financial resources do not allow introducing an incentive bonus, then you should think about non-financial motivation.