New Consultants Onboarding Program

Onboarding Program for New Consultants

This paper is my own work that I created specifically for this course and this section. All research or material I used in preparing this paper has been properly acknowledged within the assignment in accordance with academic standards for complete and accurate citation of sources.

COVER MEMO

TO: Mr. Anderson Green, Director of Human Resources

FROM: (Name), Manager of Training

DATE: October 26, 2023

SUBJECT: An Effective Onboarding Program for New Hires

Retaining top talent is crucial for any organization that wishes to maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace today. Failure to devise innovative ways to retain top talent places the organization at risk of incurring unnecessarily high costs in employee turnover. Available data from the Institute of Corporate Productivity shows that the cost of replacing a single employee in the US is between 90 and 200 percent of the employee’s annual pay (Walker-Schmidt et al., 2022). Fortunately, studies have shown that effective onboarding is beneficial in increasing new employees’ productivity, engagement, and retention (Walker-Schmidt, 2021). Guided by these findings, I believe that an onboarding program would effectively address the problem of high turnover among new business consultants reported in the recent past. The high turnover among consultants has continued to deny the company the opportunity to benefit fully from available talent. This cover memo provides a brief description of this problem and the potential benefits of an onboarding program.

The Problem

The problem is that turnover rates among new business consultants at the company are at an all-time high. Reviewed data shows that 90 percent of business consultants hired over the past three years did not reach their seven-month anniversary. This happens despite the company offering competitive salaries and bonuses, effective promotional opportunities, and high-visibility consulting assignments. Customers are complaining about having to adjust to a new consultant every six months, and some have threatened to withdraw their business from the company. At the same time, the cost of replacing exiting consultants is beginning to affect the company’s net income and competitiveness. For instance, it costs the company approximately $50,000 in training and recruitment of a new consultant each time one leaves. In light of this, the company president requested the department to investigate the high turnover among consultants and develop recommendations to address the problem.

A needs- assessment exercise conducted jointly by myself and the staffing manager revealed that current and former consultants did not feel supported in their first six months of work. They spent a substantial amount of time trying to get accustomed to the company systems, policies, and operations, with little support forthcoming from managers and the rest of the employees. For this reason, they ended up missing deadlines, making mistakes, and producing reports that did not conform to the company’s guidelines. At the same time, the consultants are under constant pressure from their managers to reach high productivity levels. However, six months into their hire, most consultants are still struggling to understand their job’s performance expectations, the company’s consulting methods, and the corporate culture. On their part, the managers admit that they do not know how to help the new hires know what they need to know about the company.

The Proposed Solution

The proposed solution is an onboarding program for new consultants at the company. Onboarding is a strategic process that organizations use to attract new employees, engage them, accustom them to the organizational culture, and assimilate them into the organization (Lamb, 2011). During onboarding, the new hire will be educated about their job and related expectations, and about the company’s processes, procedures, policies, values, and goals (Walker-Schmidt, 2021). Ultimately, this will make it easier for them to socialize into the corporate culture.

Primarily, it turns out that the reason why consultants leave within a short time is that they are unable to assimilate into the company’s corporate culture, systems, and processes. In their 2016 book, Naff et al. (2016) point out that 16 percent of senior executives in the US who leave their jobs within the first year of hire do so because they do not understand performance expectations, owing to the lack of a strategy to help them assimilate quickly. As Walker-Schmidt et al. (2021) points out, onboarding would help new hires build an emotional connection with the company, transforming them from outsiders to insiders. Studies have shown that ultimately, onboarding would improve retention among new hires. In one study, Walker-Schmidt et al. (2022) found that onboarded employees in the information technology sector stayed one year longer than their control group counterparts. Another study (as cited in Bell, 2021) found that an effective onboarding program increased retention rates by 52 percent, while increasing organizational commitment and job satisfaction.

Studies have additionally shown that onboarding programs result in higher levels of employee productivity by reducing the risk of guesswork and stress for newly-hired employees (Bell, 2021). A study by Texas Instruments (as cited in Bell, 2021) found that onboarded employees took two months less to be fully productive relative to their counterparts who did not go through an onboarding program. In their survey of the world’s top performing companies, the Aberdeen Group also found that onboarding improved time-to-productivity for new employees by 62 percent (Bell, 2021). For these reasons, an onboarding program would be a fundamental requirement for increased performance, organizational commitment, job performance, and retention among new business consultants.

Onboarding Program Overview

Program Objectives

Traditionally, the company has used an informal onboarding system that is not guided by a standard organizational plan. However, the proposed system is a formal onboarding program. It is guided by a documented set of coordinated procedures and policies and geared at providing the new hire with information about their job and helping them adjust in terms of both socialization and tasks (Bell, 2021). The onboarding program pursues four primary objectives:

i) To increase first-year retention among new business consultants by 50 percent by the end of the second year of implementation (Bell, 2021). This will be achieved through providing on-the-job training, as well as tools and information that will provide clarity on job-related expectations and responsibilities, thus reducing the risk of errors and guesswork.

ii) To increase engagement levels of new consultants by 35 percent by the end of their first year. This will be achieved through increasing the new hires’ knowledge about the company’s environment, policies, and culture, and assigning mentors to offer extra support and help them get acclimated (Bell, 2021).

iii) To reduce time-to-productivity among newly-hired consultants from one year to six months (Sims, 2013). This will be achieved through providing the needed tools and information during orientation and onboarding to develop job knowledge and hence, reduce the risk of guesswork, which results in stress among new hires (Bell, 2021).

iv) To increase socialization among newly-hired consultants by 40 percent by the end of their first year of work (Bell, 2021). This will be achieved through providing tools, information, and supports for the new hire to receive feedback and build strong networks with subordinates and peers (Bell, 2021).

Program Length

The traditional onboarding program adopts a one-time, one-stop approach, where, over the first few days or weeks of work, the employee is given loads of data and information on the company procedures and policies, and then left to find their way around (Sims, 2013). However, there are those who contend that this approach often results in problems related to information overload among new hires (Sims, 2013; Bell, 2021). A more effective onboarding program takes on a phased approach, enabling the new hire to socialize and build networks with those who mentor, coach, and teach them, as well as with other new employees (Sims, 2013). According to Bell (2021), effective onboarding programs are adapted and designed to connect with new hires before they report, extending over the first day at work, to well over their first year. Thus, the onboarding program for the new consultants will run for one year and will be subdivided into five phases. The first phase will cover activities prior to their physical reporting, the second will cover activities for the first day, the third will cover activities for their first month, the fourth will cover activities for the first quarter or 90 days on the job, and the final phase will cover activities for their first year (Sims, 2013).

Program Location

The onboarding program will take place at the company premises. Onboarding employees within the company premises is advantageous as it provides an opportunity to interact with their colleagues and to experience what they learn firsthand (Bell, 2021). For instance, they are able to observe aspects of the organizational culture, such as how employees relate with each other, during the onboarding exercise, which makes learning more practical. At the same time, holding the onboarding program at the company helps minimize costs as it eliminates the need to hire conference facilities elsewhere. The first week will be dominated by the orientation workshop, which will take place at the company’s conference hall (Cordiner, 2017). The manager in charge of training will take steps to ensure that the room has comfortable chairs, with swivels and wheels, that the air conditioning systems are working, and there is sufficient lighting to intensify the learning atmosphere. According to Cordiner (2017), learning is more effective if the training venue fosters a learning atmosphere and is conducive to learners needs.

Onboarding Program Description

Program Elements

An onboarding program is made up of several elements that lead up to the new hire’s full integration into the company. Lauby (2018) advises that integration should not just begin on the day a new hire reports. In their view, effective integration processes begin way before the company advises a vacant position for suitable candidates to apply (Lauby, 2018). The author posits that, thus, an effective onboarding program comprises of four elements: Recruitment, Pre-boarding, Orientation, and Onboarding (Lauby, 2018). A complete visual representation of the onboarding program summarizing the activities in each element and the persons responsible, is attached as an appendix to this text.

Recruitment is the first element of the onboarding process. The company expresses its new hire expectations in the way it designs its career website and the way it describes the specific role and organizational culture (Lauby, 2018). During the recruitment, the managers in the human resources division and the department that is seeking the new hire deliberate on the responsibilities and roles associated with the specific role, whether to source for a candidate externally or internally, and the desired qualities in the new hire to ensure that they are a good culture fit (Lauby, 2018).

Pre-boarding is the period between when the selected candidate accepts the job offer and their first day (Lauby, 2018). During this time, the director of human resources, the IT manager, and the manager of the department to which the new hire will be attached complete paperwork, including setting up the new hire on the payroll system, setting up and activating the employee’s workspace (office supplies, phone, computer, and connecting to the shared printer), and activating processes around internal security (processing security entrance requirements, staff badges, and user IDs) (Sims, 2013). During the pre-boarding, the human resource manager in charge of staffing will develop a video material, such as DVD or CD with information about the benefits and compensation package associated with the new role and mail it to the employee before their first day. The department will also include in the videos executive welcome messages communicating the company’s culture, goals, and vision to the new employee (Sims, 2013). According to Sims (2013), this provides the employee an opportunity to discuss the benefits offerings with their family and to make a guided and informed decision at their pace. The purpose of pre-boarding is to help the new hire begin to feel like part of the team even before they report for their first day (Lauby, 2018).

Orientation occurs from the new hire’s first day and spreads over to the entire first week of work (Sims, 2013). The human resources department is primarily responsible for the orientation of new hires. On the first day, the manager in charge of staffing will welcome the new hire and acquaint them with the internal security access measures, including handing over their staff IDs and badges (Sims, 2013). They will also take the new hire for a facility tour, where they will get an opportunity to meet other employees in their various work stations (Sims, 2013). Additionally, the staffing manager will guide the new hire in completing all legal requirements and forms, as well as in selecting a benefits package (Sims, 2013). The manager will also get the new hire acquainted with safety stations, and provide training on how to ensure their safety and that of other employees within the company premises (Sims, 2013). This will entail educating them on the fire assembly points and the location of fire extinguishers.

Furthermore, the manager in charge of staffing will introduce the employee to their workspace, including their office, introducing them to their computer and providing basic supplies, including stationary. They will collaborate with the IT manager to assist the new employee in accessing email and the company’s intranet site for the first time by availing the necessary passwords, and offering a representative to serve as a buddy or peer to the new employee to offer additional support and help them settle (Sims, 2013). According to Sims (2013), a buddy is an employee assigned to a new hire as a resource person to communicate the company’s ‘unwritten rules’, respond to their questions, and assist them integrate into the company culture. The buddy, who will usually be a HR employee, will take the new hire to lunch, where they will get an opportunity to meet their peers and interact in an out-of-office setting with the rest of the members of their workgroup.

On the second day of a new employee’s reporting, the staffing manager will organize an orientation workshop, where they will acquaint them on the corporate culture, policies, and processes, including the company mission and vision (Sims, 2011. The staffing manager could delegate the delivery of the orientation workshop to another employee in their division, but they have to be present during the workshop to ensure quality delivery and respond to any queries that the new employee may have. As part of the orientation workshop, the staffing manager will also organize a management orientation, where the new consultant will meet the managers and directors of the company, and get introduced to their respective manager (Sims, 2013).

Within the next four days of the first week, the departmental/division manager will administer job-specific training to the new consultant, teaching them how to access both the expense reporting and project management systems. They will organize a lecture via a PowerPoint presentation to acquaint the new consultant with the projects that they will be working on. To complement the lecture, the manager will provide the new consultant all relevant material, including handbooks and project binders relating to their specific projects for reference. This will help the new hire learn at their pace (Sims, 2013). The manager will regularly check on the new consultant to respond to any questions or concerns they may have. Once the new employee understands their job-related expectations, the manager will hold a discussion with the new hire to ensure they understand their performance goals, as well as the performance appraisal philosophies and processes (Sims, 2013). The discussion method provides an opportunity for the consultant to ask questions for greater understanding.

Onboarding is often used to refer to the entire process discussed above. However, for this program, onboarding is used to refer to the final and longest element of integrating new hires into the company (Lauby, 2018). Its purpose is to acclimate the new hire to the corporate culture and their new job (Lauby, 2018). The new hire will continue to learn the specifics of the job and also gain a deeper understanding of the corporate culture, while building relations with stakeholders, peers, and managers (Lauby, 2018). Every three months, the manager will obtain onboarding feedback from the new consultant to get new ideas and insights on how to improve the onboarding process (Sims, 2013). They will also conduct a quarterly informal performance appraisal to clarify job-related performance expectations, measure progress, and respond to queries (Sims, 2013). The new employee will continue to obtain job-related training throughout their first year until the final formal performance appraisal is conducted at their one-year anniversary, where the manager will assign them another newly-hired employee, whom they will mentor as a buddy (Sims, 2013).

Onboarding Program Contents

According to Bell (2021) an effective onboarding program for new employees covers four main areas: Compliance, Clarification, Culture, and Connections. The compliance area of the onboarding program covers education on the company’s regulations, rules, and policies (Bell, 2021). The new hire is acquainted with the company’s mission and vision statements, company goals and strategy, the company’s history, its executives and leadership, its growth strategy and trends, company values, products and services, marketing plans, the company’s customers, competitors, press releases, NYSE information, and strategic plans (Sims, 2013). They are also educated on policies and procedures, including work hours, telephone policies, internet and computer use policies, environmental policies, performance appraisal policies, code of conduct, travel policies, overtime, leave policies, confidentiality policy, gross misconduct, union policies, and risk management, among other topics that the staffing manager will consider relevant (Sims, 2013). They will also be acquainted on the company’s remuneration policy, including the available benefits (Sims, 2013). This content will be administered by a representative of the HR department in the presence of the staffing manager. The content will be organized in the form of a PowerPoint presentation and delivered by means of a lecture and printed employee guidebooks. The lecture is beneficial when the volume of information to be passed on to the trainee is huge and the trainer’s primary aim is to pass information, rather than develop skill (Spector, 2021).

In the Clarification area of the new hire’s orientation, they will be acquainted with their job and performance expectations (Bell, 2021). For new consultants, this would cover the specifics of the projects they will be working on, including the project goals and responsibilities, their performance goals, and performance-related expectations. The manager of the department where the new employee is attached will be responsible for this segment. The discussion method will be used to foster interaction in the learning and ensure that the new employee has an opportunity to ask questions for better understanding of their job (Spector, 2021). The manager will complement the discussion training method with on the-job training techniques such as mentorship. They will assign the new hire a mentor or buddy to offer additional support and ensure they have a clear understanding of how the company works. Mentoring is beneficial as it focuses more on improving the new hire’s fit within the organization than developing technical performance (Spector, 2021). Throughout their first year, the new employee will be exposed to behavioral forms of training such as case studies and in-basket techniques to improve their job-related, problem-solving, and analytical skills for maximum performance.

The culture component of the onboarding program will involve educating the new hire on the organization’s group behavior and norms (Bell, 2021). Finally, as part of the connection component, the new hire will be guided in developing proper information networks and interpersonal relationships with external stakeholders as well as with peers and managers inside the organization (Bell, 2021). The HR department will offer guides and employee handbooks to help the new hire understand the rules and culture of the organization. At the same time, the mentor or buddy assigned to the new hire will serve as a coach, educating them on the ‘unwritten company rules’ and guiding them to develop strong networks with other employees.

Strategies for Enhancing Transfer of Learning

Malcolm Knowles’ andragogy theory outlines five fundamental characteristics of adult learners: self-concept, adult learner experience, motivation to learn, readiness to learn, and orientation to learning (Knowles et al., 2020). Adult learners are more self-directed, use their years of experience as a basis for learning, are more inclined towards problem-solving rather than subject-centeredness, and have an internal motivation to learn (Knowles et al., 2020). Adult learners transfer learning more effectively if the trainer integrates the above features of andragogy into their delivery (Knowles et al., 2020).

To ensure transfer, Knowles at al. (2020) suggest that trainers involve their adult learners in evaluation and planning, ensure that their content addresses an immediate problem in the learners’ lives or jobs, and provide room for mistakes when one applies their experience as part of learning. In line with these principles, the company will ensure that new hires are effectively involved in the onboarding exercise by providing a copy of the onboarding road map and room for them to give their input on its implementation (Lauby, 2018). Further, new hires will be engaged in evaluating the onboarding program through the feedback that they will give to the HR department every three months for continuous improvement of the process. Mentors or buddies will be used to offer additional support to the new hires in their attempt to transfer what they learn during orientation to their jobs. The new hires’ direct managers will also visit and check on the new hires periodically throughout the onboarding process to offer feedback and address challenges that may hinder effective transfer. According to Knowles et al. (2020), proper follow up increases the likelihood that trainees will transfer learning to their jobs.

Onboarding Program Evaluation

The onboarding program will be evaluated using the Kirkpatrick’s four-level evaluation model. The Kirkpatrick model evaluates the effectiveness of learning programs using four criteria: Reaction, Learning, Behavior, and Results (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). The Reaction level is the most basic level of evaluation. It assesses the extent to which the learner found the program relevant, favorable, and engaging (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). At the Reaction level, the onboarding program will be evaluated using relevance and level of engagement as the outcome measures. The program’s relevance and engagement will be assessed informally through interactions with new hires and formally through feedback forms that will be distributed to new hires every three months to rate the program and give ideas for continuous improvement.

The learning level assesses effectiveness by how well the training helps learners acquire the confidence, attitudes, knowledge, and skills the trainer intended to achieve (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). At the learning level, the evaluation will measure how well the onboarding program improves new hires’ knowledge of the corporate culture, rules, and policies, and attitudes towards their job and performance expectations. These outcomes will be measured using a pre and post-test that will be administered on the first day and every three months thereafter throughout the first year. An improvement in the test scores will indicate that the new hire acquired the intended knowledge and attitudes and hence, the program was a success.

The behavior level measures the extent to which trainees are applying the knowledge and skills acquired in the training to their jobs (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). At the behavior level, the onboarding program will be evaluated based on three behavioral outcomes: socializing ability, employee engagement, and labor productivity. The three measures will be assessed by the employee’s direct supervisor through formal performance appraisals that will be carried out biannually in the presence of the HR staffing manager.

The results level measures how well the training helps in realizing intended business outcomes (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). Here, the onboarding program’s effectiveness will be assessed using two key performance indicators: time-to-productivity and first-year retention rates among newly-hired business consultants. These will be measured using end-year surveys that will be carried out annually. The survey will look at the proportion of consultants hired in a given year who celebrated their one-year anniversary at the company and the calculated time-to-productivity ratio, which measures the time a consultant takes to reach full productivity. Survey findings will be compared to those of past years to determine whether there has been improvement as a result of the onboarding program.