Q1.

What, in your opinion, were the mistakes made by Rebecca’s boss and colleagues
during the first weeks of her new employment? What could have been done
differently in welcoming Rebecca?

Based on our finding, there are some mistakes made by Rebecca’s boss and colleagues
during the first weeks of her new employment. In particular order, these were the problem which
she have faced on the first day of her on boarding process. Firstly, one of the mistakes was
nobody in the company had been informed of her arrival and she had neither desk nor computer
to use and was just given a temporary work place for more than a month. In this situation, the
company should have notify the team in advance that Rebecca is arriving so they can schedule
some time to get to know her. Other than that, the company should also taken the first initiative
to prepare a personal workstation for Rebecca even days before she starts her first day of work.
Basic items like desk and chair, telephone, computer, desk supplies etc. should have prepared
before Rebecca arrive to avoid any delays on her first day. Human resource department must
inform the IT department earlier to ensure everything could be well prepared and ready on time
to avoid situation like what Rebecca have faced. For example, if the company is busy like how it
is described in the case, they should search for other alternative other than the traditional method
which requires them to introduce the company on the first day. The company can share the
information about the workplace like the pictures and names of their managers and team
members through email or LinkedIn so that the new employee can try to remember everyone’s
name and face along with new job information beforehand. According to the survey made by
Clear Company, 70% of employees say having friends at work is the most crucial element to a
happy work life, therefore it is an essential process by getting to know the team to ensure a
successful onboarding procedure.

The following mistake made by Rebecca’s boss and colleague is that nobody informed her
that the company had no internal cafeteria and her colleague just watched her got lost in the
company’s hall on her first day. To prevent this situation to happen in the future, the company
should assign one representative to have a brief tour to take Rebecca around the office area. This
is to ensure that Rebecca will be aware of the important and common areas for safety purposes
such as a fire drill assembly point and emergency exit of the office. Moreover, if there is extra
time, the representative can show Rebecca around his or her office since many managerial levels’
office are usually on a different level of the organization building. This is to let Rebecca knows
that even though she is on a different level, but she is encouraged to visit them if she has any
questions regarding work related.

Moreover, things got worst when Rebecca’s boss only managed to meet her for 10 minutes
on her first day because he had to run to others meetings and yet only gave her vague indications
about what her new mission in the company would entail. It is obligated for the company’s
managerial level to send at least one representative to make a proper introduction of Rebecca to
the rest of the team. Something like “Everyone, this is Rebecca. Rebecca, this is everyone”. This
is to ensure that Rebecca feels welcome in the company. Later on for her future tenure in the
company, the company can establish a mentor-mentee program so that Rebecca have someone
to refer to regarding her problems during her first few weeks of work and this can ensure the
new hire quickly learns about the job and has assistance throughout the process. Some new hire
who are extrovert in personality will attempt to familiarize themselves with the team beforehand
but there are some introvert who needs a little help. That is why no matter what, the current
organization team still needs to know the new hire for procedure purposes. Introduce the new
employee to your team the employee’s strengths and background. This tells the employee you
want the team to get to know them and to succeed in collaborating.

Additionally, Rebecca’s boss and her team had badly managed the relational implications
of the onboarding process. During the weekly meeting, two directors introduced their recently
hired members but Rebecca’s boss did not say a word about her. Rebecca’s boss should invite
her to join the meeting as a chance to introduce her to other departments. The boss should have
taken every onboarding process as a serious matter, which means that he should not be favouring
a certain employee because employee’s job satisfaction is very important, onboarding process
can be said as a first impression of the employee towards the organization. High job satisfaction
can increase an employee’s passion towards their job in the long term. On the other hand, if
there is low job satisfaction due to minor issues which could have been done better by the
organization managerial level, employee turnover rate will decrease which also shows to external
parties that the organization has a good relationship between its employee.
 Lastly, Rebecca’s colleague also showed little inclination to welcome her and facilitate her
integration, they failed to provide her with information on the projects they were working at the
time and information about her tasks and company’s culture. In order to help Rebecca integrate
with the company culture, group ice breaking activities is a good way. It can helps Rebecca
familiarize her team better through all these ice breaking activities. These activities aid to give
the new hires an exposure on how their team members work, and help them easily identify people
they can connect with. Knowing the company culture also ease new hires to understand how
their team or department plays a role, and company work as whole, and to know what the
company expects from them. Furthermore, the company should assign the new hires their first
project on the first week, this will ensure they learn the job hands on and feel valuable to the
company rather than doing menial tasks. Even though they don’t have any new project assign to
her, they should at least explain the current projects that the company working on at that time.
Besides that, the company should also make a plan for the new hire to follow.

For example, let them know their job scope and the company’s expectations on her for
the following months, let them know what they will be expected to do, and it is even better to
notify them the company’s upcoming projects and predicted workflow. Study shows that it takes
approximately 8 to 12 months of working period for a new employee to gain full proficiency in
their current job. There are a few ways which is a common format used by many organizations
to handle cases like Rebecca’s and her boss. Firstly, the employer and employee to-be should
have a formal meet up at least once with the human resources team to ensure all the forms are
filled in correctly. Besides, during the first meeting of the week, employer should grab the chance
to finalize all onboarding paperwork such as tax forms, opening of bank accounts and employee
provident fund application. Ask a member from the human resources team to explain everything
to your employee and tell them about the specifics. Let the new employee know he/she is
encouraged to ask any questions and can use this time to discuss any and all work related
paperwork issues.
References

https://www.ciphr.com/advice/improve-your-employee-onboarding-process/

https://blog.clearcompany.com/starting-new-hire-onboarding-off-on-the-right-foot-in-3-easy-
steps