New Employee Acculturation - Measure, Engage, And Immerse

Onboarding a new employee is often myopically defined as quickening a new employee to effectiveness. While this achieves a particular objective of a strategic onboarding process for many companies, it falls short of a complete definition and leaves managers of human capital with a goal so vague as to nearly render it useless (how fast is quick, and what is effective?) Furthermore, quickening effectiveness for many employers in blue collar industries is such a trivial endeavor that instituting an initiative to quicken new employee effectiveness might not make sense (a furniture mover's path to effectiveness might be measured in minutes). On the other hand, all employers share the compliance, paperwork, and logistics burdens associated with new employees, regardless of the blue-shading of their industry.

In Employee Onboarding; An HR Technology Seeking a Definition we define two approaches to onboarding. Transactional Onboarding utilizes the automation of the onboarding business process to transition a new employee into their new role; automating the federal W-4, I-9, and state tax forms are examples of business rules and forms best automated through transactional onboarding. Return on investment is realized through making the process more efficient, eliminating costs in handling forms and data, eliminating latency and errors in data, and minimizing risk in the compliance-sensitive area of hiring. Transactional onboarding's value is objectively measurable and is of value to any employer; particularly so for employers with compounding factors such as high turnover or regulated industries; one can think of transactional onboarding as the science of onboarding.

We defined Acculturation Onboarding, or simply Acculturation, as quickening the new employee to effectiveness. Acculturation is sometimes also known as socialization, and is touted by many vendors as the singular approach to onboarding, despite the fact that acculturation is appropriate to a subset of employers who might be interested in a strategic onboarding initiative. Return on investment for acculturation is realized through earlier and more rapid productivity of the new employee and improved long term employee satisfaction and retention. Acculturation's value is subjectively measurable and is valuable to employers with high costs associated with recruiting and retaining employees, typically those in more professional roles in the organization; it is this subjectivity that is the Achilles Heel of acculturation onboarding. If transactional onboarding is the science of onboarding, acculturation is the art of onboarding.

While it's obvious that value from transactional onboarding can be achieved through investing in a system that is flexible enough to meet the organization's unique process and compliance requirements, it may be less obvious whether the same system, or any single system, can accomplish the value objectives of an acculturation approach. So how could an organization in need of acculturation take a systems approach to automation?

Let's take a simple A to B viewpoint to the acculturation system question. Point A is the candidate who has just accepted the offer, and point B is the fully productive and contented employee. Transactional onboarding resides as a sliver of a process just as the candidate begins following the path to point B, albeit an intensive process that is laden with risk. The objective of an acculturation system is to shorten the path-the length of time to get-from A to B for all new employees, encompassing the transactional onboarding event at the onset, while maximizing the level of satisfaction of the new employee (contentedness) once they reach point B. It's easy to see why the return on investment in an acculturation system is a subjective measurement, as the objective is peppered with challenges to measurement. What is meant by fully productive? How do you determine when someone achieves full productivity? How do you account for differing times to productivity due to varying complexity of roles? What is considered a good time to productivity, and how do you help employees who are not meeting expectations? How does the organization know (objectively) it is making improvements to the time to productivity? What is employee contentedness and how do you measure it?

Our recommended approach to implementing an acculturation system that meets the stated objective and answers these questions is based on three tenets: measure, engage, and immerse. All three should be considered when implementing a strategic acculturation process, and if executed properly, the subjectivity Achilles Heel of acculturation onboarding can be minimized.

Measure

Determining the resulting value, and therefore the return on investment, of any technology initiative requires the ability to establish incremental objectives and measure their achievement. Few onboarding systems that take an acculturation or socialization stance provide the means to measure their own effectiveness, yet practically all of them cite Aberdeen Group's estimates on the potential cost savings of automating onboarding. This is akin to a car salesman assuring a buyer their new car will save fuel costs but not citing what kind of gas mileage the car gets or even whether the mileage can be measured. Hence our first recommendation to implementing an acculturation system is to establish how the system will set objectives and how those objectives are measured.

An acculturation system should allow the organization to establish specific objectives that collectively measure productivity, or should be able to recognize those objectives established in complimentary systems such as learning and competency management systems. The objectives could be events that are either incomplete or completed, or they may be tasks that can be completed in degrees or stages. Objectives might be achievable in any order, but some objectives may be dependent on the prior completion of others. Individual objectives should be scored and weighted with respect to an overall Acculturation Index (AI), which we recommend be calculated on a percentage scale (the weighting and calculation of an acculturation index will be the topic of a future article). Examining the AI for a specific individual would indicate how far along the A to B path the new employee is, and analysis of composites of the AI's of multiple employees from one period of time against another will provide insight into how the company is influencing-positively or negatively-the effectiveness of acculturation onboarding.

Another interesting analysis of the acculturation index would illustrate the constantly increasing index over time for either a single employee or a composite of employees. A rapid increase in the acculturation index, followed by gradual increase, would indicate that the majority of acculturation objectives are achieved within the first 3 days, while a gentler increase of the index indicates a more gradual achievement of acculturation objectives. Neither outcome may be more correct than the other, but correlated with less than desirable outcomes, the method of engaging the employee, which will be discussed shortly, should be reconsidered.

There are three types of acculturation objectives: competency objectives, social objectives, and satisfaction objectives. Competency objectives, such as completion of assessments that demonstrate proficiency in skills associated with the employee's position, are excellent candidates to extract from learning or competency management systems. Social objectives-such as completion of a profile on the company's social network, connecting to contacts or "friends" in the network, and participating in the company's collaboration tools and wikis-may pose a greater challenge in collecting due to the diversity of data sources. Satisfaction objectives, or measurements regarding the employee's contentedness with their new job, are most likely to be collected from directly querying employees, coworkers, and supervisors using a survey or data collection tool.

Acculturation objectives should also be defined according to the organization's structure. Company wide objectives include those that apply to all employees, such as passing the company's network security policy exam, creating a company social network profile, and indicating satisfaction regarding the company's group health benefits. Departmental or business unit objectives provide greater specialization, such as passing the IT department's help desk usage test, or publishing a technical post on the engineering wiki. Specific skills associated with the position, inherited from the job description, represent the most specific objectives, and if measured through the use of a competency assessment system represent the most objective measurements of productivity in the AI and should be weighted accordingly. Finally, objectives might be established for the specific individual assuming the role, particularly if the individual needs remediation in certain skills. A good implementation of an acculturation system would allow for the assumption of the majority of acculturation objectives for individuals based on the position, job, and organization structure (location, business unit, department, division, etc.), including company wide objectives, and allowing for the dynamic specification of objectives specific to the individual; otherwise, the burden of establishing objectives for each new hire would hinder the consistent application of acculturation objectives.

It should be obvious that an integration strategy is critical to an acculturation system, as the sources of acculturation objectives are myriad. Furthermore, to facilitate the reporting, analysis, and data mining critical for measurement and continual process refinement, the destination data storage should be dimensional in nature versus transactional. Considered together, these observations strongly imply that a true business intelligence approach, specifically the regular construction of an acculturation data mart, should be a component of the acculturation system. Incorporated with the company's business activity monitoring (BAM) and business rules engine (BRE) strategies would serve not only the purpose of reporting and analysis of acculturation onboarding, but might also provide a data source for certain acculturation objectives that might be detected through the BAM or BRE systems.

Defining the acculturation objectives and establishing how they are to be evaluated defines a clear A-to-B path to productivity for new employees; engaging the employee is how the organization aids the new employee in achieving their acculturation objectives and optimizes the acculturation process.

Engage

While most new employees, excited by their new jobs, may proactively proceed from point A to B, we recommend the organization assume a more active approach to encouraging the new employee's progress toward productivity rather than a passive approach. The goal of an active approach to acculturation is engagement. Using an actively engaging acculturation onboarding process, the organization can more easily make adjustments to the process, and (assuming a good implementation of measurement of objectives) rapidly evaluate the effectiveness of the changes. Furthermore, those employees who aren't proactive in their own acculturation may respond better to active engagement (proactive employees will respond well in the acculturation process regardless of whether it is active or passive).

The best implementation of an actively engaging acculturation onboarding system can take inspiration from suggestive selling techniques. The content for engagement-that is, what is being sold-are the acculturation objectives that the system has established for the employee. In other words, the employee should be actively encouraged by the system to achieve their objectives. The typical venues for active engagement include tasks assigned and emails sent, both of which are readily implemented by business process management (BPM) systems.

The engagement process must be intelligent enough to suggest acculturation objectives in a logical order. For example, the objective of connecting with fellow employees on the corporate social network should be encouraged and promoted to the employee by the system only after the employee has completed their own profile on the social network. Likewise, the system should be intelligent enough to alter the priority of promoting objectives during the employee's path from A to B as conditions affecting the objectives change; for example, if the employee demonstrates significant interest in participating in the company's social network and less interest in creating a blog, then the system should promote objectives associated with the social network more aggressively than the objective to create a blog.

A system that implements active engagement does not preclude interpersonal engagement, and in fact should promote it. While interpersonal engagement objectives could obviously be promoted to the new employee through promotion of objectives such as connecting to employees with similar interests and backgrounds (similar to the "people you may know" feature of Facebook), suggestions and tasks generated by an active engagement system could be targeted at others in the organization; sending an email to the new employee's coworkers on their first day of work suggesting that they introduce themselves, or posting a "spotlight" feature of the employee's newly created profile page on the company intranet are examples. Interacting with a mentoring system to select and assign a mentor is another example, and could also strengthen the interaction of a formal mentor program to acculturation objectives and measurements.

Engaging the new employee through the A-to-B acculturation process through an active approach optimizes the acculturation process, and should result in the employee not only achieving their acculturation objectives, but should also result in the employee being fully immersed in the company's culture.

Immerse

Active engagement of the employee along the A to B path to productivity should ideally be conducted in an environment that concludes (point B) with the employee fully immersed in the company's employee communications strategy. In other words, engaging an employee to achieve acculturation objectives is best conducted within the company's employee communications portal, as it is achieving the universal objective of acculturation which is to introduce and immerse the employee into that strategy. The communications strategy might be a dedicated product specifically designed for fostering employee communications, or has been pointed out, it can be the company's intranet, which today is increasingly Microsoft SharePoint

Many onboarding systems purporting a socialization technique attempt to accomplish acculturation objectives through the introduction of a dedicated onboarding portal. While this approach might be effective in the delivery of content of interest to a new employee, it is akin to introducing an outward facing point C on the A to B path, and does not serve to immerse the employee in the strategic employee communications platform. Furthermore, delivery of content of interest to a new employee can easily be accomplished in strategic communications and portal platforms, such as SharePoint, so any potential benefit is negated. The final nail in the coffin of a dedicated onboarding portal might come from the objections (of both HR and IT) to maintaining yet another portal in addition to the employee communications platform, the company's intranet, employee and benefits self service, and potentially others.

Inspiration for the concept of immersion might be drawn from the field of education. A student on their first day at a new school is quickly ushered through the necessary paperwork in the principle's office (transactional onboarding), then taken directly to their classroom where they are introduced to their teacher and classmates. Over the ensuing days, the student is socialized in situ through engagement of the teacher and fellow students, while at the same time the teacher observes (measures) the students acculturation progress and makes any necessary adjustments to the process to optimize time to productivity (such as suggesting friends or activities for the new student). Failure to immerse a new employee in the A to B path to productivity is as undesirable as putting the new student in a separate classroom surrounded only by material and information describing how great a school they are attending.

Summary & Recommendations

Too many socializing onboarding systems today fall short of their ability to provide a system that measurably and predictably achieves their purported goals and allows organizations to continually improve their acculturation process through cycles of adjustments and evaluating results. While these failures may be due in part to the complex nature of collecting data to calculate an acculturation index, we believe it is also because acculturation systems don't properly balance the aspects of measuring individual and aggregated progress against acculturation objectives, actively engaging new employees through the acculturation process, and immersing the new employee in the organization's strategic communications platform. Organizations seeking to reap the benefits of quickening employees to effectiveness while maximizing the new employee's satisfaction (and longevity as a result) would be well advised to construct an acculturation system that measures, engages, and immerses.

Recommendations:

1. Determine if an acculturation onboarding approach is needed; all companies benefit from transactional onboarding, not all companies benefit from acculturation.

2. Approach acculturation as an A-to-B path to productivity, with the principle business goal being to minimize this path (quicken time to productivity) while maximizing employee satisfaction.

3. Work to eliminate subjectivity in the system's value through an acculturation approach that includes measuring, engaging, and immersing candidates in the acculturation process.

4. Establish acculturation objectives that can be measured and scored, regardless of their source systems, and that contribute to an overall acculturation index that indicates progress along the A to B path.

5. Use an appropriate mix of competency objectives, social objectives, and satisfaction objectives that make sense for your particular organization's acculturation goals.

6. Collect and analyze Acculturation Index (AI) data to determine how to make improvements to the acculturation process, creating a closed-loop system to improving the process.

7. Define objectives at all organizational levels of the business to ensure consistency, but retain the flexibility to establish objectives specific to individuals if necessary.

8. Acquire or build a system that is highly flexible in regards to integration.

9. Actively engage employees in the acculturation process using methods similar to suggestive selling.

10. Active engagement should be intelligent enough to adapt to an individual's unique path to productivity.

11. Active engagement should encourage and promote interpersonal activity, not only with the new employee but also with coworkers.

12. The acculturation platform should immerse the new employees in the organization's strategic communications platform, not in an outward facing dedicated onboarding portal.

By Chuck Ros

References:

1 - Ros, C and Torrence, J: " rel=nofollow [http://www.emeraldsoftwaregroup.com/onboarding]Employee Onboarding: an HR Technology Seeking a Definition", 2008

2 - Aberdeen Group: "All Aboard: Effective Onboarding Techniques and Strategies", January 2008

3 - Hayden, Jeff, "Using Microsoft SharePoint for Acculturation Onboarding", 2008

Chuck Ros is the President of Emerald Software Group ( http://www.EmeraldSoftwareGroup.com), based in Alpharetta, GA. Emerald Software Group offers applied process management software in human capital and workforce management and does business in North America and Europe. Chuck can be emailed at [mailto:chuck.ros@emeraldsoftwaregroup.com]chuck.ros@emeraldsoftwaregroup.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?New-Employee-Acculturation---Measure,-Engage,-And-Immerse&id=1704278] New Employee Acculturation - Measure, Engage, And Immerse

Change Power

Why Bother? 2010 is here and we think about what we want to have in our lives. How can we make this year more successful? What do we need to do differently to achieve our goals and also feel good?

The ritual of making and breaking resolutions for the new year has been around for some time. What compels us to think about doing something differently or being different? The desire to better ourselves and our capacity for personal dreaming and goal reaching are as natural as breathing.

We strive to strip away extra pounds, be more positive and caring in our key relationships and jump ahead in our careers. We desire to feel more satisfied in our lives. Yet, sometimes, no matter how much we want to make life changes, something falls short. Sadly, we're defeated in the first round. That doesn't have to be you.

Here are several important tips to help you toward successful change and self-improvement that are easy to include in your busy lifestyle.

Belief:
You need to have it. Sure, you've heard it before. Why do so many business leaders and motivational speakers talk about its wallop? Simply, because it works. Believe in what you want to execute and believe you can. Change your beliefs and thoughts to reflect what you desire. Remind yourself that nothing is impossible.

Self Talk:
Pay attention to how you talk to yourself. Attend to the random thoughts in your head even when you think you're not listening. Those silent or crashing messages tell a lot about how you feel about you.

You can make up other messages or positive statements called affirmations. Say them repeatedly in your mind or scribble them down on paper. Refer to them often. Use your imagination to conjure up the attitude that the new beliefs you are installing in your brain are all true.

Rewired:
Think of it as new wiring for your brain and your belief system. When you do, you step toward personal change and growth that can be long-lasting. You have the ability to change, but you need to believe and monitor your self talk. If critical or limiting; create more self affirming thoughts to listen to often.

If you suffer from low self-esteem or lack of drive, you can also change that. The self critical comments are heard inside your head. They include judgments that make you fell less than and eat away your confidence. Don't let them be so powerful. Insert more supportive thoughts immediately to override the unfavorable ones. The trick is to do it often and consciously.

Take Your Commitments Seriously!
Think before you agree to do something. Make sure you include promises that you make to yourself. They are just as important, even more important, than the promises you make to other people. If you aren't sure you can deliver to another person, whether completing a report or attending an event, don't say you can. Value how others see you and how you view yourself. Consider how you want others to view you.

Your value increases in the eyes of others if you are true to your word. You gain their respect. When that happens, you also feel good about you. Be sincere and up front to get ahead. Do what you can to help when feasible. Learn to say no graciously and firmly.

Keep on Trucking:
You've heard about the success stories of individuals who have never given up even in the bleakest situations. Your ability to hold tight and be persistent regardless of the odds can pay off. After careful examination and with a discerning eye, if you still decide to follow a certain course of action, do so with certainty.

Follow your heart with gusto and let your enthusiasm be heard. If you veer off-track, don't wallow in self-pity. Don't beat yourself up. It's a sure way to keep you in a tailspin. Instead, brush off your injured ego and keep on going. You will never have to wonder what could happen if only you kept your dream alive. Instead, you are living it day by day!

Dr. Jo Anne White is an international author, speaker, certified life, leadership and business coach and energy intuitive who has helped millions of women, men and families overcome challenges, become more successful and lead fulfilling lives. She inspires and motivates men, women, and businesses to maximize their abundance and achieve success. Her personal coaching programs fit the unique needs and talents of each person to boost achievement and balance mind, body and spirit.

Known as the "Success Doc" by global audiences, Doc White has been featured on the Internet and in local, national and international publications including Good Housekeeping, Web MD, Woman's World and Match.com. She's appeared as a frequent guest on radio and television networks such as NBC and CN8, World Talk Radio and Voice of America.

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jo_Anne_White]Jo Anne White

Jo Anne White, PhD has authored books for women and men regarding personal and professional growth, success and empowerment. To learn more about Dr. Jo Anne: http://www.drjoannewhite.com http://www.docwhite.org

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Change-Power&id=3497993] Change Power

Job Search Resolutions For 2010

A new year normally signifies change, or the desire to change. People resolve to quit smoking, lose weight, or do something else to improve the quality of their lives. It's not uncommon, as January rolls around, to consider searching for a new career. If you are like the tens of thousands of Americans who start the new year pounding the pavement (or at least checking the online classifieds) for work, you will want to go in prepared.

What is it about job hunting in 2010 that makes it different from any other year? There may not look like much innovation, but with smart phone usage on the rise some people may have a head up on others when it comes to pursuing desirable positions. If you want this to be the year to embark on a fabulous career, it would help to take a few steps to better your chances and put you above your competition.

1) Revise Your Resume. Did you look for work last year, and receive few to no bites? Make your first job search resolution a complete resume makeover. What have you done noteworthy in the last year that should be added? What skills and positions are too stale to keep listed? Especially if you work in technology or marketing, it's important to stay current because trends change quickly. It's nice that you can master HTML, but some companies will want to know if you can handle FBML.

2) Consider More Education. Do you think you need to brush up on basic skills? Perhaps you need to learn new technologies in order to get noticed. You don't necessarily have to go back for a degree, but if you are looking for specific positions in design, Internet development, or even marketing you will be required to stay updated on new trends and platforms. As you check the classifieds, double up your research by consulting local community colleges and education centers for relevant classes.

3) Approach More References. Believe this, when recruiters ask for references, you can be certain they will call the list you give them. If you have had the same people on your reference list for years and years - particularly former supervisors you haven't seen in a while - there's a possibility these seemingly helpful folks can hinder your job search. An old boss might not realize your growth in certain fields, whereas somebody closer to you know can present a more rounded picture of what you bring to the table. Go over your reference list and consider rotating a few names.

4) Create Opportunities. Undecided about what you want to do, or maybe nobody is hiring for what you seek? If you're able to get by, you may wish to try "creating" an opportunity that could turn into a job. Volunteerism is a great way to network, so why not offer your time and skills to a local organization supported by your dream company, or seek an internship at your workplace of choice and see what develops. It's not uncommon for temporary work to become a career.

5) Get Connected. Finding the job you want means being accessible at all times. If you don't have a cell phone, now is the time to get one and keep it charged. If you can't afford a smart phone plan (almost unlikely, since many plans seems better than those of land lines), spring for a throwaway like TracFone and use that number on resumes. If you do have a smart phone, find a good job hunting app and use it diligently. Get to the listing before your competition does.

Once you have your plan set, take charge of your job search and make this the year you embark on an exciting new career!

Kathryn Lively is a freelance writer specializing in articles on [http://www.youpunchit.com]Internet time clocks and [http://www.tannerslanding.com]Virginia Beach condos.

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kathryn_Lively]Kathryn Lively

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How to Answer "Do You Have Any Questions?"

Do you know what to say when your interviewers asks if you have any questions? Do you know what questions you should ask or what if all your questions have been answered? You do not want to portray that you are uninterested in the company or the job position, but do you know what to say when they ask if you have any questions and all your questions have been answered during the interview. It is always good practice to try and ask at least two to three questions rather than merely saying "no" but you do not want to look foolish and ask a question which has already been covered in the interview.

Here are a couple of ideas to make some questions which should help you out of this tricky situation. You could ask the interviewers "why they enjoy working for the company?"; "Is there a formal appraisal system within the company?"; "What extent do people socialize together outside of work?" "What are the longer term prospects of working for the company?". However you will need to consider your questions carefully and make sure that they are relevant to the job position you are applying for and more importantly the position and level that you are applying at. For example it will do you no good if you ask a question about management responsibilities or budgets etc if you are applying for a junior level position, this question is not relevant and asking this could be dangerous and undo all your hard work during the course of the interview.

Interviewers always like to know that you have done your research on the company and this may give you a chance to expand on some recent press or advertising activity. If you want to try and engage in a discussion or want to find out more about the company then here is the chance to ask a question. It is always a good idea to ask a question with an open ended question when trying to open up a discussion. An example of open ended questions are "that's interesting how did that come about?", "May I ask more about....?" or "That's interesting, can you tell me more?".

There are a couple of questions which you don't really want to ask at this point, even if they are really important to you but they can be portrayed in the wrong way by the interviewers. If successful at interview you will then get a chance to ask these questions and discuss them in a more positive way. So what are these questions? Well they are "what is the salary?", or "what are the hours of work?" or how much holiday do I get?". You can see that an interviewer can think you are more interested in what you can out than what you can give them for the job and at the end of the day, that is what they are really interested in. So hopefully now you can see there are a couple of ways to answer this question without asking those forbidden questions.

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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Answer-Do-You-Have-Any-Questions?&id=3480146] How to Answer "Do You Have Any Questions?"