Onboarding Like a Champ: Tips to Enhance Your Onboard Process at a New Organization

As some of you may know, I took the leap and started a new role at a new institution nearly six months ago—time flies by so fast! While I was eager to begin this new opportunity, after being at the same organization for 11 years, I forgot the extensive process of onboarding. We’ve all experienced onboarding, I’m sure to varying degrees of success, but the amount of mental space needed for new knowledge and people was something I had not fully prepared myself for. 

I’ve always felt that onboarding was crucial to an individual’s understanding of an organization and its processes, and one’s own success in their position. Additionally, a good onboarding program can lead to higher staff engagement—one report found 51% of employees would go “above and beyond” in their work if they had received a good onboarding experience. Therefore, this is not only good for your organization's bottom line, as turnover will be lower, but also for retention of institutional knowledge and consistency of programs. 

With this having been my first onboarding experience in over a decade, I was, and still am, thoroughly impressed by the level of programming set up by my organization, its divisions, and human resources professionals. There was a real emphasis on understanding the organization’s history, mission, and values, as well as how the work I do plays into the bigger picture. In addition to a day and half of orientation, I received online, self-paced training modules to complete that reinforced and provided additional details for all the information I learned. 

My supervisor also contributed to my great onboarding experience by being proactive and setting up meetings for me with key colleagues within the organization, and also clearly defining goals. Throughout the goals discussion, an environment of openness and transparency was fostered–allowing me to ask detailed questions and receive candid answers. When entering any new relationship, especially a working relationship, you never truly know how the dynamic may translate from the interview process to the day-to-day interactions. I’m thankful for the consistency and the reinforcement provided as it confirmed my choice to take this new role and become a member of the team.

I was fortunate enough to receive a great onboarding process; however, even with a good onboarding, there are some items one may miss or not think to ask about. Below are a few takeaways and insights from my recent experience that I would like to share.

Setting Yourself Up for Success in a New Role

• Understand the organization - Dive in and learn as much as you can about your new organization. It may be the “Arranger” in me, but in addition to the mission, vision, and values, knowing the leadership, boards and administration, and also organizational structure helps one get to really know a new institution. Also, make sure you sign up and are receiving organizational newsletters to help you stay in the loop and be informed on any key updates.

• Take the meeting - There were multiple times when a colleague would say, “I don’t know if it would be helpful, but maybe you should meet with [insert colleague’s name here].” And I am here to say, take the meeting. It may not be helpful today, but three months from now it very well could be! Not long after I started, I found myself in a situation where I needed to arrange a tour for an alumnus, and because I had taken all the meetings, I  knew who to contact to get the ball rolling. 
  

• Integrate with the team - Not only did I find myself at a new organization, I was also in a new city. I found myself dealing with a lot of newness and loneliness (an emotion I don’t experience much), and was without familiarity to ground me. Yes, I met colleagues in meetings and in other professional settings, but thankfully other social opportunities were organized, and I made the effort to engage in those as well. I feel incredibly lucky to have great colleagues. I am also able to say I’ve found “my people” in the organization, and have made friends as well. Would I have found “my people” either way? I like to think so, but I know integrating with the team was crucial to my success. 
  

• Learn the physical space - Trying to arrange a tour without truly knowing the campus made me chuckle. Luckily I was able to partner with great colleagues, so my lack of knowledge didn’t negatively impact the experience of an alumnus visiting campus for the first time in 55 years! I have it on my list to really explore the campus more this summer, so I will be better informed when trying to find meetings and maybe even lead a tour one day! Also, let’s remember, knowing your office space is important! You need to know where the bathrooms are, where to locate a stapler, and all the other small items you may not think about until you find yourself needing them at the last minute. 
  

• Ask the “silly” question(s) - I always like to say “there are no silly questions,” but sometimes I do feel silly when asking. I have found this relates in particular to acronyms, definitions, and processes. I’ve asked many questions, some multiple times and some are seemingly “silly,” but in order  to ensure I fully understand everything, they are necessary.  When onboarding, you’re taking in a lot of information, so ensure you ask the questions you need answers to …and remember–take good notes!

I know this isn’t an exhaustive list, but I hope this sparks ideas for you as you think about transitioning to a new organization, or if you’re currently in your own process of onboarding. I expect the onboarding process to last at least one year—perhaps longer.

In the world of higher education, where we work on a cyclical schedule, there will be new issues, items or events that present themselves as I work through this first cycle that I have yet to experience, so the process certainly will continue here.

A mentor once told me, “year one: you’re observing and learning, year two: you’re adjusting and implementing, and year three: is for assessment.” I’m definitely in the observing and learning stage and loving it—I cannot wait to see what the future holds!

Written by Avery G. Howard