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Many, if not most, professional wood processors agree that finding, hiring and keeping skilled employees is one of the most critical issues they face. Over the years, much attention — although probably not enough — has been given to the improvement of recruitment and hiring techniques, while little has been said about the equally thorny question of how to retain a new worker until and beyond the time that he or she becomes productive.
True, training for employees who already are in place has been the subject of numerous articles in Wood Digest. Nevertheless, in the view of some experts, training alone will not do the trick. Onboarding — the process of quickly and efficiently integrating a new employee into your organization — must also be accomplished.
Spurring the need for speed is the recognition, as identified in an August 2006 "Onboarding Benchmark Report" prepared by Boston-based Aberdeen Group, Inc., that 90 percent of all new employees decide whether to stay or leave a new job within the first six months.
According to Aberdeen Group's Madeline Tarquinio, research analyst, human capital management, author of the study, there are three major elements of onboarding: forms management, tasks management and socialization.
Allan Schweyer, president and executive director of Human Capital Institute (HCI), a global think-tank that focuses exclusively on the science of strategic talent management, believes that industry in general has improved mightily in the first two of these areas — managing forms and training for tasks — but still lags far behind on socialization. At a recent seminar held in New York City, Schweyer told the nearly 150 attendees — mainly human resources specialists — that unless newly hired workers feel valued, trusted and invited to become part of the group, they are far more likely to leave. Or, if they do hang around, they will never fulfill the potential that the company initially saw in them.
To bolster his argument, Schweyer cited Q12, a Gallup Organization poll on employee engagement, in which employees identified 12 statements that summed up much of what they want and need when they take on a new job. For more details on Gallup Q12, see the sidebar on page 21.
HCI, with U.S. offices in Washington, D.C. and Wilder, Vt., organized the May 9 program, which was held at the Cornell Club in Manhattan. Other speakers appearing with Schweyer included: John Furcon, principal, Buck Consultants, Chicago, Ill.; Sally Colella, principal, Colella & Associates, Kensington, Md.; and Brian Platz, executive vice president, SilkRoad technology, headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C. SilkRoad technology sponsored the event.
Furcon identified five key roles that must be filled by companies striving for an effective onboarding experience: talent scout, screener, selector, coach and mentor. The first three, he said, are generally performed by those involved with recruiting and hiring; the latter three (selector has a foot in both camps) are normally the responsibility of those who will be supervising and/or working alongside the new employee.
The consultant further urged the audience to make certain that onboarding socialization is not something left to chance, but is made an explicit part of labor management, complete with follow-through and measurement of performance. He explained not only must new employees be trained, but that the people who train them must also be trained.
Ideally, he stated, "onboarding should begin before the new hire's first day on the job. You can only make a first impression once," and for that reason, it's wise to do a bit of prep work prior to the employee's potentially stressful first day of work.
What can be accomplished in the transition period between hiring and starting the job? Furcon suggested that necessary forms can be filled out, any required testing can be taken care of, and material can be given to the new person outlining the company's history and culture, as well as its policies, benefits and entitlements.
Meanwhile, back at the shop, management should make sure that when the new employee walks through the door, he or she has a clean, well-equipped workstation, and that people have been chosen — and a schedule established — to indoctrinate him or her into the organization.
This schedule should extend, Furcon added, "long enough to have the desired effect and short enough not to interfere with productivity at the company." To help in achieving this delicate balance, he called for timed evaluations of how much progress is being made.
"There should be an informal review at the end of the initial orientation," he said, "a more formal review when 10 percent of time-to-competence has been reached, a 360 review at 50 percent of time-to-competence, and a formal performance evaluation at the 100 percent mark." Addressing a white-collar model, he estimated that it generally takes a middle manager about six months to reach competence.
Furcon also pointed out the need to handle different age groups with different techniques. He indicated, "Baby boomers still in the workforce tend to see themselves as being in charge. Those in Generation X, born between 1960 and 1980, seek flexibility in work arrangements so that they may achieve a balance between work and 'life.' And those in the 'Next' generation, or Generation Y, born after 1980, are characterized by a desire for fast decision-making, stimulating work, continuous feedback, team orientation with great reliance on internal and external support networks (think of all that instant messaging they do), and they are knowledgeable about technology."
Colella offered examples of social network mapping that can help management identify the key people in an organization, those that are magnets for other workers' questions. By asking all employees who they would turn to first for answers to various problems, it is possible, said Colella, to identify those individuals who have the most clout in influencing fellow employees.
Some of her clients, she said, have been surprised to find out that these fulcrums for information are not always the ones that management approves of. If, for example, a sought-after worker is a company clown or a malcontent, the information he or she shares could damage the firm.
Therefore, computer-assisted mapping of an organization's interactive pathways often leads to necessary corrective action.
Platz, whose company develops systems-oriented, technology-based solutions for employee management needs, described RedCarpet, a trademarked onboarding "tool that eases new hires into your organization."
Here is an example of how the RedCarpet "treatment" might be applied: A new employee is provided with a login and password, allowing access to a secure portal that is completely tailored to his or her situation. Through this portal, the firm can provide a myriad of information that will help newcomers become acclimated to your corporate culture and procedures so their first few weeks of work will be as successful as possible.
Onboarding for the small shop
By providing introductory information over the Web, Platz emphasized, it is possible to eliminate the need for paper-based orientation kits. Elements of an online kit might include any or all of the following: a welcome letter from the CEO; a calendar with the employee's training schedule for the first week; paperwork to print and fill out and bring in on the first day; an employee handbook with details on dress code, company hours and benefits.
While some of the speakers' comments may appear more suitable for large corporate enterprises, smaller businesses too, woodworking establishments included, can and probably should also make use of some of these onboarding principles and practices. Given a summary of what the HCI seminar covered, Lisa Hendrickson, who did not attend, said that she could see the value in many of the suggestions.
Hendrickson, who runs New York-based Hendrickson Custom Cabinetry along with her husband Felix, added that her firm, which has grown from four to 21 employees in the four years since its founding, already pays a good deal of attention to onboarding socialization — even though she and her husband have never called it by that name. "Every month, we have a lunch-and-learn program in the shop, and also every month we offer safety training," she said.
Further, she said, "We don't have departments. Rather, our company is divided into five overlapping 'neighborhoods'—engineering, fabrication, finishing, installation and administration. We think that workers are more likely to help out a 'neighbor' than someone from another department."
Hendrickson said that the 8,000-sq.-ft. shop, which is located in The Bronx, turns out high-end custom cabinetry and architectural millwork for "high net worth individuals, celebrity homes and buildings of architectural note.
"We don't have a retail presence," she added. "Instead, we work with well-known architects and designers." And whatever she, her husband and their plant manager, Don Pascual, are doing seems to be working. "We have very low turnover," she reported.
Ed. note: Alan Richman, former editor of Wood Digest and Cabinet Manufacturing & Fabricating, is now a freelance writer and communications specialist based in New Jersey.
author: By Alan Richman