Personnel adaptation: types, methods, stages and programs for employee adaptation in the organization

The concept of “adaptation” (from Latin adapto - I adapt) arose in the 19th century and was first used only in biology, when it came to the adaptation of an organism to the conditions of the external environment. In the course of the development of science, this term began to be used in medicine and psychology, in sociology and management.

Adaptation is a mutual adaptation of the employee and the organization, based on the gradual effective work of the employee in new professional, social, psychological and organizational-economic working conditions.

IMPORTANT!

This process lasts from 1 month to 1.5 years. It is fundamentally different from the probationary period in that it is aimed not only at professionalization, but also at the socialization of the employee.

Adaptation is an effective mechanism

The term “adaptation” came to human resources management from biology, where it literally meant “adjustment.” Adaptation is understood as the mutual “adjustment” of the environment and the organism to each other.

In relation to professional activity, we can define labor adaptation as the influence of an organization on the behavior of an employee who appears in it with the aim of inclusion in its functioning with the most effective interaction. It also includes the reverse process: the employee also adapts to himself some aspects of the organization’s activities.

The process of personnel adaptation in schemes .

Types of adaptation

IMPORTANT! A sample regulation on the adaptation of enterprise employees from ConsultantPlus is available here

Since the human condition is multifaceted, he has to adapt to many different factors. From here we can distinguish different types of adaptation.

Let's consider those that are related to his professional activities.

Depending on previous experience, two adaptation forms :

primary - a person acquired a new employee status for the first time, only after graduating from an educational institution or starting work for the first time in his life;
secondary – the person has work experience, but the working conditions have changed (different position, higher rank, new team, perhaps a different specialization).

Depending on the conditions of which sphere a person is forced to apply to or try to “bend” them to suit himself, the following types of adaptation :

professional – the employee “fits in” to a new area of skills and abilities, masters opportunities, evaluates his professional “baggage” in terms of suitability for the new job;
production - a worker in a new organization is included in an unusual organization of activities, learns new rules and labor standards, finds his way around the workplace, finds a “common language” with tools, documents, mechanisms and other production factors;
social - receiving a new psychological “role” for himself, namely a member of a team, a colleague, as well as a subordinate, a person must learn the new rules of this “game” for himself, accept the values of the new environment and, in turn, also begin to influence it influence (in everyday life this is called “becoming your own”);
financial – with new responsibilities, the economic component of a person’s life also changes; it will be necessary to take into account not only the factor of wages (its size and timeliness) and other budget increases, but also additional expenses, for example, travel to the place of work;
psychophysiological - not only the human psyche is reconstructed, but also the features of his biological functioning in the new environment where he will spend a significant part of his time. You need to resolve many issues regarding physical existence for yourself. You will have to adapt to the new regime and features, for example, the schedule of getting up and going to bed, the time and conditions for eating, get used to wearing special clothing (if provided), and even get used to the nuances of performing natural needs.

Adaptation in Japanese companies

In Japan, the concept of corporate culture is placed much higher on the list of values, because in Japan the collective common good for each individual is more important than personal one. It doesn't take much thought to remember examples of how the Japanese did hara-kiri to avoid being captured by the enemy, or how Japanese pilots sacrificed their lives to carry out a military operation.

Therefore, the Japanese respect corporate values very much, and they begin to instill them from the very beginning. In Japan, the lack of work experience is not considered a disadvantage, because in this way the company will be able to train the employee to suit itself and instill the model of behavior at work that is accepted in the team.

Adaptation in a Japanese company can last up to two years, including because a person usually stays in a company for a long time and can remain in the same position for decades.

The first stage of adaptation usually lasts up to three months. During this time, the Japanese must absorb corporate values, and by the end of the adaptation period he should already feel like a full-fledged member of the team.

There are often situations when non-residents come to work for a company and live in a dormitory. Thus, they communicate with colleagues not only at work, but even in their free time.

Why is personnel adaptation necessary in an organization?

Since adaptation is a biological and psychological mechanism “built-in” in a person, in most cases it occurs by itself. The question may arise: why, in this case, focus attention on the problem of adaptation, develop its programs, and strive to increase its effectiveness?

Indeed, a person most often sooner or later, one way or another, adapts to any conditions or adapts them to suit himself. To do this, he needs several factors: enough time, motivation, the will to change and their natural capabilities. But in the process of professional activity, all these factors can cost the employer too much, so he strives to reduce and simplify this complex process as much as possible.

REFERENCE! Research shows that 9 out of 10 people who quit without working for even a year made this decision in their first days in the service.

The main problems of beginners

What can make life difficult for a person in his first days at a new job? What should specialists dealing with personnel adaptation problems pay attention to first? Research shows that the predominant negative aspects that prevent new employees from feeling “in their place” are:

lack of organizational knowledge;
inability to navigate in a new environment;
constraint in front of management and colleagues;
lack of practical experience.

To these objective factors are added subjective experiences that further complicate adaptation, such as:

fear of appearing incompetent and failing to cope with one’s responsibilities;
fear of losing a job (or a passionate desire to “promote” as quickly as possible);
fear of not becoming respected in the team;
lack of contact with superiors (antipathetic manager or, conversely, fear of not liking him);
inability to “fit in” with the team (fear of being rejected or not wanting to get closer on your own initiative), etc.

Why is this so important

An employee evaluates the company in the first weeks of work. The first impression determines whether he wants to stay or leave. Therefore, it is in the interests of the company to create comfortable conditions from the first days.

Productivity depends on the level of adaptation. In the first weeks and months, an employee can solve fewer problems in one unit of time. Time is spent getting to know the staff, corporate tools, and so on. In any case, the employee acts more cautiously at first. The faster you can adapt it, the faster your work efficiency will rise to normal levels.

Some people feel uncomfortable in a group. If HR doesn't help you get to know your colleagues, a person may feel lonely.

The set of adaptation measures also includes training sessions for newcomers. It is beneficial for the company to tell and show everything in detail in the first days. Leaving the employee to figure things out on their own will take longer.

What is included in personnel adaptation (types of personnel adaptation):

Conducting introductory trainings
Probationary period control
Teambuilding
Internal PR

Now let's look at examples.

Personnel adaptation methods

Different organizations use different approaches to the problem of personnel adaptation. Most often, one of three paths predominates.

“Swim if you can swim.” Management hands over the adaptation mechanism to the employee himself, leaving him to cope independently in a new situation. This approach is mainly allowed by managers when the market is oversaturated with labor, if they are not so interested in this particular employee, or if his position is not very prestigious and easily replaceable. Sometimes this approach is further aggravated by parting words like: “You start working, and we’ll see what you’re good for, and then we’ll talk about your remuneration and prospects.”
"The strongest survives". If an organization aims to select only the best, it presents the opportunity to join its ranks as a kind of privilege that must be earned through hard work and difficult trials. It is in such companies that newcomers are given probationary periods with strict conditions and difficult tasks. The team does not accept a new member for a long time, looking closely at him and sometimes even discriminating against him. The bosses are harsh, sometimes even excessive. If an employee passes such a “draconian” selection, he takes “his” place in the organization.
"Hello, partner." The most democratic and effective approach, which, however, requires the greatest effort from management. If an organization requires many different employees, and also seeks to provide itself with good personnel, it will approach the issue of adaptation responsibly. According to this approach, it is better to invest effort in “educating” your employee than to constantly “resow” the sand of personnel in the hope of discovering something worthwhile, and having made a mistake, start the process all over again. Searching, hiring and constantly training new employees will ultimately cost a greater loss of time, effort and finances than competent organization of personnel policy.

How does adaptation work in Russian and Ukrainian companies?

Many domestic companies retain a special feature that dates back to the USSR, although in top companies this feature is eliminated in favor of the Western model. That trait is mentoring. A system in which everyone is built vertically, any action must be coordinated with a superior, and training is carried out by one person.

In such a system, during the adaptation process, the employee has minimal contact with the team and communicates mainly with the mentor. This is neither bad nor good, just a distinctive feature associated with mentality.

Let's look at a few examples.

Training for beginners in Yandex

Almost ten thousand people work at Yandex, and several dozen new ones arrive every week. To cope with the flow, it was decided to create a special adaptation department - it consists of four people.

The only day to go to work at Yandex is Tuesday. Newcomers are given a gift bag with souvenirs from Yandex. Among them, there is one thing that will still be useful during training - a notebook with a checklist. It lists what a new employee must do during the first week of work. The next day, there is an introduction to top managers, where they talk about the company, values and goals.

Probation period at Mail Ru

MailRu Group, which also includes Odnoklassniki and VKontakte, in addition to a gift bag with cookies and an introductory lecture, has a probationary period, and quite a long one. For ordinary employees it is three months, and for management positions - five. The new team member should discuss plans for this period with his superiors, and at the end of the probationary period they will look at how well the employee coped with these plans. If successful, he receives a prize - a personal Lego man, who is placed on the company logo.

Goals of labor adaptation

If your organization has set itself the task of implementing a competent personnel adaptation program, you first need to clearly understand its goals. As a rule, they are:

reducing efficiency losses “at the start” (while the employee is poorly prepared to perform his duties, the quality of his work is much lower, additional time and sometimes finances need to be spent on him);
reduction of anxiety and psychological discomfort (this not only helps reduce staff turnover, but also significantly affects the quality of work);
saving time resources (if the organization has a well-functioning adaptation program, the manager and colleagues will not have to waste time on disorderly explanations with the new employee);
developing a good attitude towards the new place of work (when staff feel cared for, they work more efficiently).

Stages of adaptation

The adaptation period itself can be formally divided into three stages

Familiarization stage

At this stage, the newly arrived specialist learns the organizational goals and objectives of the enterprise and the position he occupies, gets acquainted with the environment and the team, compares all this with his expectations from the new place of work and his formed opinion about the company. After comprehending all this, a person must clearly understand for himself whether this position is suitable for him or whether he should look for another place.

Management, for its part, also carries out work to evaluate the new employee:

makes sure that the decision to hire this person is correct}
does everything possible to quickly integrate the specialist into the team and transition him to the full performance of his professional duties}
reveals the likely working potential of the hired employee}
comes to a final conclusion about professional skills and determines the specialist’s further career advancement during the work process.

All these issues are resolved during the newcomer’s internship or probationary period. At the end of the period, a decision is made on the suitability of the employee for the position he occupies.

Adjustment stage

This period can take a different period of time - from one month to a year. Its duration depends on the assistance provided to the new employee by management, staff, co-workers or a staff psychologist. During this period, the newcomer must join the team and adapt to it.

Fusion stage

A period of complete acclimatization begins, a person must clearly understand and fulfill his duties, be an equal member of the work team and outline for himself further prospects and goals for successful work.

Identification

At this stage, the specialist’s personal goals are closely intertwined with the goals of the organization, enterprise or firm. In this case, three types of workers are distinguished: indifferent, partially identified and completely identified. The backbone of any organization is made up of completely identified employees. Mostly they are professionals in their field, responsible and serious people.

The main “steps” of adaptation

In his mutual adaptation to the professional environment, the employee goes through 4 successive stages. Help at any stage will significantly reduce the adaptation time and make it easier, reducing the organization’s costs.

Information stage. To help a person, you must first find out what exactly he needs help with. At the first stage, it is necessary to collect information about the experience of the employee himself, his level of knowledge, and preparedness. Even with a high value of these indicators, unusual factors will appear in one area or another, which will help identify the most “problematic” points, which should be given priority attention during adaptation. This can be both the production process and communication issues.
Choosing a course. This is the employee’s initial orientation in a new place. He needs, as it were, to “pave a fairway” in the unfamiliar course of new circumstances. At this stage, the employee needs instruction, practical familiarization with new responsibilities, requirements, and standards. In practice, internships, mentoring, supervision, or simply the direct participation of management and colleagues are used. The majority of adaptation programs take place at this stage.
Inclusion in activities. Having received the initial adaptation kit, the employee begins to “test it” in real conditions, directly getting involved in production activities and interpersonal communication. At first, the process will be accompanied by tension and possibly mistakes, but as you progress, adaptation will gain momentum. It is at this stage that the “turning point” of adaptation occurs - the employee will be able to adapt to new conditions or he will decide to give up these attempts.
“Become one of your own - or leave . An example of successful adaptation, when an employee fully integrates into life and communication within the organization, performing production functions and maintaining communication with colleagues. In practice, with spontaneous adaptation, an employee reaches level 4 by the end of the first working year; with professional help, it is possible to reach it after just a few months. If adaptation is unsuccessful, the final step may be dismissal.

Types of adapted employees

Adapt means successfully accepting the main values, norms, rules and requirements of the organization:

the main ones – related to production processes;
secondary – relating to intra-company communication and behavior.

Depending on what specific standards and how accepted they are, four types of adapted personnel can be distinguished.

"That's not mine". Both primary and secondary values are denied. The employee copes poorly with his responsibilities and has difficulty studying, it is difficult to communicate with him, and he himself is also uncomfortable. The expectations of both sides turned out to be far from reality. Adaptation did not actually occur. Dismissal shortly after employment.
"A good face on a bad game." The employee has accepted the main values, but denies the secondary values. A good employee who has difficulty fitting into the team. This is a single individualist who can be an excellent specialist under certain conditions. With proper organization, fruitful cooperation is possible.
“Being a good person is not a profession.” Complete separation of secondary requirements, but difficulties with the main ones. Pleasant to talk to, no complaints about discipline or corporate culture, but a professionally weak employee. A complex form of adaptation, in which lack of progress may result in termination of the employment contract or losses. It is recommended to organize training.
"Adapted". The best option is when the staff as a whole adequately perceives both the main and secondary norms of the company. As a rule, it is representatives of this variety that occupy a predominant position in any organization and are the ultimate goal of the adaptation process.

Adaptation of new employees

Hiring an employee is a long and complex procedure. The employee has not yet begun his duties, but financial and time resources have already been invested in him. Any employer is interested in ensuring that the adaptation of new employees takes place as quickly as possible. What you can do for this:

1. Develop an adaptation plan. This is a manual for the HR department and a new manager, which shows step-by-step measures to introduce the employee to the process. This can include:

Introductory tour. This should not be neglected; often an employee is embarrassed to ask where the canteen or break room is located.
Internal rules and regulations: work and rest hours, rules for using a mobile phone during working hours, schedule of meetings and team building events, dress code adopted by the company.
Hiring an employee: signing an employment contract, issuing a hiring order, making an entry in the work book.
Introducing the employee to how information is exchanged in the company: through instant messengers, email or using a CRM system, as well as issuing a login and password for corporate mail.

Any company develops, and regulations change along with it, so the plan needs to be periodically updated: remove unnecessary things and supplement with new information.

2. Conduct training or education. These could be events designed to train new employees or general sessions for all employees. They can be individual or group, for example, a ready-made introductory video course in a corporate training system.

3. Attach a mentor. It is to the mentor that the new employee can ask any questions about the organization of work, communication with other departments and other important nuances.

4. Establish communication with your immediate supervisor. A newbie should receive feedback from his boss. It may be worth setting aside a special time for this where you can ask all questions and get feedback on your work. It is important for a manager to pay attention to signs of maladaptation in an employee’s behavior:

decreased performance recently;
poor relationships with the team;
disregard for corporate culture norms;
violations of discipline;
dependence on a mentor or leader;
decreased motivation.

5. Include the newcomer into the life of the team. It is necessary to introduce the employee to the team, tell him what his duties will be, and what questions he can be contacted about. If the organization is large, it is better to duplicate this information in an email newsletter. Team building events are also suitable for this. A beginner can prove himself in sports or creative projects. Not everyone is ready to immediately become actively involved in corporate life, but if a person shows initiative, we need to give him this opportunity.

Anna Leonova , employee of the personnel motivation and adaptation department of ICL Services:

“A new job is always stressful, whether you are a senior specialist or an intern. A new team, office, responsibilities or processes are all a potential risk that the newcomer will not like it and will leave for another company. That's why organizations do everything they can to minimize these risks. At ICL Services, the adaptation of new employees is worked out to the smallest detail. We understand that the less time a newcomer spends on entering a position, the faster and more efficiently he will begin to work and benefit the business. The first thing a new employee sees after HR in a company is his mentor. The mentoring program lasts 3 months and helps to socialize in a team. There is always someone nearby who can tell you: how to use the internal portal, how to apply for training, who to contact on a work issue, or where the canteen is located. ICL Services received the prestigious IT HR Awards for this program. The portal has been studied, the recruiter's kit is on the table, the equipment has been received, and now the first letter arrives in the mail. In it, the employee sees that he was expected at a new place. By the way, all colleagues also receive a newsletter with a photo of the newcomer, so that they understand which team he works for. The introductory training talks about the work of all departments of the company, social responsibility, processes and projects. Department heads and top executives come here to talk live about the company’s mission, what’s here and why. Such training is carried out as the group is recruited. To make it easier to understand the unofficial rules of behavior in open space, the company has developed a comic where it explains what is good and what is not so good. We also have an electronic adaptation course. In it, the employee sees what trainings he must undergo and what information he must study so that the work becomes clearer and easier. After the probationary period, the employee undergoes a “360” assessment, which is designed to assess his success during this period. The employee is assessed by his manager, colleagues with whom he worked, and, of course, himself. You should always remember that there are two parties involved in hiring and onboarding. And a newcomer also evaluates the company when he comes here. And if he couldn’t adapt, that’s a question for the company.”

Orientation program

The most effective measures to help an employee adapt can be taken at the stage of choosing a course or orientation to a new place. This activity is within the competence of the new employee’s immediate management. He has the right to assign it to the HR manager or delegate it to other specialists, but the responsibility still lies on the shoulders of the closest boss. Many limit themselves to the initial briefing required by the Labor Code. However, to increase the effectiveness of the adaptation program, more expanded ways of its implementation can be envisaged. In the process of adaptation assistance, the following activities will be effective.

General acquaintance with the enterprise. It can be conducted by a boss or a personnel employee during a class, lecture, conversation or excursion. The familiarization program should include the following questions:
requirements, norms and accepted traditions;
target audience (consumers of the company's products);
areas of activity of the enterprise;
its structural divisions and connections between them;
hierarchy (management “ladder”).
Management policy in the organization. The employee must understand exactly how the structure in which he finds himself functions. To do this, he will need to explain:
disciplinary issues;
how professional development and training of employees is organized;
Work mode;
features of working with documentation and other nuances.
Financial questions. Any employee is concerned about the motivational component of his work. Therefore, it is better that he has no ambiguities about:
components of salary (salary, bonus, taxes, deductions, etc.);
factors that may affect monetary remuneration (deduction of bonuses, possible increase in salary, etc.);
payment for overtime, business trips, work on weekends and holidays, etc.
Benefit package. The employee needs to be explained what social prospects he is entitled to while working in this organization, for example:
medical care (sometimes for family members);
benefits and assistance in case of injury, illness, retirement, etc.;
attitude towards possible motherhood;
other points, for example, travel to work, meals, additional services.
Safety precautions are a mandatory part of labor protection measures and ensuring safe conditions. Even if all other points are missed, the Law prohibits neglecting this.
Getting to know the department. A deeper stage of adaptation, helping the employee directly become involved in the life of his structural unit. The head of a structural unit or a supervisor-mentor appointed by him can help carry out this process, and the internship period can make it easier. At this stage it is worth mentioning the following points:
articulating expectations and required results;
the procedure for monitoring work and/or reporting;
operating mode of the unit;
all kinds of standards, requirements, regulations, prohibitions related to direct activities;
presentation to the team of the structural unit.

It is important to separate approaches to primary and secondary adaptation: the time spent, the range of issues and the degree of their coverage, and the methods used will be different.

How does the process work?

To ensure successful adaptation of an employee to a new place, it is necessary to use special programs. Typically, such a program includes the following steps (order of actions):

A mentor or HR manager (optionally, an invited specialist) communicates with the newcomer, identifies his personal and business qualities (experience, skills and abilities).
An individual program is being developed to facilitate the process of addiction. Its content is agreed upon with the head of the structural unit to which the employee is hired. Typically, such a program consists of two areas: general, aimed at familiarizing with the company’s image, and special, intended for adaptation to job functions.
Then the beginner gets acquainted with the program prepared for him. At this stage, partial adjustments to the action plan can be made.
After which the program is implemented under the constant supervision of a mentor or manager. The period of adaptation (adaptation) depends on the personal qualities of the employee.
To assess the degree of adaptation, the mentor conducts an intermediate assessment on each topic learned. The learning process also ends with a final test.

Dismissal of a single mother at the initiative of the employer is permissible only in limited cases. What is the procedure for terminating a deceased employee? Read more about this in our article. Often employees want to resign during a probationary period. How to do it correctly, read here.