On-Boarding Strategies

Word Length: As required (no more than 2 pages single spaced)

Method: Individual authorship

ASSIGNMENT 2

Assignment Description:

This assignment asks you to produce a short recommendation report in accordance with the scenario below. Format your report as a memo (it would be sent as an attachment through email). Cite all sources used in research. Indicate when the wording is not your own with quotes and citation. Paraphrase (do not simply copy-and-paste).

Situation:

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies and organizations have been forced to move day-to-day operations completely online. At the same time, these companies are operating “business as usual,” which means they’re hiring new

employees to do three things: 1) to fill gaps left by normal turn-over, 2) to improve overall efficiency, 3) to strategically grow and expand the business.

You are a manager at Halcyon. This is a mid-sized marketing agency, holding its own in a competitive industry. But Halcyon is experiencing the typically higher-than-normal turnover of such second-tier companies. To date the agency has provided extensive week-long training to on-board new employees. However, with the move to remote operations, online training has resulted in inconsistent new employee performance. After the on-boarding session, employees still feel unclear about their role and job expectations. They feel bombarded by new information, and they feel overwhelmed by the IT setup and troubleshooting. Finally, when they start their new roles they’re not prepared to use the company’s primary application, a client-facing content management system (CMS). Given the current economic climate and the speed at which the pandemic has changed business operations, the VP of Corporate Development feels the agency needs to overhaul their on-boarding training process. The GM has called a meeting of the agency executives to discuss the situation and come up with a new employee training strategy. Jennifer Kulich, the VP of Engagement Strategies, is one of those executives. She is asking all managers to send her a short recommendation report so she can pool thinking on this issue and present findings at the meeting. In the email you receive, she explains the background (as outlined above) and writes:

What does the research say about new and/or proven on-boarding strategies? What are best practices for on-boarding? Are they different for online versus in-person onboarding processes? What are some possible strategies for improving employees’ online orientation? How should it be done? Is there a way to improve it, streamline it, modify it, or what? What are reasonable expectations for the agency to have of new employees?

What about just getting rid of the HR orientation and making department managers responsible for on-boarding? Would there be any issues there? Add anything else that is relevant to the topic. Thanks.