Onboarding in the 21st Century

We had a new full-time employee begin last week. It has been seven (yes, seven) years since we hired someone completely new to our library staff who hadn’t previously been either part-time with us or had some type of library experience. So, what are we to do for orientation? Here are some initial observations.

As opposed to when we had a larger staff, one or two people will cover training on the majority of tasks. Our hybrid position covers both financial and serials-type work servicing both of our campuses. We have only ten full-time employees covering three departments. As you can imagine, training is no longer at the top of anyone’s day-to-day task list as opposed to when the staff was in growth mode during the early 2000s. Even the name has changed from orientation to onboarding, reflecting the greater role technology has taken in welcoming someone new to the staff..

1. Create an orientation schedule and checklist. If you are the only person conducting the training, a lengthy checklist can work better than an hourly schedule. It gives you more flexibility but still puts some structure in place. Build a schedule that includes a short welcome meeting, lunch with the boss and at least one other employee, and a full staff meeting sometime during the first week to make sure everyone gets a brief opportunity to meet the new person.
2. Engage the new employee as much as possible. Don’t just show them; actually have them do the task after observing you do it. Today, we are looking at solving an access problem for one of our online databases, taking care of an archival check-in issue (dealing with old graduation programs), and working on paying our membership dues for AALL.
3. Give them alone time. Let them read procedures in peace and quiet. Our written procedures are substantial. The new employee will have technical services tasks. I expect it will be helpful to test procedures more carefully without having someone sitting behind watching.
4. Encourage them to ask many questions. This is essential since your training skills are rusty, and documentation may not always be current. Also, with less staff around to ask questions, the freedom to ask anyone a question is important.  
5. Give a great tour of the law school space. Early on the first day, let them know where the staff lounge is. Did they bring lunch? Tell them where there is an ice machine and coffee maker. Tour them around to other departments, but consider only one or two per day so as not to overwhelm them with names and office locations. Make connections to the library when possible. For example, our archives are on the fourth floor. The other spaces on that floor include student organization offices. 
6. Make sure HR is involved and serves as a resource. Remind the new employee that HR is there to help. They are an excellent resource for the gamut of physical health and mental wellness issues and should be referred to with confidentiality. I learned many years ago to defer to the experts. In today’s world of FERPA and complicated benefits topics, the HR office is much better suited to deal with these topics than a librarian.
7. Make the new person feel welcome. Put a sign on their door, introduce them to as many people as possible, and invite them to some of your meetings so they can see what you do even if it’s not something they’ll need to do with any regularity, if at all.  Being inclusive in orientation has a broader meaning. Just because someone is not responsible for a particular task doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have an overview of the work others do. It helps paint the larger picture and ultimately can make the new person feel more comfortable if they understand how their role fits into the organization.
8. Share the detailed job description. I was surprised to learn that our HR department doesn’t share this with new employees. Candidates base their application for a job on an advertisement that only summarizes the job. If you have trouble filling out an orientation schedule, you can base it on the actual job description. Do you cover everything in a timely manner? 
9. Follow up with a survey in two to four weeks. It doesn’t have to be formal or even written. I ask new staff if they have the tools they need to succeed. I ask if they feel their orientation is sufficient. Finally, I ask, as usual, if they have any additional questions or comments.

The task of creating an excellent orientation doesn’t require a lot of hype or production. By keeping things simple and being as organized as possible, you will end up with a happier new employee. Keeping communication open allows for a more seamless transition for having a new person take on tasks that may be essential to the library to have completed in a timely manner. Onboarding is the current HR catchword and technology plays an important role in employees getting acclimated to new surroundings, but personal attention to procedures and policies allows for some tried and true orientation concepts to remain. Being flexible in accomplishing the task as a supervisor will help productivity and adjustment to a new routine.