The Orange Chair

I’ve just finished listening to a presentation on pre-boarding, onboarding, and engaging employees from day zero by Ron Hascome (VP, HCM Technology Strategy Practice, HRchitect). The key message I took away was that companies are now more concerned about the effect of onboarding on employee retention than they used to be. Another key insight was that socialization and branding are differentiators for best-in-class onboarding.

I joined IBM as a regular employee in October 2007. Listening to the presentation, I recognized the elements of the onboarding process I experienced as those that distinguish best-in-class onboarding processes. What’s more, my early use of Web 2.0 has helped me not only effectively become socialized within the organization, but also fall in love with it - an example of successful branding.

What is Web 2.0 and why does it matter to onboarding?

By interacting with other employees through blogs, wikis, and other forms of social media, new hires can connect with people who are passionate about their work, learn from people in formal and informal mentoring relationships, and build their reputations by sharing what they’re learning along the way.

Talking to people who are passionate about their work helps new hires understand their own roles better, form their own career goals, and gain a better appreciation for the company. These role models can also serve as mentors who help new hires not only develop the necessary skills but also weather the challenges and uncertainties of the first few years.

The ease of contributing using Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and wikis allows employees throughout the organization to share more of what they know. For example, people can post answers to frequently asked questions or knowledge-sharing stories from their work. New hires can learn from this content even if they lack the confidence to initiate conversations with busy subject-matter experts or the knowledge of which employees possess such expertise.

Building a social network and a reputation is also important to new hires. By providing new hires with ways to demonstrate what they know, a company can help new hires reach out and develop their network. New hires may lack the confidence to contribute documents to formal asset repositories, but the open nature of blogs and wikis encourages people to contribute even when they are learning a topic. Encouraging new hires to document and share what they’re learning not only addresses the challenge of knowledge transfer and retention, but also helps new hires build their reputations.

Interested in learning more about Web 2.0 and how your company can incorporate it in your onboarding strategy? Please feel free to contact me at sachac@ca.ibm.com , and I’ll connect you with my team (IBM Global Business Services - Application Services Emerging Technologies Team). We provide Web 2.0 consulting services ranging from awareness seminars, strategy workshops, implementation, and coaching on effective use.

Check out the related blog entry for comments and questions during the webcast. Want to catch the replay? Register on the event site for one of the following slots:

Thu, Jun 19 2008 / 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET
Thu, Jun 19 2008 / 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM ET
Fri, Jun 20 2008 / 12:00 AM - 1:00 AM ET
Fri, Jun 20 2008 / 12:00 AM - 1:00 AM ET