Justification
Among the key tendencies in an international business community, there is the growing intensity of competition on a global scale and an increased focus on employee happiness in the most successful companies. Both tendencies are strictly interconnected with the quality of services and products, and they encourage more companies to improve their human resource management practices to increase their competitive advantage. Given the strong link between organizational socialization and the ability of our company to withstand competition, the creation of an on-boarding process to improve productivity and strengthen corporate culture is a pivotal task.
On-Boarding Process: An Outline
An on-boarding process described in the memorandum is aimed at enhancing the corporate values of our organization, enabling new employees to become effective team members rapidly, and reducing mistakes made by new employees. The proposed on-boarding process is developed to meet the needs of multinational corporations, and it includes the following steps:
- Preparation – this step involves the participation of a new employee, his/her immediate superior, and an HR manager. During the stage, a new employee is to be provided with all necessary materials, indicating the following: an employee’s duties, organizational structure, corporate values, necessary contacts, and the code of conduct. Having reviewed these documents, employees are to have a conversation with an HR manager who is to answer all questions. New employees are to undergo psychological testing to help HR specialists to define people who may have communication problems. The stage is important as new employees have to be informed about the details of working processes. At the same time, the use of psychological testing will be helpful in defining possible problems.
- Orientation – at the beginning of the first day of work, new employees have to be provided with equipment and access to corporate websites, mail, etc. All employees have to be guided by their colleagues who have at least three years of professional experience. New employees are to pass knowledge tests twice a week and complete their daily progress reports that will be reviewed by their colleagues. When choosing temporary coaches for foreign citizens, preference will be given to their fellow subjects or people who speak new employees’ native languages. The given step is extremely important as it allows people with different cultural backgrounds to blend into the team with the help of their fellow compatriots.
- Adaptation – the third stage involves analyzing the results of new employees’ work in order to define their strengths and weaknesses. The committee that includes employees’ temporary coaches, immediate superiors, and HR managers is to review the notes of employees concerning their daily progress, the perceptions of their colleagues, and their test results. Based on that, further training courses will be proposed. New employees will be able to attend free courses in professional communication and language learning (for foreign employees who feel that their communication skills need improvement), team-building, and intercultural communication (for leaders on different levels) (Sansfaçon, Brown, Graham, & Michaud, 2014). The step under consideration is important because a thorough analysis of new employees’ weaknesses helps to prevent the establishment of a corporate culture in which employees avoid solving their problems.
Finally, the proposed outline of an on-boarding strategy focuses on two crucial elements that may involve significant problems: the adaptation of foreign employees and the use of psychological research to identify employees’ weaknesses in advance (Yilmaz, O’Connor, Colomo-Palacios, & Clarke, 2017). The combination of these elements in on-boarding processes in the global environment helps to overcome cultural and psychological differences between employees and achieve better results, making teams more united.
References
Sansfaçon, A. P., Brown, M., Graham, J., & Michaud, A. A. D. (2014). Adaptation and acculturation: Experiences of internationally educated social workers. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 15(2), 317-330.
Yilmaz, M., O’Connor, R. V., Colomo-Palacios, R., & Clarke, P. (2017). An examination of personality traits and how they impact on software development teams. Information and Software Technology, 86, 101-122.