a SilkRoad eBook

Beyond Onboarding

BY DAVID CREELMAN
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I don’t think it is difficult to convince managers that onboarding is worthwhile. Getting

them to do it is another issue—we’ll give pointers on fixing that later in this e-book. But
let’s go after something bigger. Onboarding is just one example of a work transition.
If everyone agrees it makes sense to manage the transition of a person into the
company, doesn’t it make sense to manage other transitions as well? Shouldn’t we go
beyond onboarding?

I’ll reveal one part of the story right away. The reason it makes sense to think beyond
onboarding now is that we have the technologies to make it easier. Managing
transitions was always a good idea, but it was not always practical. Automation allows
us to do much more.

Yet this is not a story about technology or a list of onboarding tips. It is about
recognizing that processes for managing work transitions are valuable and relatively
straightforward to put in place. It is a great way for HR to add value and at the same
time craft an exceptionally high-touch experience for employees.

What transitions are we talking about?

What do we mean by work transitions? Here are the most common situations:

1. Onboarding – the classic transition that has long been managed through a
formal process.

2. Off-boarding – the mirror of onboarding, but a process that comes in

several flavors.

3. Transfers between jobs – this can be almost as big a change as moving to

a new company, but organizations rarely think that people need a process to
support the transition.

4. Moves up management levels – there is a big difference between being

a worker and being a manager, and a big difference between being a
manager of workers and a manager of managers. These upward moves are
important transitions.

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5. Being acquired or merged – mergers and acquisitions are complex events;

staff transitions are one important part of these events.

These sorts of transitions exist in most organizations but do not exhaust the
possibilities. Once you begin thinking about transitions, and developing the processes
to handle them, you may find other sorts of transitions which are particularly important
in your own organization. Whatever the type of transition, each is a “moment of truth”
for the company; this is a time when employees need support and if you deliver it to
them, it creates a glow that lasts for years.

Why technology makes a difference

It is a common experience for a new hire to be told they absolutely need to start right
away; then arrive to find they don’t have a desk, their PC is not ready, and the manager
is too busy to talk to them. This happens because management life is
hectic. The solution is not to berate managers for failing to attend to new hires.
The solution is to build processes that make the onboarding process easy and
automatic with technology.

Here is what we can expect from technology:

1. Get the process started early

A technology enabled process can put information and tools in front of the new
employee (or any employee planning a transition) right away.

2. Make the administration easier

Transitions usually involve paperwork; technology pre-populates forms and
makes the process paperless. It is not glamorous stuff by any means but it is still
a tangible benefit.

3. Manage workflow
If new hires need a desk, security clearance, a parking spot, and a meeting with
HR, all those steps and more can be coordinated by workflow software.

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4. Provide an audit trail and ensure compliance

Again, this is not a glamorous feature but having transition processes
automated makes everything easier; managers and HR are not distracted by
“administrivia” and can pay attention to the people.

5. Deliver a consistently great high-touch experience

The very existence of software to ease transitions sends a positive message to
employees. What can make the experience special is not just effective workflow
but all kinds of content: from access to training to pictures of their new team.

6. Ensure a long follow-up

Most of the activity around a transition occurs shortly before and shortly after the
official change of status. However, sometimes various follow-ups in the months
after a transition are worth doing. For example, it is often helpful to have a series
of ‘check-ins’ scheduled with the boss so that a new employee can be sure they
are on track. Technology helps ensure these follow-ups happen.

A general model for managing transitions

Irrespective of which type of transition you are designing a process for, it should have
these steps:

1. Trigger. Identify the event that will launch the process. Typically a good rule is
‘the sooner the better.’ In the case of onboarding you should not wait until the
new hire walks in the door. Rather, the decision to hire someone should trigger
the onboarding process and begin sending relevant information to the new hire.

2. Workflow. The most important part of process design is the workflow defining
what needs to be done, when, and by whom. The required steps encompass
everything from filling in forms, to providing information, to scheduling meetings.

3. Content. In a transition, people need all sorts of information. Pulling that

information together, deciding how to present it and who will be responsible for
updating it are a big part of creating a good transition process. These days it
may not just be about information, it may also be tools or apps that help people
with some aspect of a transition.

©2012 SilkRoad, inc. // silkroad.com

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HR is the process owner but that doesn’t mean HR needs to do all the work. The
managers will have a sense of what needs to be done to smooth transitions, so tap their
expertise. And since the biggest winner is the employee, tap them to say what would
have made their transitions easier.

The first transition is onboarding

Before you go beyond onboarding, you need to get your core onboarding processes up
to speed. The key questions follow the principles we have outlined in the sections above.

Useful questions include:

1. Have you checked-in with the business units to find out where there are time to
proficiency problems, unwanted turnover or other issues that can be improved
through better onboarding?

2. Are you starting early enough? There is no reason not to begin the moment the
hiring decision is made.

3. Is your process automated?

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4. Have you checked-in with people who were recently hired to be sure they had
all the information and tools they needed?

5. Have you included anything that goes beyond meeting basic needs to actually
delighting the employee?

6. Do you have an on-going process to monitor how well onboarding is working?

An ambitious overhaul may be required, but simply getting the administrative side
of onboarding automated can be such an improvement that it will win fans for
implementing other well-designed transition processes.

An off-boarding process is the natural next step

The most obvious extension of onboarding is to add a process for off-boarding. There
are at least four different types of off-boarding situations and you will probably want
processes to accommodate all four:

1. Voluntary departure

2. Involuntary departure

3. Retirement

4. Maternity

Maternity may seem a little out of place here, but as we will see it has a lot in common
with the other flavors of off-boarding. These commonalities are:

1. Preparation
When off-boarding can be predicted well in advance (retirement, maternity)
there is an opportunity to provide employees with a lot of preparation before
they leave the organization.

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2. Continuity management
The transfer of knowledge and relationships is important. This can include
simple things like passwords and complex things like helping a new sales rep
build relationships with old customers.

3. Administration
For example, ensuring assets are returned (laptops, smartphones, etc.).
Handling security issues (the employee’s access to the intranet and physical
premises). Completing forms (anything to do with tax, payroll, and so on).

4. Ongoing connection
Organizations may want to retain a connection with employees for a variety of
reasons, the most common one being that an alumni network can be useful for
sourcing talent.

The process for voluntary departures is the easiest. The employee will normally give
reasonable notice and be happy to cooperate in continuity management
and administration.

Involuntary departures happen very quickly, but that is all the more reason to have a
highly honed process that will ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

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Retirement has special challenges. Dianna Tafazoli is president and CEO of DBK
Associates and author of The Role and Responsibility of HR in Retirement and Transition
Readiness. She points out that most people are very poorly prepared, emotionally and
financially, for retirement. Unlike onboarding, which is full of excitement, retirement can
be a difficult time. As well as serving the organization’s need for a smooth transition,
Tafazoli argues that there is a social responsibility component to having a good
retirement process.

Loneliness, depression, and even suicide are problems among retirees, and lack
of financial preparedness puts a burden on the economy. A transition process that
helps connect retirees to volunteer and community involvement opportunities can be
very helpful. The financial side can partly be handled by the off-boarding process, but
Tafazoli notes that it takes many years to build up savings, and that even if the trigger
for the off-boarding process is five years before retirement, that won’t be enough to get
a neglected savings plan in order.

Are we going process mad?

When you hear managers say “At the company we had a process for everything” it is generally said with
pride. It is quite different from being a bureaucratic heavy company with ‘rules about everything.’ Rules are
usually about stopping you from doing something; processes exist to help you get things done. Processes
mean the ball is not dropped, the wheel not reinvented, and that there is a foundation for continual
improvement.

The key to avoiding overbearing processes is to lean toward guiding rather than compelling. The key to
making processes easy to maintain is to avoid unnecessary detail. We’ve already talked a bit about continuity
management. It may be tempting for HR to want to hold a manager’s hand and make sure they handle every
possible aspect of knowledge transfer. Yet it is probably sufficient in an off-boarding process to ask managers
“Have you set aside time to do knowledge transfer?” In some cases it may be a 30-second conversation
(“Where did you put the keys to the storage room?”), while in other cases it may involve an extensive process of
having the person who is leaving train a replacement.

If your processes have a light touch, and use a common technology, then transition processes simply become
a normal part of how work is done and a sign of a professionally run HR department. A reliance on processes
also signals a purposefulness; it emphasizes doing things right, not just getting them done.

©2012 SilkRoad, inc. // silkroad.com

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Maternity may not feel like it belongs on the list because one expects the employee to
return. However, most of the same off-boarding issues apply; particularly maintaining
an ongoing connection. When an employee does return after taking time off for children,
a good process soothes what can be a difficult transition.

While setting up processes for these different off-boarding situations may seem like a lot
of work, once in place they take the load off HR and managers as the appropriate steps
have been thought through and the process ensures no one drops the ball.

Internal transfers are an easy extension

Transfers are a time of risk for organizations. An employee who is happy and productive
in one job may be unhappy and unproductive in a new one. In essence an internal
transfer is just a variation of off-boarding followed by a variation of onboarding. If you
already have onboarding and off-boarding processes then it will be a simple matter to
build one for internal transfers.

Some types of transfers that deserve special attention:

• Significant promotions

• Moves from a line job to a staff job and vice versa

• Relocations

Significant Promotions

There are a number of upward transitions that are particularly difficult and HR
should be prepared with processes that reduce the risk of failure and improve time
to proficiency. Jon Younger, a consultant at the RBL Group in New York, points to work
by Harvard Business School professors Gene Dalton and Paul Thompson on four
career stages.

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• Stage One: Helping and Learning

• Stage Two: Contributing Independently

• Stage Three: Contributing Through Others

• Stage Four: Shaping Organizational Direction

Jon says that when someone moves up a stage they often experience an “Oh sh-t!”
moment, as they realize that what worked for them before won’t do the trick at this
new level. An internal transfer transition process should share information about
these stages and provide guidance on how to successfully adjust to the new role. The
transition process may well include suggested reading, scheduling various kinds of
training, or arranging for a mentor. Not every upward move needs this much support,
but the transition process should support these major changes.

©2012 SilkRoad, inc. // silkroad.com

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Moves from line to staff and vice versa

Another kind of internal transfer that deserves special attention in a transition process
is a move from line to staff or staff to line. In Japan these kinds of transfers are seen as
essential to leadership development, and Japanese consultants have suggestions for
the key things to be aware of:

• Line managers frequently underestimate the complexity of staff roles. They need
to be prepared to take on a difficult job that requires new skills.

• Line managers frequently do not have the influencing and stakeholder

management skills required for staff jobs. Again, information, training and
coaching can get them to full proficiency much faster than letting them struggle
without direction.

• Staff managers who move to line jobs may need to learn to be more directive
and more decisive in their management style.

• Staff managers tend to value process, but in line jobs results matter more.

It is a mistake to assume that managers ‘know this stuff already.’ A transition process
can ensure people get access to the right resources and training, as well as handling
all the administrative issues of any transfer.

Relocation

Relocation is sufficiently complex that many organizations use relocation service

providers who have their own ‘beyond onboarding’ processes to ensure all the steps
are covered. In this case you may only need a simple process that handles a few
internal matters before the work is handed over to the service provider.

However, if the organization does not use an external provider, then it absolutely
needs a well- thought-out process to consistently handle relocations. There are many

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issues to be managed and according to Stephen Cryne, president and CEO of the
Canadian Employee Relocation Council (CERC), there are three areas in particular that
are often overlooked:

1. Purpose of the relocation. Is the purpose of the relocation business growth,

project based, leadership development, or some of each?

2. Family issues. Organizations often concentrate on the physical side of relocation

and overlook the sometimes complex family issues that come with a move.

3. Clear policies. Frequently, organizations do not have clear policies around

relocation, which can lead to confusion and unfairness.

Developing a comprehensive transition process for relocation will save time,

headaches and money. All the lessons learned in developing other transition
processes can be applied to creating a relocation process.

M&A is a special case

The most dramatic use of transition processes is in the case of an acquisition. The
other transition processes we have discussed might be helping a handful of people
every month. An acquisition can involve hundreds or thousands of people all going
through a major career transition at exactly the same time.

If you have had a chance to create processes for other transitions then you will have
the pieces you need to build a process for easing an acquisition. If not then this is the
perfect time to invest in both building processes and acquiring technology to
automate them.

An acquisition is much like onboarding, so in that sense it is familiar terrain. The sheer
scale, however, makes everything harder. And while onboarding is typically a happy
event, an acquisition will be plagued with mixed emotions (see sidebar: The Emotional
Stuff). As I have said, transitions are a moment of truth and how well employees are
cared for in the early days of an acquisition can have a large and long-term impact
on the business.

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The Emotional Stuff

Transition processes tend to focus on the concrete: this is the form you need to fill out, this is the
security pass you have to have, this is the information you need to know. When the transition is
voluntary, as in onboarding, we do not need to work hard at keeping the emotional climate positive.
However for involuntary transitions such as acquisitions, retirement or termination, the emotional stuff
may be more important than the concrete things.

Can a transition process directly address the emotional side?

This is relatively new terrain. The guts of the answer is that the emotional side needs to be handled
face to face. That means the job of the transition process is to make sure those face-to- face meetings
are happening.

It is also conceivable that creative HR leaders will find ways to use videos on the transition portal to
set the right tone. Perhaps videos of people talking about their experience in an involuntary transition
and modeling the right attitudes. The right attitudes, according to Dutch consultant Coert Visser,
revolve around elegance and self-determination. Behaving elegantly revolves around being able
to view things from the other person’s perspective, taking a long-term perspective, and to be mild
and forgiving. Self-determination involves adopting the position that you can have an impact on the
outcomes and that you are not just a passive victim of something thrust involuntary upon you.

Coert also warns us that even voluntary transitions are beset with emotional mood swings. The
excitement of taking a new job is often followed by a period of frustration or disappointment. The
best transition processes will schedule face-to-face meetings to check that nothing has gone
seriously awry.

Making it happen
We started this e-book by noting that while managers believed onboarding was a
good idea, they often handled it poorly. The same thing goes for all the
beyond onboarding transitions as well. There are things HR can do to make sure
that transitions are handled effectively, things that will also speed up time to
proficiency, minimize unwanted turnover, and create a memorable high-touch
experience for employees.

1. Have processes
You cannot blame managers for doing a poor job of overseeing a transition if
they do not have a process that guides them. Thinking through the triggering

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event, workflow, and information needs in advance make a successful transition

much more likely.

2. Automate
Automation of transition processes is not unduly difficult or expensive.
Automation makes the process easier and more reliable. In fact, once you have
automated transition processes it will be hard to imagine having done it any
other way.

3. Create accountability
When a transition goes badly is anyone held accountable for making sure it
won’t happen again? Does anyone even know how well a transition has gone?
Part of the automated transition process should include an evaluation of what
went well, what did not, and if anything important was missed. A questionnaire
completed by the employee is an easy way to keep an eye out for problems.

Onboarding has long been a part of HR’s toolkit. Now is the time to move beyond
onboarding and make transition processes part of your organization’s standard way of
doing business.

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Demonstrating the Value of Transition Management

Whether you are just building up an onboarding process or are moving to create processes to help
with other transitions, you will need to demonstrate the value of proposed process.

The three big drivers of value are reduced waste (i.e., avoiding problems when things go
wrong); improved time to proficiency; and improved engagement. A fourth driver is reduced
administration costs.

Look at the impact on the following areas when you need to demonstrate the value of transition
management.

Reduced waste
• Cost of errors (such as no knowledge transfer) due to poor planning of transition

• Time spent handling complaints/unhappy employees

• Unwanted turnover

Improved time to proficiency

• Work quality and productivity ramp-up faster so that the transitioned employee adds more
value sooner

Improved engagement
• Better productivity

• Better retention

• Improved work climate

• Improved employee experience and employment brand

Reduced administration costs

• An automated process reduces the administrative costs associated with transitions

• An automated process results in better auditing and compliance

For some of these factors one can work with management to estimate the financial impact; for others,
illustrative stories will be very convincing. It doesn’t take too many cases of angry employees who
have suffered from a poor transition, angry customers inadequately served by poorly oriented new
employees, or projects gone off track because of poor knowledge transfer to convince managers that
improved transition processes make sense. On a more positive note, glowing reports from employees
about excellent transition processes are also important for leaders in assessing whether or not this is
a good investment.

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About SilkRoad, inc.

SilkRoad is the leadingprovider of cloud-based social talent management solutions

that develop happy employees who drive exceptional business performance and
agility. Creating the finest employee experience is SilkRoad’s passion and drives
everything they do. SilkRoad’s Life Suite of cloud-based social talent management
software nurtures the employee experience from recruiting and onboarding, through
learning and career development; encompassing all employee milestones from pre-
hire to retire. For more information visit www.silkroad.com.

About the Author

David Creelman is CEO of Creelman Research. He does writing, research and speaking
on the most critical issues in human capital management. His clients include think
tanks, consultants, academics and organizations in Japan, the US, Canada and the EU.
He publishes regularly in the US, Japan, Turkey, Brazil, South Africa, Holland, Romania
and Singapore.

Prior to founding his own company David was Chief of Content and Research for
HR.com. As the first employee of HR.com David played an integral role in growing
a successful dot com; one that continues to thrive. For many years David was a
management consultant in Canada and Malaysia, most notably with the Hay Group.

He has an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and a Combined Honours B.Sc.
in Chemistry and Biochemistry from McMaster.

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