We’ve heard it over and over again – our most valuable asset is our people. If this is true (and we all believe it is) then it stands to reason that how we bring those assets into our organization is a vital first step to their success.
RG Group has developed a comprehensive employee onboarding process. The process has been evolving over time and has proven to be quite successful. I’d like to take a moment to share how we in the RG Group IT Department have developed our plan for getting employees off to a quick start.
Of course there are known factors when bringing any new employee into the company. For example, every employee is set up in the payroll system, receives a network login, and is established with an Email address. However, it is not our role to dictate all of the services, tools and resources an employee will need – rather it is our role to understand what an employee will need. If we’re not matching the technology to the employee’s job function, we’re doing a huge disservice to them.
Upon learning of a new hire, my first step is to schedule a meeting (most often face-to-face) with the hiring manager. During this meeting, I interview the hiring manager (following a check list of topics) to learn more about the new hire. I want to know what the job function will be, where the new employee will work, what tools and resources are required for them to effectively do their job. The results and findings of this interview are documented and provided to the hiring manager along with a summary of what will be covered during the orientation process when the new employee arrives. The hiring manager is asked to review the findings and give us approval to proceed.
Having now gained an understanding of how the new employee will fit into the organization, the IT staff completes setting up the new user on all systems. Or goal is to have all resources (logins, permissions, phone numbers, equipment, etc.) in place prior to the employee’s first day on the job. Our process does not end here.
On day one of the new hire’s employment, the overall company orientation process begins. In most cases, the IT department portion of their orientation is scheduled for this first day. The IT orientation consists of two parts:
Part 1: As IT Manager, I sit with the new employee to introduce myself. I usually like to do this in my office – I want to be sure the new employee knows where to find me if they need help and to assure them that the door is always open. During our discussion I explain the responsibility of the department and staff, review our IT policies, talk about how IT will interact with them in their job function and talk about what part 2 of their orientation will consist of.
Part 2: The IT staff sits with the new hire and reviews all of their user account information and credentials, provides quick-start tips, and does some introductory training. This is not so much comprehensive training (which will come later) as it is helping them find their way around.
After this first-day orientation with the IT staff, the new hire should know who we are, how to find us, how to get help when needed, and how technology will fit into their job function. In short, we’re communicating to the new hire that we’re here to help them be successful and get them off to a good start.
Overall, our IT onboarding process is designed to be customizable to every new hire. We’re gearing the event specific to the manager’s and the employee’s needs. As our systems and requirements change, we review our process and make adjustments. Although we’ve formalized the IT onboarding process, we want to keep the interaction with the new hire as informal as we can. We’re working with people, not users, and we want to show every new employee that they are an asset worthy of investment.
How does your company orient new employees? I’d love to hear about it…