In the final post of our three-part series on talent acquisition and retention in research administration, we’re focusing on Onboarding. Read Part 1: Retention here, and Part 2: Recruitment here.
Onboarding processes are the final piece of the recruitment and retention puzzle, and their importance cannot be overstated. A recent study by Glassdoor found that companies with effective onboarding practices improved their new hire retention rate by a staggering 82%.
And yet, the data show that few organizations do this well; a Gallup study showed that only 12% of employees felt their company did a great job with onboarding. As a silver lining, that means there is plenty of space for your institution to excel.
Unsurprisingly, our research administration panelists had some intriguing insights to share about how to create an unparalleled onboarding experience.
What onboarding is (and isn’t)
Onboarding refers to the process of incorporating a new employee into your organization in a way that sets them up for success. The object is to find the shortest line between their status as a “new hire” and becoming an effective and contributing member of your team.
Above all else, onboarding is about building relationships. It should begin a journey of belonging and incorporating into the organization. Remember that meaningful work and connection matter more to your staff than their salary does. From Day One, give them the meaning they’re looking for.
Jeff Sullivan (University of Kentucky) mentioned a SHRM study showing that employees are 69% more likely to stay for at least three years if you onboard them well. Even a standard onboarding program increased the odds that staff would stay for three years by 58%, so you don’t have to be the best in the business to motivate your new hires to stay. The deciding factor seems to be as simple as a structured process for incorporating new employees into the team.
Finally, that same research from SHRM shows that new hires are 50% more productive in the first six months if they’re onboarded well—a critical difference to already-overwhelmed research administration teams. Take a close look at your onboarding processes and verify that they involve more than a quick tour, paperwork, and handing the new hire a badge.
Involve the wider team
Onboarding staff to your research administration team is about much more than training them on their daily duties. It’s about finding ways to connect people to the university and other departments, building relationships that will serve them throughout their employment.
Team building is especially critical in the early stages. While the term may conjure up images of trust falls and rope courses—and you certainly can do those things—team building is really about finding ways to ensure that people know each other and form real connections, even in remote or hybrid working environments.
None of these efforts need to be elaborate or expensive. The object is to put intentionality behind how and when you onboard new staff members; onboarding has been shown time and time again to make a measurable difference in an employee’s overall work experience and their longevity with your team.
Assign a mentor
Onboarding represents a pivotal moment for new employees; it’s the point at which they decide whether to stay engaged or to gradually lose interest. One way to ensure engagement from the earliest moments is to assign each new staff member a senior-level mentor.
This selection should not be random; pick someone with intention based on what you know of the new hire, and arrange for them to have specific interactions on a daily basis. For example, you might have this mentor introduce them to key people within the department, rather than having someone from HR or their supervisor do it.
Involve new staff in events and opportunities that arise, and include them in a wide variety of meetings. Even where meetings aren’t related to their position or their daily work, this can help them meet new people and understand context and interactions within the office, even when meetings are virtual. Apart from those benefits, exposure to more names and faces is never a bad thing!
Orient new hires with an onboarding buddy
In addition to assigning senior-level mentors, peer-to-peer “onboarding buddies” are another great way to facilitate organic learning and ongoing connections. As part of this process, it’s helpful to share a “behind-the-scenes” look at the network behind the org chart. In other words: who team members should approach for guidance or expertise on which topics, where to go with questions or when seeking advice, etc.
Match key people up with new employees to help them feel like they’re a part of the action. Ensure these mentors are peers, not mid-level managers or direct supervisors. In part, this will increase honesty and comfort on behalf of the incoming employee. But also, managers simply may not know the “behind-the-scenes” org chart as well as an employee’s peers do.
Arrange daily social interactions, breaking down silos and ensuring that new hires are quickly oriented and integrated within the team. If your HR department has the bandwidth, our panelists suggested creating a committee for social interaction and cultural orientation. Conversations facilitated by these committees should not be related to job tasks, but rather what it’s like to work on the team.
Start slowly
Finally, offer realistic previews of what the day-to-day job is like during onboarding, but don’t throw new hires into the deep end right away. Expose them gradually to the work they’ll be expected to perform, allowing them plenty of opportunity to ask questions. Also, free up time for their peer-level mentors to work alongside them where appropriate, offering up advice and making suggestions on how to improve their work before it leaves the RA office.
How to excel at onboarding
SHRM outlines several steps to achieve optimal onboarding:
- Preboarding: Processes that can occur after an offer is accepted but before the new hire’s start date. This might include sending a care package along with the org chart, inviting the employee for a campus tour, or introducing them to their “onboarding buddy” ahead of time to answer basic questions and address first-day jitters.
- Orientation: A formal event to introduce the new employee to the institution at large, review the employee handbook, complete required paperwork, and conduct mandatory training sessions. This process is best done over a few days to prevent overwhelm.
- Foundation Building: Communicating your unique take on workplace culture, mission, brand, and other relevant foundational components that set your organization apart. This can’t be done within the first week or even the first several weeks; it takes months to learn and internalize, and is yet another benefit of an onboarding buddy or mentor.
