It is important to facilitate the adaptation of professionals in the world of work and to transmit the values and integrity transmitted by the corporate culture of each company.
Starting a new professional challenge requires continuous support that will serve to reinforce your confidence, security and motivation and thus achieve the challenges or objectives set for you in your job.
Normally companies put more focus on the search for candidates to fill vacancies and once these resources are obtained, the process is finished. It is important to be clear that it is just as important to focus on the selection of candidates as it is to focus on the next objective, which is to follow up on the people selected over a period of time in order to accompany them so that the professional feels safe and in a team at all times.
Benefits of a good onboarding or incorporation plan into a company
The first impression will remain engraved in us for many years, memories that we will not easily forget or that we will like to share as an experience, in our trusted forums, transferring our growth to the next colleagues who join us. It is simply a matter of taking care of the image of our corporate culture so that future newcomers feel secure in their development.
The integration and adaptation of employees to the companies is fundamental to generate a comfortable and safe environment so that the productivity of all of them is a success.
It is a process in which everyone in the company participates, not only the human resources team or the management, all the professionals are an essential part in making the new member feel comfortable every day.
Transferring our knowledge through training, meetings or small encounters every day helps the professional to feel motivated, comfortable and, above all, to feel that he or she belongs to the team from the very first minute.
At Telefónica we can enhance our communication with the rest of the professionals through the digital tools of MS Office 365 to generate connections with the rest of the professionals, either through Teams communications in online or face-to-face format, sharing content or informing them of events that may be of interest and that help to integrate the teams.
My personal experience
An example of success in Telefónica has been the creation of the Secretarial Team. A team led by the secretaries themselves, whose aim is to facilitate the day-to-day work of all the secretarial professionals at Telefónica. A task they do excellently by sharing information through digital channels, promoting the implementation of learning training, organising internal events to increase the empowerment of their professionals and making it easier for new recruits to have what they need to feel accompanied in their journey of adaptation in the companies.
New recruits are always in direct contact with secretaries who have a long history of experience in the company and this makes them feel confident when carrying out any management or process.
And this does not only happen between colleagues of the same group, but the secretaries do a fantastic job in the adaptation of the new teams and the management in the different areas of the companies, facilitating their comfort, accompaniment, wellbeing and adaptation to the new job.
The first week of adaptation of the new incorporations is crucial and maintaining constancy in this accompaniment is paramount, if we get all the professionals in the companies involved, we will achieve that the new incorporations are motivated, are more productive and stay longer in their areas of work.
Disadvantages of not working onboarding well
The tendency in many areas, companies and teams is to work onboarding through tutorials or large documents. This ensures that the person who joins the company spends most of the day reading to understand the regulations, processes and other procedures that are carried out in the place where they will begin their professional experience. The excuse for this cold process is that most employees have a heavy workload and do not have enough time to dedicate small slots to explain or accompany this person.
One cause of demotivation is finding yourself alone in a new place, unaccompanied by people and surrounded by large internal documents to read and understand.
When a professional feels that he or she is not involved in a work team, it is very likely that he or she will end up resigning or looking for a more motivating alternative with greater recognition. In addition, they will take advantage of these moments of loneliness to evaluate other offers in the labour market and this will cause companies to have to start a new recruitment process for new candidates.
It is important to have a correct and orderly planning in the companies, so that the new members adapt easily to the functioning of the teams, trying to personalise each process, in order to make it a success.
Company employees are an inexhaustible source of information and it is highly recommendable to make use of all of them so that the new member understands how the whole productivity chain of the company works. This process should not be limited to just a few employees, but should be open to all those who occupy a position in management, regardless of the function they perform, as the contribution will always be beneficial for new recruits.
- If the onboarding process is not correct, situations like these can occur:
- The new recruit takes longer to adapt to his or her new position.
- The delay in reaching the optimal level of productivity increases.
- The stress of facing a new position may cause errors in the execution of the employee’s tasks.
- The new employee may be rejected by teammates.
- Difficulties may arise between the manager and the new employee.
- The employee may be unaware of key elements of the company’s operations that enable him or her to perform his or her job.
- The overall working climate of the company may be disrupted.
- Customers and suppliers may feel poorly served.
- The company may miss important business opportunities.
- Communication conflicts may arise because the employee does not know where to turn and what tools to use.
The rewards of good onboarding in companies are very beneficial for all the members of a company, both for new recruits and for employees who undergo internal changes. We should not limit this process to new recruits, we must extend this process so that all employees in companies feel motivated, recognised and committed to their work.
