You've just accepted a new opportunity.
Now what?
Kelsey Berg breaks down how you can take ownership of your onboarding experience and that it's a win-win for everyone to go in with a plan, be patient and give yourself time to learn.
Kelsey has over 20 years of experience on the front lines of HR for organizations big and small.
Her career includes lengthy stints at complex, fast-paced companies such as Microsoft and Washington Mutual, a depth of experience with non-profits, and senior management positions at innovative high technology companies like Intellectual Ventures Management and RootMetrics.
Kelsey has established herself as an expert at developing and implementing, with the limited resources of small companies, successful HR systems and structures and ensuring that new companies have the talent needed to achieve business results and advance their market position.
Along with her consulting work she has spent the last six years focusing on enriching organizations such as Microsoft by accelerating the new employee experience through a series of sessions with new hires assisting them to get off to the best start possible.
Her intuitive understanding of the impact of talent acquisition and human capital initiatives on overall business goals makes her a highly effective business partner. Kelsey has become a sought after talent acquisition and human resource expert by a growing number of venture capital, technology start-up and private equity leaders.
Kelsey’s education includes studies in human resource management at Seattle Pacific University and National Employment Law Institute. Kelsey is a CPCC and ACC certified coach.
Show Notes
So you got the new job, now what? Onboarding.
Take ownership of your onboarding
Remember you are:
- Impression building – first impressions of you
- Setting your foundation
Timeline for Onboarding
First 90 days are key to get the basics down. But first full business year is really all on-boarding – first time through budgeting cycle, first time through holiday season, first time through performance management cycle.
Be patient with yourself, give yourself the time to learn
3 areas to focus on in your Onboarding Plan:
- Admin – getting benefits set up, where are conference rooms, where are bathrooms, getting access to the tool and technology
- Business – rhythm of the business, reporting processes, product knowledge, history and culture of company or team, what is the state of the business or team
- People/Connections - what are you going to build your reputation on, building relationship with manager, who are the partners, peers or team, introductions to customers. What are communication norms and expectations for your manager or your team
Having a Plan
- Be organized – it helps to write it down.
- Plan when to learn things
Ask manager how they will measure your success in onboarding
Rely on what you know – you were hired for a reason (your skills, competencies and experiences) so you can feel confident in those while you are onboarding and learning new company specific information
Attend your company's new employee orientation – this can help with the Admin Portion of your onboarding. Find out what has a deadline or timeline (ie. Required trainings or benefits administration) and accomplish those before the deadline
Top 3 things to focus on:
- Relationship with Manager
- Setting expectations and understand deliverables
- Networking