Creative Onboarding Programs

Tools for Energizing Your Orientation Program

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Contents

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Identifying Your New Employee Learning Topics

Contributed By: Doris Sims, SPHR, President of Succession Builders, LLC

About the Author: Doris M. Sims, SPHR is the Founder and President ofSuccession Builders, LLC, a talent management, succession planning, and newtalent onboarding consulting firm. Her experience in organizational developmentspans over 20 years working in Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies. Dorisreceived her master's degree in Human Resource Development from Indiana StateUniversity. Doris is the coauthor of the talent management books BuildingTomorrow's Talent: A Practitioner's Guide to Talent Management and SuccessionPlanning; The 30-Minute Guide to Talent and Succession Management; andThe Talent Review Meeting Facilitation Guide. Doris is also the authorof the McGraw-Hill book Creative New Employee Orientation Programs, andhas contributed articles to many other McGraw-Hill books and multipleperiodicals, including Training Magazine, Talent Management Magazine,Professionals in Human Resources, and The Consultant's Toolkit.

New employee onboarding is often the most customized training program in anycorporation; it must be geared to your company's specific culture, policies,procedures, and values, so it is very important to conduct a thorough needsassessment process to determine the objectives of your own program.

This new employee learning topics list can help accelerate your orientationneeds assessment process by providing a checklist of potential topics that havebeen used in the orientation programs of other companies. Use the checklist inneeds assessment interviews, focus groups, or surveys. If you are in the processof updating your orientation program, use the shopping list to identify anypotential objectives that should be added to your course.

The New Employee Learning Topics List

Check the topics that are appropriate to include in your company's orientationprogram, orientation materials, and/or employee handbook:

* The Company's Mission Statement

* The Company's Vision Statement

* Company Strategy/Goals

* The Company's History

* Company Leaders/Executives

* A Facility Tour

* Organizational Chart(s)

* The Company's Quality Program(s)

* Group/Individual Photographs

* Lunch with Company Leaders

* Parent Company Information

* Company Subsidiary Information

* Company Locations/Size(s)

* Executive Presentations

* Company Growth—Past and Future

* Industry Awards/Recognition

* Top Market Niches

* Company Values

* The Company's Products/Services

* The Company's Customers

* Company Logo(s) and Marketing Plans

* The Company's Competitors

* Diversity Training and Cultural Awareness

* Customer Service Training

* NYSE Symbol/Information

* Business Partners of the Company

* Press Releases

* Company Stories/Case Studies

COMPANY BENEFITS

* Medical Insurance Benefits

* Vision Insurance

* Short-term Disability

* Life Insurance

* Flexible Spending Accounts

* Stock Option Programs

* Free or Discounted Meals

* Tuition Reimbursement

* Dental Insurance Benefits

* Vacation Benefits

* Personal Accident Insurance

* Concierge Services

* Floating Holidays

* Pension and Retirement Programs

* Child-care Assistance

* Paid Volunteer/Charity Time

* 401(k) Programs/Investment Options

* Employee Discounts

* Sick-child Assistance

* Employee Assistance Program

* Accidental Death/Dismemberment Insurance

* Cafeteria Location

* Directory of Local Restaurants

* Compensation/Bonus Policies

* Profit-sharing Benefits

* On-site or Near-site Day Care

* Holiday Schedule

* Long-term Disability

* Business Travel Accident Insurance

* On-site Health Services

* Workout Facilities

* New- hire Referral Bonus Program

COMPANY POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

* Work Hours/Work Schedules

* Telephone Procedures

* Telephone Directory

* Emergency Procedures

* Computer/Internet Use Policies

* Payroll Schedule

* Inclement Weather Policy

* Environmental Issues

* Purchasing Forms and Procedures

* Breaks and Meal Periods

* Weapons Policy

* Alcohol and Drug Abuse Policies

* Insider Trading Policies

* Family Leave Policies and Procedures

* Smoking Areas and Policies

* Sending Interoffice and U.S. Mail

* Visitor Policies

* Company Courier Services

* Worker's Compensation

* Conflict-of-interest Policy

* Ergonomics

* Performance Appraisal Policies

* Jury Duty

* Gum-Chewing Policy

* Uniforms

* Travel Policies and Procedures

* Sick-Time Policies and Procedures

* Performance Appraisal Periods

* Corporate Credit Card Policies

* Ethics Policies

* Code of Conduct Policies

* Locations of Fire Extinguishers

* Bereavement Policy

* Overtime Policies

* Expense Report Procedures

* Reserving a Conference Room

* Break Room Locations/Policies

* Union Policies

* Attendance and Tardiness Policies

* Flextime Policies

* Serving Customers with Disabilities

* Risk Management Policies and Procedures

* Gross Misconduct

* Confidentiality Policies

* Solicitation Policies

* Policy on Radios and iPods in the Workplace

* Copier Locations and User Codes

* Office Furniture Requests and Keys

* Employee Suggestion Box/Policy

* Appropriate Grooming Guidelines

* Dress Code

* Parking Policies

* Purchasing Policies/Procedures

* E-Mail Policies

* Timesheet Procedures

* Sexual Harassment Policies

* Harassment Reporting Procedure

* Recycling

* Voicemail Procedures

* Company Property Policies

* Proprietary Information Policy

* Security Services and Contact Information

* Handling Customer Complaints

* Equal Opportunity Employment Policy

* Solicitation Policies

* Employee Complaint Resolution

COMPANY PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

* Safety Programs/Sanitation

* ATM Location

* IT Help Desk

* Charitable Initiatives

* Volunteer Opportunities

* Corporate Travel Services

* On-Site College Courses

* Wellness Programs

* Internal Job Transfer Program

* Technical/Computer Training

* Sick Bay Area and First Aid Supplies

* Security Services and Policies

* Training Programs

* Employee Sports Teams

* Ergonomics Products/Services

* Company Toastmaster's Club

* Company Weight Watcher's GROUP

* Family Services and Events

* Career Planning Services

* Company Newsletter

* Prenatal Programs

* Company Store—Physical or Virtual

OTHER ACTIVITIES OR TOPICS

* Have employees sign I-9 forms and provide appropriate identification

* Take photos of employees for security badges

* Conduct tours of laboratories, assembly lines, and manufacturing areas

* Plan team-building and icebreaker exercises

* Demonstrate the company's intranet site

* Hold breakfast or lunch for new employees

* Prepare taped or live CEO presentation

* Explain mentor or buddy programs

* Provide a package of basic office supplies

* Obtain information for business cards

* Obtain a completed nameplate order form

* Have employees complete an emergency contact form

* Issue vehicle identification or parking stickers

* Have employees complete automatic paycheck deposit forms

CHAPTER 2

Onboarding in a Start-Up within a Global Group

Contributed By: Jean Pfeifer, Director, UBS Business University, as relayedin an interview with Doris Sims

About the Author: Jean (French equivalent of John) is a seasonedlearning professional. He worked 10 years in UBS's core business (WealthManagement) before starting a 10-year career in Learning & Development, where heserved as Director in the UBS Global Learning Strategy, as well as ProjectManager at the UBS Wealth Management Campus Asia-Pacific in Singapore, the localCLO of UBS Japan in Tokyo, and currently the Talent Manager in the Business AreaLAMMA (Latin America, Canada, Europe, Middle-East, and Africa).

In 2004, Jean founded the Geneva Learning Managers Roundtable, an organizationof approximately 25 learning managers to share hands-on best practices. He isalso a member of the Advisory Board of the Global Council of CorporateUniversities (Paris). Jean holds a BBA (Lausanne) followed by postgraduatestudies in Business Economics (UC Berkeley), and received a second MA in HumanSystems Engineering (University of Applied Sciences, Lausanne, Switzerland) andthe Swiss Advanced Federal Diploma in Corporate Education.

ONBOARDING AROUND THE WORLD

UBS is a premier global financial services firm offering wealth management,investment banking, asset management, and business banking services to clientsaround the world. With more than 65,000 employees worldwide, UBS has developedseveral onboarding best practices designed to effectively integrate employees.The UBS onboarding program includes multiple components for the new joiner, thenew joiner's buddy, and the joiner's manager.

These best practice onboarding components are illustrated in more detail in thisarticle as examples. But the real story lies in the unique challenge thatoccurred as UBS (a Swiss company) as the organization expanded operations inJapan. This expansion offered a new opportunity to work with the Japanese UBSemployees to plan and implement a program that would incorporate UBS time testedbest practice onboarding components while also aligning with the Japaneseculture and meeting the business need to teach new technology as new employeesare hired in the Japanese branch.

UBS EXPANDS INTO JAPAN

When the Wealth Management division of UBS opened a new branch with newtechnology in Japan, the branch was hiring up to approximately 10 new employeesevery month, starting from zero employees in 2005, with no formal onboarding ortraining program in place to integrate and prepare the new employees forsuccess. The new joiners required too long to become fully productive, they werenot obtaining enough information about UBS internal values, tools, andstructure, and the new employee integration process was fragmented and stretchedover multiple weeks.

The new branch needed a new joiner onboarding program immediately. To achievethis goal, multiple challenges and opportunities were addressed:

* The intercultural challenges of the project were very high—not only didthe content of the current UBS onboarding materials need to be translated intoJapanese, but the content and approach also needed to be aligned with Japaneseculture and the new technology in the Japanese branch, which was very differentfrom the wealth management environment in Swiss banking (and even that in therest of Asia).

* UBS Japan was a small but fast-growing start-up organization within a mature,large global financial services group.

* In Japan, in contrast to other geographic markets, UBS was relatively unknown,with minimal branding, making it more difficult to attract top talent.

* The program had to be created and implemented quickly in order to meet thebusiness need of the rapid growth of the Japan branch and the need for the newbranch to quickly demonstrate strong business results.

THE STRATEGY AND APPROACH

In 2007, Jean Pfeifer relocated from Switzerland to Japan for one year to serveas a local chief learning officer, with his first priority the implementation ofa new employee onboarding program that would create a common culture across theorganization and of training courses to teach the new technology and processes.This was a unique approach—many companies would have hired a local humanresources professional to simply "plug in" the corporate UBS onboarding program.

But UBS felt that it was important for Jean to move to Japan to work in personwith the Japanese UBS employees, in order to build the trust, relationships, andcredibility that are needed for this type of change management initiative.

Jean started his new position in Japan by listening. He listened to the companyleaders to learn about their successes and challenges, and he met with employeesin various positions in the Japanese branch. Jean spent more than a monthbuilding relationships with the leaders and employees of the branch, listening,observing, asking for advice, and gathering information. He felt it wasimportant to show that he genuinely wanted to help the branch to be successfuland that he wanted to work in a cooperative and collaborative manner with theleaders and employees of the Japanese branch.

Jean's next step was to develop and execute a pilot onboarding program. Althoughexisting onboarding materials from the UBS Swiss corporate office were used (andtranslated) where appropriate, most of the materials for the Japan branch werecreated "from scratch" in order to meet the specific business and cultural needsof the branch. After delivering the pilot program, Jean observed the results andmade changes to enhance the final onboarding program.

With all of the time needed for Jean to relocate, to listen and buildrelationships, to run a pilot and make enhancements, one might form animpression that this approach takes too long to achieve results—why notjust implement the corporate office program and fly back to Switzerland? Butwithin three months of Jean's arrival in Japan, a new seven-day onboardingprogram was finalized and implemented, with very successful results.

The new program provided a standardized integration process with the followingcomponents:

* Two "off-the-job" booster programs: A one-day Welcome Program, a five-dayinduction training program, and a one-day follow-up

* A one-hour meeting with the local CEO in the first session of the welcome day;the CEO also discussed the vision, mission, and strategy for the company

* Regular coaching sessions by Line Managers

* On-the-job support from an assigned buddy for the new employee

* Standardized tools—a Starter Kit, Guides, Task List, and a New JoinerNavigator tool

* A "Swiss Evening" session, held on the first day of the Orientation Program,which provided an understanding of Swiss culture for the local Japaneseemployees; this indirectly acted as an intercultural course in a fun andfriendly atmosphere and created bonds between locals and expatriates. Allexecutives and speakers from the induction program were invited to join this"party."

THE RESULTS

When the new onboarding program was implemented at UBS Japan, the results wereso positive that additional sessions were requested for "old employees" who didnot have this program to attend when they were new employees, because thecurrent employees felt that they did not know as much as the new employees! UBShas been named the "Best Private Bank in the World" for six consecutive years byEuromoney.

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(Continues...)Excerpted from Creative Onboarding Programs by Doris Sims. Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
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