Abstract
PurposeThe onboarding stage of new hires represents a unique opportunity for mutual learning between the new hires and the organisation regardless of the company size. The current paper aims to address these learning opportunities.Design/methodology/approachThe authors reflect on current practice, draw on recent literature and their experience with recruitment and selection processes in the industry to generate new insights and identify opportunities for practitioners and new hires alike.FindingsToday's new hires expect onboarding experiences that allow for a much greater degree of flexibility, customisation and personalisation. Similarly, many new hires expect hiring, onboarding, and learning and development to be interconnected to generate new learning and career opportunities. However, these expectations require changes in the way in which onboarding is implemented, evaluated and connected to other human resource practices, specifically with the dramatic (and successful) increase in remote work arrangements in 2020 in response to the global impact of the pandemic.Originality/valueThe current paper provides readers with an overview of potential learning opportunities, outlines specific success factors and highlights a variety of pointers for practice and further professional development.
Highlights
Onboarding represents a meaningful transition for employees as they enter new work environments, become part of teams and take on new responsibilities (Adler and Castro, 2019)
Based on our own industry experience, we found that asking new hires directly for their feedback to craft the onboarding process can generate important learning insights for the managers tasked with onboarding new hires with different needs, different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and different future areas of responsibility
As the world of work is pivoting in response to global changes and challenges, it is noteworthy that onboarding practices have not necessarily adjusted to keep pace with significant changes in work processes
Summary
Onboarding represents a meaningful transition for employees as they enter new work environments, become part of teams and take on new responsibilities (Adler and Castro, 2019). This means key informational aspects are combined with key activities to support employees’ development of interpersonal connections in order to introduce them to information networks These more formal activities are usually complemented by informal activities that usually include meetings and social activities involving the various actors within the organisation that the new hire will work with. Organisations need to consistently review and evaluate the onboarding experiences of their hires in order to optimise, improve and refine their onboarding processes over time as expectations on new hires, their teams, and the organisation as a whole change (see Karambelkar and Bhattacharya, 2017) This is essential in the context of increasing remote work and the
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