Onboarding Disorder or Alignment?

April 24 2023
By: Shawn M. Galloway

As a business grows or becomes impacted by attrition, as many have been over the past few years, the leadership team needs to ensure the alignment of new employees with expectations. This includes safety systems to prevent workplace injuries and recovery systems that kick in when mistakes are made. With the right approach, new employees can quickly integrate into the team and avoid potential risks.

Leadership teams must invest in safety education and training for new employees on day one. Education should focus on what to do to follow proper safety protocols and why the protocols were created and remain vital. Job shadowing should follow before the new person is eased into performing tasks. As they begin, the new employees must understand they will receive peer feedback to help them succeed with their duties. Ensure the new employees' competency is assessed before turning them loose. Occasionally check in again on competency to ensure the proper habits are forming or learn what needs to be addressed that might prompt a deviation from expectations.

When onboarding is effective, it helps build trust between coworkers and improves productivity across the board. When done poorly, disorder is created, multiple practices exist, and deviation from expectations becomes the norm. Look at your approach to bringing employees into the work and the resulting behaviors of these employees. Are they contributing to disorder or demonstrating alignment?

"The only things that evolve by themselves in an organization are disorder, friction and malperformance." — Peter F. Drucker

"Leaps of greatness require the combined problem-solving ability of people who trust each other." — Simon Senek

"The productivity of a work group seems to depend on how the group members see their own goals in relation to the goals of the organization." — Ken Blanchard