Onboarding - A Vital Part of Team Building

Onboarding, also known as organizational socialization, refers to the mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become effective organizational members and insiders.

I vividly recall as a young manager my boss and mentor telling me "You will be hiring people and I will be watching closely how well you onboard and develop them." Too often good people are hired then left to fend for themselves. I have never understood the "sink or swim" approach some managers seem to employ, either by choice or because they are simply "too busy". Really?

Jim Collins in his best-selling book Good to Great stated that great companies are highly effective at “getting the right people on the bus, and in the right seats”. I love this metaphor and have written several articles on the topic of hiring for fit and and setting your people up for success in my team building and Leadership Learn Shops.

Once you have landed the right person for a particular job what does you and your organization do to ensure she will thrive? Do you have a process in place beyond the standard HR “orientation” which often only covers things like the employee handbook, benefits, and policies? If you have spent a good deal of time identifying the best person and hiring him, why leave his successful integration with your team to chance?

If you are like me and have seen a talented new hire founder and even fail because they never seemed to fit in or feel welcomed, you have experienced an ineffective onboarding process. Yet few organizations manage the pieces of onboarding well. Even fewer organizations use a strategic, integrated and consistent approach.

Four Steps of Onboarding

1.     Acquire - Identify, recruit, select and get people to join the team.

2.     Accommodate - Give new team members the tools they need to do work.

3.     Assimilate - Help them join with others so they can do work together.

4.     Accelerate - Help them (and their team) deliver better results faster.

Effective onboarding of new team members is one of the most important contributions any hiring manager or Human Resources professional can make to that person's long-term success. Done right onboarding turbocharges new employee productivity, accelerates results, and significantly improves talent retention.  

The Sea Buddy

Highly effective teams have onboarding process that includes assigning a “sea buddy” to “show him or her the ropes”. Both are old Navy terms that relate to having a new sailor coming onboard. In the age of wind power ships had different sail configurations, so a seaman had to quickly learn how to rig that ship’s sails, especially if rough weather or a battle were imminent. When the “all hands on deck” call went out, having him quickly up to speed was literally a matter of life and death.

The sailor new to that boat might have experience on other ships but a wise captain always assigns someone from his crew who is “salty” – a seasoned veteran of that boat – to show him how that particular ship is rigged. More importantly the sea buddy shares the unwritten rules or mores, values and culture of that particular ship and its captain. This includes traditions and oral history as well as who’s who, who does what, and who to go to for certain things.

A sea buddy is best selected from outside the greenhorn’s direct chain of command. This is a good idea as a newbie often doesn’t want to ask questions of his boss or department peers for fear of looking ignorant. That will dissipate as he feels like he’s truly part of the team and trusted enough to be vulnerable. A sea buddy serves as a mentor, confidant, and trusted advisor who takes her role seriously and with pride. She will help make the new hire’s transition from “newbie” to “old hand” smooth. Then at some point in the future that person will be selected to serve as a sea buddy, so the cycle continues.

Effective onboarding is crucial in that it dramatically increases the odds of retaining good people and ensuring smooth team work. If your organization doesn’t have a comprehensive onboarding process and assign sea buddies it’s time to get on board!

Frank Manfre www.frankmanfre.com