The final part of our series on onboarding brings us to a group who hold considerable sway over the process: the managers. Their role in the onboarding process is of paramount importance as they are the ones checking in with new employees consistently, setting expectations, and either leading or producing training materials. This makes them vital to the ongoing updates required in training materials to adapt to new software, changes in policies, or incorporating innovative ideas brought on by new hires.
Unfortunately, this demands a significant time commitment from managers. Senior executives need to understand and accept that a large portion of a manager's role will be education and onboarding. They need the time for one-on-one discussions, something often overlooked in many organizations, leading to a subpar onboarding experience.
To illustrate, consider the case of medical directors in physician staffing corporations. If a medical director is given a mere eight hours a month for administrative tasks, but seven of those are consumed by mandatory administrative meetings, the time left for managing their group metrics and onboarding is highly insufficient.
It's critical to ensure that managers are allocated enough time to fulfill their duties, and this time commitment should be reflected in their compensation packages. The time required will depend on the size of the team and the frequency of check-ins, but this is an area that demands regular reassessment.
Leaders who find themselves short on time need to identify how much time they require for these tasks, and then have candid conversations with their administrative team to make necessary adjustments. If your organization lacks a structured onboarding process, consider adopting an adaptable onboarding framework to help identify the tasks that need attention.
This might include training employees on new computer systems, billing operations, communication with case management teams, or even sending electronic prescriptions. Even simple, common, everyday tasks need to be written down and included in the training. These tasks may not require extensive training, but they should be monitored consistently and ticked off as they are learned.
Additionally, a crucial role of a manager is to garner feedback from the employees and convey it to the new employee. This serves to foster a culture of feedback, which should be a core belief in every company. Honest feedback is vital, and incorporating it into onboarding sends a clear message to new hires that everyone, from new employees to CEOs, is subject to continuous personal development and growth.
In conclusion, onboarding is a multifaceted process that demands a minimum commitment of 90 days. This high-intensity effort should incorporate company values and set measurable objectives, ultimately enhancing overall employee satisfaction. Since organizations invest significantly in finding the right person, equal or more should be invested in their training and providing them with the tools, techniques, policies, and procedures they need to succeed. This will enable new hires to get up to speed quickly and become highly productive members of the team.