Having enjoyed twenty years across several companies, a dozen countries, and three functions, I may be able to offer some thoughts about on-boarding.

As I will come to explain, there are a few very important matters that you should consider before anything else. Let’s say that they may come back to bite you if you do not. They are (my apologies if these points seem obvious to you but to some it is not):

1. Ensure that you have senior (President or at least EVP/SVP-level) support to this project.
2. Make a list of the key people in the organisation that may let your thinking “sink” or “swim”. Make sure you know who the decision-maker is and who that person’s influencers are.
3. Make sure that you create a project map for this project with timings and people.
4. Make sure that these influencers and the decision-maker and securely diarized.

I see on-boarding more as a route than a series of events, so I tend to refer to on-boarding as a “map” rather than a list of meetings. It is vital that any on-boarding program is not standardized so that every person joining is liable to have to attend every meeting. Otherwise the newcomer may become disinterested.

By “beginning with the end in mind” (that’s a good old P&G catchphrase!) you now need to identify to which level each newcomer should be on-boarded. For example, let’s say you have two newcomers join the same day and they are both in Sales. One is a “Territory Representative” and one is “Senior Account Director”. Clearly, there are two quite different levels of on-boarding required. Not only the breadth but also the depth of information, the level of sensitivity of information, etc; all need to be adjusted based upon the role, function, seniority, geography, etc; of the newcomer.

Next, talk with the predecessor of the role and determine the key functions (internally and externally), with which the newcomer needs to align. If the predecessor is no longer there – or to get even more valuable input – then speak to the position’s manager, his peers, etc. In fact, I find the assistants and those people that have been around for a number of years (the long-term secretary, AP Manager, HR Manager, etc) to be very helpful in telling you the truth when it comes to the way the position REALLY works.

So, by now, you should have a series of functions, with which this position will interact. If you have heard of the fish-bone approach to problem solving then you can use this here. Create the fishbone and the bones that come off the main spine. On each bone write the function. Then, off each functional “bone”, draw some additional “sub-bones” that reflect the specific parts of that function that need to be covered. For example, in Public Relations, it may be important to meet with “Factory Production” but only with “Quality Control” (as a sub-group, therefore a “sub-bone”) and not with “Planning”.

Once you have created the bones and sub-bones and listed both the main functional area and the sub-groups of that function, I suggest putting titles in the frames. There’s no point putting people’s names in there since people move so stick to titles. Of course, if like some of the major Pharmaceutical companies you have an efficient way of tracking who works in which function then an on-line on-boarding program that updates who the newcomer will need to meet (and not just the person’s title) could be a real possibility. By doing this, the newcomer may be able to have immediate access to key email addresses, telephone numbers, and availabilities of the people he/she needs to meet. This could make the on-boarding quite slicker.

Next, I suggest you take a reality check. Is the organisation really behind this procedure you are putting together? Why do I ask this? This is because we come to the need to add timings to the on-boarding road map. If you have identified some “supporters” and “confidant(e)s” in the organisation then now may be a good time to bounce your ideas off them.

One of the most frustrating aspects of delivering an on-boarding program appears when the more senior management never seem to be able to make the meeting with the newcomer. I have seen it several times and in the end, the newcomer may never end up seeing the senior manager! You really need to make sure that the President and his/her Board are behind you here so that none of the VP’s or Directors get away with saying: “Oh, meeting this new Brand Manager cannot be as important as the (twice) rearranged meeting with the in-store promotions agency that is located just next to that wonderful golf course(!)” Pin them down and make sure they agree to meet the newcomer when you have identified it is right to do so. Of course, important matters come up that must take priority but just make sure that the absconding senior manager is aware that constant absenteeism from this process will not be tolerated.

Let’s say you have this support from the senior management. Now, it is important to put time frames against each meeting. Now, I will refer to something that became famous as a great on-boarding tool at Cadbury. It was called “Chase the Chocolate Box”. Here, the company identified the process that it takes to go from creative ideation through to on-shelf execution and clearly set out exactly which part of the business did what and when. In fact, newcomers had to work for one week passing through this very process and seeing, as much as possible, the actual acts being done. If they could not see the acts being done then either a description was given by the person that would normally do the act e.g. leading a focus group in consumer research, and questions taken. Alternatively, the newcomers, as a group, could work on a project that would help them better appreciate more of the esoteric areas of the process.

Naturally, this cannot be started every time a newcomer joins so the company will wait until they know (thanks to HR’s up-to-date recruitment records) that enough newcomers are about to join. It is valuable to try to get several different functions represented in the newcomer group so that cross-fertilization of learning and discussions to aid relationship building across functions to take place.

So, if you think that the Chase the Chocolate Box idea could work for you then this will require the availability of the key functional heads to determine how this would work. I will not go into this here as that is a whole other topic in itself.

In essence, you will need to go through the functions and sub-groups and determine at which stage in the on-boarding map the respective meeting with the newcomer should come. At this stage, you will be well advised to keep the timings fairly unspecific i.e. NOT Meeting #1, Meeting #2, etc; but rather: “First Third of the Route”, “Second Third of the Route”, and “Final Third of the Route”.

By now, you should have the newcomer covered as far as: (i) which functions they will need to meet; (ii) which sub-group(s) within that function is (are) most important; (iii) the title of the contact within each sub-group; and, (iv) the relative timings of the meetings.

At this stage, I suggest that you hold a meeting with each of the key functional heads to make sure that they are individually each supportive of your “On-boarding Road Map”. Their suggestions may make the difference between the decision-maker approving your initiative and not.

If anyone wants me to add to this or respond to any challenges then feel free to send a reply or contact me directly. Thanks for reading. I hope that it has been valuable to you.

Peter Poole