With the project 'Onboarding the pyramid of success' and the establishment of educational centers, new colleagues made it easier to adapt to the new environment and reduced the employee turnover rate.
Every beginning, those with a whole series of different "beginnings" behind them, will confirm to you, is difficult and challenging.
Opportunities that involve leaving the comfort zone and stepping into the unknown, entering a new circle of loving people or expanding our knowledge can be very scary, but at the same time they reward us with something priceless - the knowledge that we can overcome all of this.
Beginnings are especially important in our careers.
The first day at work carries with it a mixture of excitement and uncertainty. Questions like Will I fit in? or "Can I live up to expectations?" circulate in our thoughts. However, it is precisely in these challenges that the opportunity for growth and learning is hidden.
In the workplace, every beginning is like the first notes in a symphony. Individual instruments, each with its own specific role, begin to create harmony. And here we come to the key component of that music in its creation – onboarding. A properly set onboarding process is like a conductor guiding the new employee through the melody of the work environment. It teaches him the rhythm of the team, the tone of the company and the melodies of success.
In the context of preserving that melody of the working environment, the company Tisak recognizes the importance of quality onboarding from the very beginning.
They recently confirmed this approach once again with an innovative project called "Onboarding pyramid of success". Thanks to this initiative, Tisak stood out as one of the five best regional HR practice on this year HR Days conference.
In a short conversation, they revealed to us what was the guiding thought of the project and how quality onboarding affected their business.
Successful onboarding is one of the prerequisites for a longer stay of workers in our 'ranks' and lower employee turnover. How did your project 'Onboarding the pyramid of success' deal with the issue of introducing new colleagues to the company as efficiently as possible?
Through the onboarding pyramid of success and the establishment of educational centers, we wanted to provide new colleagues with a quality and quick introduction to work so that they could independently perform tasks within the workplace. Given that the work at the kiosk is specific because the salesperson is alone in the shift, we wanted to prepare them for the new environment with the support of mentors, but also of the direct manager, employees of the retail sales representatives and the help desk of the IT department.
So, the goal was to raise the seller to the top of the pyramid by means of the entire mentioned support structure. And this is precisely how we showed that the organization invests in creating great experiences, and above all, in easier adaptation to the new environment and giving clear and concrete instructions for work.
You decided to provide new employees with a special experience, and you also built a slightly different educational center... What was it all about?
The educational center is an office space arranged like a kiosk with all products, services and a PC cash register, so that every potential new seller can get an impression of what his role would be on the first day in the educational center.
A potential candidate for employment can come to the educational center even before the actual employment at a time and duration that suits the candidate, most often it is one to two hours in a period of 1-3 days, and we consider this time as part of the selection process. This part of the process is very flexible and adapted to the needs and interests of the candidate. Candidates who already have experience working in sales and know how to work at the cash register, and for whom the educational center would not significantly influence their decision, can shorten this part of the selection or skip it completely.
Regardless of the fact that the candidate is not yet our employee, the manager accompanying him in education must set aside his working time according to the agreement with the candidate, in order to present him as faithfully as possible working in the kiosk in the simulated conditions of the educational center.
How many people participated in the implementation of the project and how would you describe the role and importance of mentors in the whole story?
Seven people participated in the project team, but the project included all new employees and mentors. Mentors played a very important role in providing support, education and introducing new employees to work. The mentors directly influenced their motivation and engagement, as well as their sense of value and belonging, with the associated payment of a reward for each mentored person.
How did the project affect the organizational climate, the rate of employee retention or turnover, and the satisfaction of new and existing employees?
The project had a positive impact on the satisfaction and retention of employees and the organizational climate. We saw that there are 10% fewer departures of newly hired salespeople, which is a good trend that we want to continue. In addition, the organizational climate and culture survey showed better results in the category of engagement and optimists. The project achieved universal and structured onboarding and raised the quality of knowledge transfer by detecting and creating a list of the best sales mentors. The quality and selection has been improved, which has been carried out in adequate and controlled conditions and a safe environment since the beginning of the project.
What lessons did you learn from the project and do you plan to continue it?
The entire project proved to be very useful for us, and we want to continue implementing it. The implementation of the project had a great impact on the promotion of a culture of learning and mutual cooperation, as well as the transfer of knowledge and values to new generations of employees. We want to maintain such a way of introduction to work that enables new employees to adapt and prepare for independent management AND RETAINING THEM IN THE COMPANY.