Employee onboarding guidelines for the Department Y at Company X

The Department Y at Company X was founded in January 2022. To respond to the needs of new hires to the department, an onboarding program was created by its Team Manager and implemented in August 2022. The author participated in the initial development of the onboarding process and its implementation. Through discussions with the Team Manager at the workplace a need for further improvement was recognized. This thesis examines how literature and industry’s best practices can aid in the further development of the onboarding process for the Department Y at Company X. The thesis report examines the literature concerning the onboarding of new employees and its implications, onboarding structure, timeline, and onboarding elements. The results of the thesis include guidelines which can support the enhancement of the existing onboarding program at Department Y, but it will not however deliver a finished onboarding program with stern schedule and components. The research was carried out in the form of a case study, with data being collected through qualitative methods, interview, and questionnaire. The interview was conducted with the department’s Team Manager, and the questionnaire was distributed to recent hires to the department. The collected data was analyzed through a thematic data analysis method which resulted in the generation of final themes. The thematic data analysis showcased that overall new hires were satisfied with the onboarding program. However, there was lack of clarity regarding the onboarding timeline, a lack of practical learning opportunities and revision, and continuous support was needed even after the onboarding and training were completed. Moreover, the expectations regarding time to productivity were not met. The Department Y’s onboarding program should thus be extended to a period of two months, with a set structure divided into four stages of strategic onboarding. It is recommended that regular revision and check-ins be built into the onboarding program, and that the time to productivity metric is implemented. In addition, the success of the onboarding program could be further secured by introducing training for the onboarding buddies on coaching. Keywords: onboarding, strategic onboarding, guidelines, new employee