Now that we’ve finished our next book, Onboarding: How to Get Your New Employees Up to Speed in Half the Time, we were able to step back and look at onboarding from the perspectives of both the new leader and the hiring manager. What emerges are three main ideas, applicable to both but in slightly different ways: 1) Get a head start; 2) Manage the messages; 3) Inspire and enable others. Let’s dig into each of those a little bit.
GET A HEAD START
This idea comes back a couple of times during the stages of onboarding. Before the first contact, it’s important for the hiring manager to get everyone aligned around his or her Total Onboarding Plan and recruiting brief. Then, between acceptance and day one, the hiring manager and the new leader can make a big impact by jump-starting learning and relationships.
MANAGE THE MESSAGES
This may be the piece of onboarding with the biggest upside potential. It’s an idea that runs through every stage of onboarding for all involved. Everything communicates 24/7 forever in all ways. Everything anyone says, does, or chooses to listen to or observe. It’s worth investing the time to clarify the message and worth the discipline of sticking with the messages.
INSPIRE AND ENABLE OTHERS
Almost by definition, managers hire people to do things they can’t do by themselves. Leaders without followers are not really leaders. This is why both hiring managers and new employees need to focus time and energy on inspiring and enabling others.
George Bradt
PrimeGenesis Executive Onboarding and Transition Acceleration
