The Three Levels of Onboarding π
Why onboarding matters, and a simple framework to make it 10x better.
Like Joni Mitchell said: βI have looked at life from both sides now.β
I have been onboarded and have been responsible for onboarding others, multiple times. I can tell β also from my own mistakes β that onboarding is one of those overlooked processes that sometimes are expected to just happen.
I suspect this is because of a couple of reasons:
It feels like a commodity. Once you get past a baseline of quality β that is, here are some docs, here is your team, here is what you have to do β it doesn't seem there is much room for improvement.
Performance is hard to measure, making it hard to assess how the process is actually doing. Which in turn makes it hard to improve.
Let's address both arguments, and see how and why we should make onboarding 10x better π
π What is Onboarding
If we trust the Oxford Dictionary, onboarding is "the action or process of integrating a new employee into an organization".
This integration requires alignment between both sides:
The employee should learn what is expected of her, and how to actually perform her job.
The company should learn what the employeesβ needs are, and do its best to fulfill them.
Why are these elements so important?
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