Onboard or Shove Off

"Not Guilty!" was the verdict passed down at the court-martial. 

 There was a case where a Navy medic was transferred to a Navy hospital on the west coast.  He checked in early and was asked to have a seat.  He waited all day but no one bothered to bring him inside and help him get started.  He came back the next day… and the next.  After showing up every day for over two weeks, he moved back east and took a civilian job in another hospital.  

After receiving over a year's pay and two outstanding performance reviews from the Navy hospital, the medic was transferred to another hospital.  Now, the Navy realized they had paid someone for a job he never performed.  He was summarily court-martialed and because he appeared on time, received his pay, and even received two outstanding fitness reports, he was considered not guilty.

What programs do you have to onboard you own new employees?  Can you decrease your overall costs by getting these employees to peak performance quicker.

This is the middle of my third week with a new company.  I started drinking from the fire hose before my first day.   In two week, I've written a proposal, attended meetings,  built a pricing worksheet, explored several business models, and (almost) completed my first blog.  I feel pretty good about this.    

 Here is what was done to accelerate my onboarding.

Preparation	Let the employee know what is expected BEFORE they start.	All new-hire paperwork was emailed to me prior to starting along with detailed instructions describing  how to prepare, when it is needed, and who gets copies.
Context	Help the employee  get acclimated.	I was pointed toward papers, presentations, and videos to help me become acquainted with our work.
Activity	Give the employee a lot of things to do on day one.	I had many different things to work on from day one.   My supervisor gave me a list of deliverables and tasks that needed to get done.   From this, I could pick out one or two that showed my value right away.
Team building	Show them the ropes.	Since I am a remote employee, I received phone calls from the people that I need to interact with the most on the first day.  I received a warm welcome, a brief review of the culture, the work, and the short and long-term goals.  We talked about how I can make the best impact quickly.   If I were in an office, these discussions would have been face-to-face.
Tools	Give them the proper tools to do the job.	A new computer laptop was waiting for me on day one.  It was fully configured with the tools I need to do the job.

Onboarding when done well improves morale, bolsters productivity, and fosters teamwork.  When done poorly causes negativity, disgruntled staff, lowers morale, and costs you a lot more than just the lost time.   These concepts are applicable to new employees, employees who were recently acquired, and employees who have changed roles or get promoted. 

 This is one of the easiest things to do well.  Can your team afford to get it wrong?