Research and conventional wisdom suggests that new employees get about 90 days to prove themselves in a new job. Quite literally, the quicker you feel comfortable at any new job, the faster you will be able to contribute meaningfully to the organization's goals. If you’re about to join the workforce soon, you’ll soon realise that you have expectations from your new employer. It could be something as obvious as a flexible leave policy. Or it could be something more benign, like your need to work on interest areas. If you’re studying or specialising in HR, you’ll realise that this is an inherent part of your curriculum, where you study the science of rewards and recognition. Speaking of which, we bring you a new case study with special emphasis on HR. We discuss a company who successfully managed to fine tune their employee on-boarding process in this case study brought to you as a part of the Learning #IRL series by ABGLP.
Introduction
Company X, our protagonist, is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company, concentrating on hair color, skin care, sun protection, make-up, perfumes, and hair care. The company is also the leading nano-technology patent-holder in the United States. In 2016, Company X employed a total of 89,135 people throughout the world.
With such a large and diverse workforce, X has to make sure that new hires bring value to the company, while feeling a part of the larger organization. X also has to make sure that it treats employees or all diversities equally.
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The Problem
Company X found that if employees were not happy at the outset, in the first few months of joining the company, the chances of them leaving were really high. In fact, just in the USA, research suggests that 25% of the workforce experiences a career transition every 18 months. With such a high level of attrition, company X needed to streamline their employee on-boarding strategy and make sure that new employees feel welcome, so that they did not leave in a few months.
The Solution
Company X started a 2 year 6 part employee on-boarding program. This program included:
- Training and round table discussions.
- Meetings with key insiders.
- On-the-job learning supported by line management.
- Individual mentoring and HR support.
- Field and product experiences such as site visits and shadowing programs.
Approaches to on-boarding range from quite structured and systematic — as in the case of X — to the “sink or swim” strategy, in which new employees often struggle to figure out precisely what is expected and to understand the norms of their new workplace. Which is why X wanted to select an approach where their employees did not have to go through the sink or swim process.
The Approach
Company X hit 4 aspects or 4Cs of on-boarding.
Compliance
Clarification
Culture
Connection
Mainly, they aimed at making employees feel welcome on all these 4 levels mentioned above.
They also found out that some levers or qualities, when boosted in employees, lead to high motivation levels and therefore higher retention and contribution. Self confidence, role clarity, social integration, knowledge of the organisational culture and fit, attitudes towards job satisfaction, etc, were great reasons for employees to stay focused.
Keeping all this in mind, Company X used readily available support tools to make sure that their on-boarding hit all the right notes.
- They started setting milestone goals for new hires.
- They started differentiating between executive and middle management or fresher on-boarding, making sure that each new hire got the attention he/she deserves.
- They started making sure that new hires could reach optimum productivity levels in less than a year.
As a result, their attrition rates dropped and more and more employees started participating in and owning company projects.
Based on the above case study, answer the following questions:
- What do you think Company X got right, in order to fine tune their on-boarding strategy?
- What are your thoughts on employee retention and rewards?
- What kind of motivation programs would you introduce as an HRM in your organization, in order to streamline the on-boarding process?
- What do you think is the best on-boarding and retention strategy?
Share your responses to this case study on this
thread.
Interesting Fact About ABG
Birla group of companies own many big brands such as Peter England, Louis Philippe, Pantaloons, Idea and much more.
What’s This?
This is a part of a series called Learning #IRL, brought to you by InsideIIM in association with ABGLP. Read on to find out more…
Why Learning #IRL?
Simple really. We are tired of reaching out for giant textbooks, or “researching” online for all the answers. We want out. And we’re sure you do as well.
Whether you’re
– Planning to join b-school.
– Already in b-school and worried about placements.
– Someone who’s looking to shift jobs, upgrade their position, etc.
Everyone needs to know and remember the basics. And now, you can learn and refresh your concepts in a fun way! Simply read a comic strip or watch a video to understand management concepts. Or solve a quiz and case study to check your comprehension.
Get an overview on various concepts ranging from marketing strategies, operations concepts, basics of finance and HR tricks every month. Learn with the examples and instances from latest case studies and real stories.
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What’s This Series About?
In this series, we bring you 4 fun things. Basically, instead of reading boring textbooks, or trawling through search pages on Google, here’s your shortcut to learning with fun.
- Quiz: Solve a quiz based on management concepts in marketing, HR, finance and operations. Test your conceptual clarity and know how! Basically learn with fun.
- Case Study: Solve a sector-wise case study every month! Don’t all interview prep experts tell you to sharpen your logical thinking and practise cases?! Well now, you can practise a case every month and find out how well you know various concepts! Check out the July Case Study On Operations Management for an OTT platform like Disney here. Check out the August Case Study On IKEA India here.Check out the September Case Study On HR Strategy here. Check out the September Case Study On IT Services Companyhere. Check out the October Case Study On Venezuela's Oily Hyperinflation Story here. Check out the November Case Study On The Dream Car That Failed To Scale here. Check out the December Case Study On HR- How To Retain Talent here.
- Video: Check out this unique explainer video laying out the facts and figures for you. Whether it’s the 7 Ps of marketing or the Jidoka model in supply chain and operations, these videos tell you all. Have a specific concept you wish to understand? Let us know and we’ll help you comprehend it! Check out July explainer Video on an Operations Management concept called Hub & Spoke here. Check out August explainer Video on The Science Behind Marketing Promotions here. Check out October explainer Video on HR Concepts & The Meaning Of Life here. Check out November explainer Video on Joint Stock Companies here. Check out December explainer Video on Brand Amitabh Bachchan's Revitalisation here
- Comic Strip: Reading reams of pages can be so boring. Now read comic strips and find out what’s what in your b - school curriculum! Wondering about Time Value of Money? Or perhaps HR strategies and tools? These comic strips will help you understand the same old concepts in new and refreshing ways. Check out July explainer Comic Strip on an Operations Management concept called Jidoka here. Check out the August Comic Strip on Marketing Concepts Made Easy here. Check out the September Comic Strip on HR Theories Deconstructed here.