Organizations and Onboarding: The 5 Biggest Mistakes (continued)

(When we last left Alex, our new leader, she was excited and a bit anxious to start her new position--if you missed this, read the blog entry below...)

On her first day, Alex reported early to the office to get her space set up and organized. She is greeted at the front desk by the security officer who doesn’t have her “in the system” so she must wait in the lobby for her manager’s assistant to come and escort her to the work area.

Once there, she discovers that the assistant thought that Alex was starting the next week, so her computer, phone and office supplies are not there and have not yet been ordered. Alex also needs a Blackberry and Amex card, so the assistant has to fill out extra forms to get those items in process. Alex asks the assistant when she will be able to meet with her manager to start her onboarding process. The assistant tells her that the manager is out of the country for the next 2 weeks, but she will put her on his calendar the first day that he is back in the office. Alex would be spending the next day and a half in orientation and has a few “meet and greet” meetings set-up.

Alex begins to try to piece together what she believes her onboarding plan is and what the deliverables should be for her first few weeks and months on the job. She does her best to meet with her team members, peers and other stakeholders. She also uses the information that she obtained during the selection process to make decisions and process information, but she makes mistakes without the context and feedback of her manager.

People are starting to wonder why she is making changes in her department and her team, and are forming perceptions about her not really “fitting in” to this culture.

She starts to think that maybe taking this job wasn't such a great idea after all.

(to be continued)

Organizations and Onboarding: The 5 Biggest Mistakes

What are the 5 biggest mistakes that organizations make when they onboard their new hires? And why do they make these mistakes repeatedly?

The interviews went smoothly. Alex felt great about the company, her new role and team, and she wasn’t relocating, so how tough could it be? But after she accepted the offer, her new organization let Alex down, in a big way—actually, 5 big ways.

Organizations start out with the best of intentions. They don’t usually set out to fail. But when it comes to onboarding their new employees, they unfortunately, are making the 5 same mistakes over and over again, and it is costing them time, money, productivity and some really good people.

The following are the worst (and the most common) mistakes that organizations make when onboarding their new hires:
1. No contact between the acceptance and start dates
2. Not providing the basic set-up and resources
3. Lack of a structured onboarding plan with clear expectations
4. Key stakeholder meetings lack preparation and focus
5. Hiring manager does not give feedback nor role clarity

Alex (our case study) received her offer and accepted within a week. However, after she had officially accepted and the recruiter faxed back a signed offered, no one else contacted her. She had several questions, and wanted to contact the recruiter or her new manager but didn’t want to be perceived as “high-maintenance” so she decided to wait. She called her hiring manager, left a voice mail and received a brief email in return that said he was looking forward to her starting and that he would answer all her questions on her first day.

Find out what happens to Alex in our next blog....