Personnel adaptation: how to help a newcomer integrate into work

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Published: 07/22/2016

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Recruiting and hiring new employees for vacant positions is only half the battle. The real work with hired personnel begins from the moment the contract is signed.

The period of getting used to a new place of work following the signing of a contract is more often called adaptation in labor practice..

Unfortunately, half of the hired employees do not survive the adaptation period!

And 80% of quitting employees admit that they made such a decision literally after entering the workplace, that is, in the first few days.

• Adaptation goals
• Main directions and forms Lack of adaptation
• Adaptation with strict conditions
• Adaptation for professionals
• Adaptation for beginners with the prospect of training professionals

Tell him about the company

First of all, a new employee from the very beginning must be confident in the reliability of the company, its value for clients and himself as an employee. He certainly needs to be introduced to the main goals and history of the organization’s development. Showing genuine interest from the listener is a good indicator.

It should be made clear that the new job offers good prospects for professional development and growth. From the very beginning, you should outline possible career prospects and the actions required to achieve them. It is advisable to train new employees using introductory materials. They can be presented in the form of informational brochures, presentations or videos containing information about working in your company. Ideally, training materials should be preceded by a greeting and address from the manager to new employees.

Knowledge of the range of services and goods that the organization offers on the market will significantly speed up the introduction of new employees into the working rhythm. Having reference materials in their hands in printed or electronic form is a guarantee that the employee will not distract you with many small issues.

Trainings and games

When working remotely, it is also easy to organize the process of step-by-step adaptation of newcomers: Google Docs, social networks, email, Skype, Trello and Slack will help with this, in which you can train employees, distribute tasks and monitor their completion.

For example, at the online English language school EnglishDom, all 200 remote teachers undergo two-week training, which is designed to familiarize new employees with the school’s methodology, as well as weekly professional development trainings. “The probationary period lasts no more than a month,” says Maxim Sundalov, the head of the school. “During this period, a person either becomes deeply integrated or understands that he did not work well with the team.”

Adaptation of the 40 employees who work in the office is based on live communication with management and colleagues. “A new employee almost immediately gets involved in the current work,” explains Sundalov. – This is the best way to fit in - everything happens in practice, not in theory. Colleagues actively advise and help avoid mistakes.” They try to integrate newcomers not only into general meetings in which tasks are set, but also into those where employees share their achievements. This helps to find out who is doing what, who has achieved what, and in what direction the school is developing.

GoodSellUs tries to involve employees in the social life of the company, which allows them to feel part of a common cause and motivates them to work for common success. “We start every new day with a greeting, wishes for a good day and work inspiration,” says Yulia Pisarevskaya, HR specialist at GoodSellUs. “We exchange links to good music, funny pictures in the chat, and have an informal discussion of current projects.”

At EnglishDom, they pay a lot of attention to team building: they play games in the office, go bowling, and organize bike rides together.

Yota has developed a program to get acquainted with the life of the company NEO (New employee orientation). All newcomers gather in Moscow or St. Petersburg and listen to the directors talk about what they encounter in their work and what projects are planned for the next year.

At Cantata, in addition to standard methods of employee adaptation, there are also excursions to the confectionery factory, tastings, sports competitions and cleanup days, and a monthly regional meeting, in which from 20 to 350 people take part, depending on the region. “During the adaptation period, a new employee meets a large number of colleagues and learns that many have been working with us for five to ten years,” says Victoria Lisitsyna, head of the corporate development department at . “He sees that his mentor’s words correspond to reality: everyone is ready to help and answer any question, the manager and colleagues treat him with respect, and a direct feedback channel with managers at any level is established.”

As a rule, one of the most effective ways to adapt new employees to a company is through games and training.

More specifics

It is very important to outline to the newcomer what specific results are expected from his activities. His views on this issue should not diverge from those of management. Don't assume that the person will by default understand things that are obvious to you. Any details should be clarified.

A clear job description for each employee is an indispensable condition for the activities of any company. A specific result of work can be assessed using clearly formulated criteria, which a beginner should also be introduced to.

At the initial stage, he should be given a very specific task with a result measurable in specific numbers or other indicators. It must be realistically feasible based on the knowledge and skills that a person possesses without additional training.

Since learning a large amount of new information is not an easy task, a mentor for an employee is not only desirable, but also necessary. They choose one from among the most competent employees. Reserve time to discuss goals and results with your mentor.

Objectives of the personnel adaptation system

If you properly train your staff during the adaptation period, you can achieve the following goals:

1. Reduce newcomer anxiety and self-doubt. It is important for a new employee to receive psychological support. This way he feels more confident and the risk of mistakes is reduced. The specialist begins to better navigate non-standard situations.
2. Reduce initial costs. If new staff has some difficulty integrating into the team, this has a negative impact on productivity and the company’s income drops. Having successfully completed adaptation, an employee will be able to quickly understand and accept work standards, increasing the efficiency of his work.
3. Reduce staff turnover. At any enterprise, staff turnover is an inevitable process. Some people mistakenly believe that if it is not middle/top managers who quit en masse, but ordinary workers, there is nothing critical in the situation. If you approach the selection wisely and assign each specialist to his place, you can significantly increase the efficiency of each individual employee and the company as a whole. If specialists and managers stop leaving the enterprise and continue to perform their functions stably, there will be no need to constantly spend time training new employees. With proper staff adaptation, this is easy to achieve.
4. Save time for experienced specialists. The longer a newcomer stays at the “trainee” stage, is afraid of serious work, and completes all the tasks assigned to him, the longer his colleagues and immediate supervisor will help him do his own work.

It is also important to provide the newbie with a positive attitude. He should get a feeling of satisfaction from his own work. It is also important that every employee perceives the company positively and is loyal to it. If you correctly implement an employee adaptation system, a person will at the initial stage already understand how he will get accustomed to the team, how the adaptation process as a whole will occur. If adaptation is carried out correctly, the employee and the company will be able to adapt to each other as much as possible. This will help each employee show excellent professional results.

Human factor

On the first day of work, the new employee’s adaptation to the team begins. It should be presented to colleagues, which can realistically be done during a general meeting or by walking around everyone in the office one by one. Separately, pay the new recruit’s attention to those people with whom he will constantly interact as part of his duties.

Explain the company's accepted methods of communication. If you have Skype communication between colleagues, do not forget to add the newcomer to the general chat and provide all the necessary contacts at work. The same applies to using a corporate phone with a list of business numbers. In general, a list on paper or electronic media of the names of colleagues, indicating positions and the range of duties performed, is an indispensable thing for any newbie.

A tour of the office wouldn't hurt either. At first, a “fresh” employee may be embarrassed to ask about some small details. By telling him where everything is, how to make coffee, etc., you will make the person feel that you care about his comfort.

Each company, as a rule, has its own corporate codes of conduct. Induction and adaptation of new employees imply, among other things, getting to know them as well. This may concern a certain dress code, a ban on the use of mobile phones for personal matters during working hours, or the need for employees to report in a special log in the morning. It is necessary to inform the newcomer about these rules immediately to avoid misunderstandings.

Professional adaptation plan for sales consultant.

FULL NAME. _________________________ Supervisor: ____________________ Mentor: _______________________ Training plan _________________________

Induction plan

Professional adaptation plan

Monitoring the implementation of the plan

Assessment of the adaptation process

Appendix No. 2

Professional adaptation plan for Sales Representative (TR)

Employee: ______________________ Manager: ___________________ Mentor: ______________________

TP performance indicators.

Qualifying exam

Without presenting this document, the Sales Representative is not allowed to take the exam.

Conclusion of the qualification commission: Sales representative__________________________

Date "__"___________202_

Appendix No. 3

Table “Assessing the effectiveness of the mentoring program”

(Updated 02/01/2020)

Induction and adaptation of new employees - the main milestones of the journey

Let's look at what stages the adaptation procedure for a new employee should be divided into. There are several such periods, and each has its own measures and adaptation methods. The first of them begins even before a new employee joins the team. The other, introductory, lasts during his first day of work.

During the first week of work, the process of familiarization and general orientation of the newcomer takes place. We are talking about introduction to the organization as a whole and to its specific division. Then he will have to take office. The subsequent stages are designated as effective adaptation of personnel to full functioning.

The entire process ends with an assessment of the results achieved and the management making a positive or negative decision on the employee’s further tenure in his position.

What is personnel adaptation

For the first time, adaptation began to be mentioned as the adaptation of the body to the outside world. The term was used exclusively in physiology. Today, the issue of adaptation is approached much more broadly. Any change in life is accompanied by leaving your comfort zone. Each person needs to readjust, get used to, accept the new rules of the game, in other words, undergo adaptation. This has a direct impact on the professional activity of each employee, his efficiency, as well as his psychological mood. Fear, apprehension, and uncertainty only make the situation worse. Adaptation of personnel in the organization helps to cope with all this competently.

This is a whole system of various activities that are aimed at ensuring that the employee adapts to new working conditions, working in a close-knit team of the organization faster and easier, and can perform his duties as efficiently as possible. With proper adaptation, this can be achieved much faster.

And now - in all the details

Organizing the adaptation of new employees begins with finding out what level of preparedness each of them is at. Based on this, a set of adaptation measures is selected (in each case individually). The workplace should be prepared for the employee's first arrival. If we are talking about production activities, it is necessary to ensure the availability of the necessary tools and a set of work clothes (their size can be indicated in the application form when applying for a job). If the new job is of an office nature, a completely free desk with a chair, a computer and other necessary equipment will be organized.

When a workplace needs to be supplemented with any new equipment, the need for this must be reflected in advance in a special application sent to the administrative and economic department.

An approximate plan for getting into the working rhythm should be sketched out by the manager in advance or exist in the form of a standard “Personnel Adaptation” template for the main range of available positions. This document should not exceed a page in length.

The newcomer must be assigned a mentor, and the issue of undergoing a medical examination must be clarified with him. The team is informed about the arrival of a new colleague. If a candidate is being considered for a leadership position, he is usually asked to get to know his future subordinates before going to work.

What happens on the first day of work

On the first day of an employee’s arrival at a new workplace, registration should be made in the HR department and familiarized with all the necessary documents. Their list usually includes a job description and a list of necessary local regulations. At the same time, an employment contract must be signed and internal regulations must be studied.

The introductory conversation with the newcomer, held on the same day, consists of mandatory points - the main points of the safety briefing, wages are discussed with clarification of information about bonuses and premiums, as well as the conditions under which overtime or changes in wages are possible. All possible issues regarding work schedules, vacations and sick pay are clarified.

The newcomer is properly informed of the fines and penalties, as well as the responsibilities and requirements of the probationary period. It is imperative to explain to him which parameters will be subject to special control, and who to contact if any questions arise.

If there is a “newbie kit” (a collection of information materials), as well as a recent issue of the corporate newspaper, they must be given to the new employee.

On the same day, a short excursion around the unit and meeting colleagues should be organized. Particular attention should be paid to a conversation with the manager and mentor, containing explanations of the points of the plan according to which you will enter the position. An important issue is organizing the conditions for introducing a corporate information system into the database with the creation of a separate email address.

Work plan and first steps of a manager in a new place

Being a leader is most likely your conscious choice. This is when, instead of “receiving money,” a person chooses “earning money.” About making difficult decisions and responsibility. And also about creating a coherent, continuously functioning system of processes that influence the world.

Only when you sit high, there are also hundreds of times more tasks and problems. In this article we will deal with some of the first things - how a new manager can prescribe an adequate work plan and what first steps to take in a new place .

We build on the experience of our clients from different areas of business. We present the most illustrative situations in the form of cases (problem/solution).

The first steps of a manager in a new place

The adaptation period for a boss has been described many times in articles on many management portals. Among them are examples of recommendations from:

• HR-s
• psychologists and coaches
• from existing entrepreneurs and managers

Which ones should you take into account? Each side preaches its own approach. Customer experience shows that everyone has a place. However, there are a few features that you need to be sure to consider.

First, any information is useful in context. If you have managed one company for the last 20 years and moved to another, or if you are new to the position, the strategy will be completely different.

Secondly, in order for you, as a manager, to have a truly effective plan, you need to clearly understand the goals that you set (or the owners set for you).

We have seen several rather strange cases when subordinates really liked the new manager, brilliantly presented the enterprise’s action plan for a year, but after 3 months it became clear that real performance and even discipline had deteriorated.

That is, the person beautifully “sold himself and his plan” to everyone, but there seemed to be no meaning behind him.

Where to start writing a work plan for a new manager

If you have clearly defined your goals for your new position, understand that there is serious work ahead, and, at the same time, intend to write a plan that will be useful for the company, we suggest starting with the following:

Then, with these sketches, you go to the owners, discuss, and get feedback. Sometimes owners involve business coaches, who help them look at the developments from the outside and draw the right conclusions for each of the parties.

Only after such a meeting will you begin to “get into” the current state of affairs, and will you be ready to write a basic, real work plan.

Before drawing up a plan, you need to delve into business processes

A new director was hired at one of the private clinics in Kyiv. They hired a person with no experience in the medical field in order to introduce promotion methods that were unusual for her. Previously, the clinic was run by the owner, and we were invited to help the new director take over the business and develop a plan for the year.

After analyzing the job descriptions, possible bottlenecks in communication between these two people, as well as the personal concerns of each based on the results of the survey, we organized a plan for weekly supervision. The new manager worked at the clinic for a month in various administrative positions under the supervision of a full-time employee.

After just 3 weeks, the manager showed a good understanding of the clinic’s processes. And after 4 weeks, a plan was ready, approved by the owner.

What is scheduled should not be local

An enterprise producing mineral fertilizers has been operating in Kharkov since the 1990s. After the outbreak of hostilities in the eastern regions of Ukraine (and a corresponding decrease in demand in these regions), the owners decided to hire a new head of sales.

We participated in the recruitment process. The difficulty was that the candidates proposed various plans for the development of the sales department, lobbied for the hiring of familiar sales trainers, etc.

Most of them were quite logical, but according to the experience of our consultants, such innovations would most likely cause sharp rejection among ordinary department employees.

That is, we would additionally have to fight with them, as often happens.

We developed a questionnaire consisting of blocks for owners, employees, as well as 2 key clients (with whom personal relationships were established). As a result, based on bare statistics, they were able to choose a leader according to a plan that was moderately ambitious, aggressive, and moderately took into account the vision from the inside.

The point is that your plan must balance the interests of all parties. Then the chances of successful implementation will increase significantly.

First 100 days and plan

One of the retail chains had to hire a new manager just before the New Year. Recruitment agencies invited more than 15 applicants, and the owner personally approved the final candidacy. But during the corporate event, the new boss showed himself to be a fanatic of implementation and change.

Warmed up with alcohol, he read out a list of items from his diary, what would change and when. He entered into polemics with whomever he had to, argued, shouted “you think small and understand nothing.”

It is natural that the employees began to form friendships against him and his changes, although for the most part they were quite literate.

There is a common truth - a new leader in the first 100 days of his work must be very careful not to cause harm (even if not intentionally), not to make things worse. You must pause and give your subordinates the opportunity to get used to your management style.

Plan Structure

Technically, the manager’s work plan contains the following sections:

• Goals to be achieved
• Stages (periods) with measurable intermediate results
• Tasks for each stage, indicating deadlines, required costs and performance metrics
• Performers and responsible persons for each task
• Rewards/penalties for completing or not completing each task

Very similar in essence to a business plan. The task is also to show the liquidity of each action, describe the processes, justify each of them, and predict possible benefits.

You can move away from it, but you must touch on the listed points.

Results

The first steps of a manager in a new place must be verified. We saw this from the examples given from the lives of our clients.

Don't suddenly rush to propose changes. This can discredit you as a leader. Start with adaptation to the new place. Let your colleagues adapt to you. Get the owner's support. And then all planned actions will be appropriate and correctly implemented in the eyes of both employees and owners.

If we can be of assistance to you in the planning process, please ask questions by contacting us in a way that is convenient for you. We will answer them with joy and free of charge, because we want new leaders in Ukraine to take office effectively and understand which steps should be taken first and which ones to avoid.

Source: https://www.fare.com.ua/plan-raboty-i-pervye-shagi-rukovoditelya-na-novom-meste/

Familiarization with the organization of the enterprise

The first working week is considered a stage of familiarization and general orientation. At this time, the employee gets acquainted with the company as such, its corporate rules, labor regulations, as well as its traditions, history and unspoken norms and guidelines. If a newcomer has experience working in similar structures, the adaptation period will pass quickly and painlessly, but in any case, the situation will be unfamiliar to him to one degree or another due to the specifics of the specific activity.

What organizational measures should be provided for this period? It is necessary to arrange for the new hire to participate in introductory corporate training, consisting of a detailed tour of the entire enterprise, viewing of an informational video or film, and a visit (if available) to the corporate museum. The employee is introduced to the management of other departments and given the necessary documentation for review.

The degree of involvement of the future colleague in the system of values ​​and attitudes approved by the organization depends on how well this stage is carried out. At this time, the seeds of commitment and loyalty are sown. The employee receives a lot of new information about the number of departments and the order of work in each of them, their location and the characteristics of their activities. He assimilates management’s personnel policy, the content of discipline requirements, the availability of career growth opportunities and available benefits.

In the mind of a new employee, the necessary information is stored down to the smallest detail - the organization of lunches, smoking breaks, the accepted style of communication between colleagues and other everyday details. The introduction and adaptation of new employees in regard to such details can be entrusted to the HR manager.

Employee onboarding process

The following scenario plays out almost daily at a company: a new employee enthusiastically shows up to work on his first day and is greeted by an HR specialist with a stack of the usual documents: tax forms, salary account application, insurance conditions, and account records. email and the Internet.

This is often the end of the onboarding process, except on those rare occasions when he is given a quick tour of the office, the names of colleagues are called, a quick meeting with the boss is arranged, and then the newcomer is handed over to a partner who may not be ready to introduce the new one. employee into the general working rhythm. As a result, the new employee's first day of work is a mess.

Until recently, few companies paid attention to creating the “right” onboarding experience for new employees. Most simply complied with labor laws, performing standard tactical actions and leaving aside the task of creating a strategic approach to the problem, which includes a warm welcome and orientation of new employees to achieve goals of increased productivity at work. Unfortunately, such an omission can become the biggest obstacle to accelerating employee adaptation and at the same time a big mistake that the employer makes in relation to new team members.

More and more companies are realizing that the right approach to this issue requires recognizing the fact that onboarding new employees as a process can last for weeks or even months and can involve various stakeholders whose interests must also be taken into account. The good news is that onboarding programs are becoming comprehensive, systematic and more effective. The bad news is that you have to sacrifice the resource of time.

Accelerated onboarding requires finding the sweet spot between thoroughness and speed, which leads to the question: “What is the best and fastest way to get people onboarded so they can start contributing immediately?”

Onboarding new employees involves partnership

Often, companies make one common and incorrect conclusion that new employees are ready to go to their managers immediately after they have filled out the necessary forms. This understanding exists because HR specialists very often see their task only as monitoring the employee adaptation process, while they should be managing this process.

If the HR department only controls the process, then (for obvious reasons) the HR department’s desire to view the adaptation of new employees through the prism of its own needs: forms, insurance and basic corporate culture is obvious. The key to accelerated adaptation, however, is to understand the process as a broader phenomenon that requires the participation of many partners: IT, legal, customer service, business and production managers. They all play a role in the future success of new employees, but they are often left out of the onboarding process from the very beginning, essentially leaving their functions to the HR function.

Conversely, when an onboarding management and mentoring model is applied, these multiple stakeholders help shape the onboarding process to meet their needs as well. The result is knowledgeable, engaged, and productive employees from the start. The key point here is that the adaptation process, namely its accelerated type, is too important an undertaking to be left to only one department. Most likely, here it is necessary to combine the efforts of several departments at once.

Onboarding New Employees: Strategic Thinking

Control of the adaptation of new employees only by the HR service is most often a consequence of management underestimating the importance of this process. It is not seen as a control lever, so there is little chance that the process will become more than just a formal exercise to meet basic employment requirements. It's worth thinking a little about how long it takes a new employee to fill out all the forms, as well as what happens after the last form is completed.

This may not be an issue for HR, but it is an issue for other stakeholders due to the potential long-term implications. Take, for example, managers or supervisors who pick up a new recruit after induction. Management's attitude towards new employees is most often the most important precursor to success, so why is so little attention paid to new employees understanding the expectations of their superiors and their knowledge of their tasks in their new job?

The lack of a clear onboarding plan can negatively affect the overall attitude of newcomers towards the company. Mentoring by talented, professional managers ensures that all factors are taken into account.

Questionnaires and exit surveys of newly hired employees showed that some of them did not feel entirely comfortable in their new jobs. In some cases, this happened because their managers directed the work in the department differently from the explanations that were communicated to the new employee on his first day of work.

When all stakeholders are actively involved in integrating new employees into the company culture, confusion about unity of purpose is less likely. This is why more than one unit should own or control the process—it should be the responsibility of the entire company.

An integrated approach to successful onboarding of a new employee

A comprehensive approach, including four separate elements, is the basis of the onboarding strategy for new employees

• Training: training a new employee on the company's goals, providing information about management's expectations for the newcomer's contribution to the overall success of the company.

• Training: providing the new employee with the necessary tools and information to ensure high productivity from the very beginning.

• Acculturation: immersing the newcomer in the company's corporate culture, its values ​​and language.

• Assimilation: creating comfortable conditions that allow the new employee to perform his duties in accordance with the working atmosphere and culture of the company.

Best practices for accelerating the onboarding of new employees point to the need to involve cross-functional teams in the process to develop ways to put all four elements into practice. Such teams should consist of managers and supervisors selected for their knowledge of working with new employees and their ability to harmoniously combine their interests with the interests of new employees.

This team will be best able to explain how everything works in the company, as well as conduct training seminars, which will result in high productivity. The team approach is an effective method that reduces the cost of time and money and benefits both the company and the new employee. Accelerating onboarding is not a byproduct of this approach—rather, it is a desired outcome because the orientation process will take into account both the employee's needs and the company's goals.

When developing an onboarding procedure, create a so-called onboarding program map and try to trace all the connections and difficulties, involving all stakeholders. Try working on reducing the length of the onboarding process. You'll likely be able to shave a few days off your new hire's onboarding process.

Initiatives at the highest level

The surest sign of whether accelerated adaptation will be successful or fail miserably is the attitude towards this process on the part of the company's management, especially if the orientation of newcomers consists only of filling out the necessary forms and attending trainings, the effectiveness of which can be questioned. Employers, teams and new hires deserve better - this is the result when employee onboarding is considered at the senior management level.

Just multiply the cost of recruiting and hiring, and then study the attrition rate of new recruits, especially if the attrition rate is off the charts. Such costs seem illogical. A decrease in the dropout rate also means a decrease in personnel costs. It also proves that employees are involved in the work process and consider themselves part of this process. If onboarding becomes a strategic goal, an atmosphere is created in which employees are inspired and involved in their work, their work is productive, and the plans of all stakeholders (especially the company) are presented especially clearly.

Evidence of success

To assess how effectively the onboarding process for new employees is taking place, it is enough to conduct a survey among the company’s clients. If you receive an answer that newcomers have everything they need for the job, are willing to perform their job duties, understand the company culture and know what is required of them, then you are doing a good job.

A scorecard should then be used to determine whether the onboarding process is accelerating or not. You can start by answering a simple question: how many days pass from the moment the applicant receives an invitation to work until the day the employee starts working independently? Once you have this information, you can continue to improve the technology, process management tools, and team participation model.

We must not forget that the surest path to an accelerated onboarding program is to involve in the process all those interested parties who will be in direct contact with the new employee (this is the same orientation team mentioned earlier). And then you just need to divide the responsibilities for onboarding the employee among all team members. Their contribution will help to dramatically increase productivity and even develop employee loyalty to the company. That's why accelerated onboarding is one of a company's most important investments.

Ted Forbes

In your department

The procedure for induction into a unit involves developing a team-work mindset. The new employee should be familiar with everyone with whom he will communicate in the course of his work. He should become aware of the internal rules of his department. Fruitful cooperation has been established with the mentor, and the replacement of the latter is possible with the transition to a new stage of adaptation.

In the first days, the group manager or one of the most experienced employees can act as a mentor. Ideally, the head of the department will be able to carve out part of his own working time to perform such duties. Usually the immediate superior is in charge of theoretical issues. At the stage of mastering and practical activity, a beginner is accompanied by an instructor-mentor. Most often this concerns the sales department and joint visits to clients.

We continue to get used to it

At the second stage, which involves entering the position, relationships are established with colleagues and the basic functions of both the department and the employee himself, as well as the basic rules and procedures, are learned. This continues normally for the first three working months. The mentor or immediate supervisor issues the newcomer with documentation containing the main points needed in the work.

The employee gets used to the new workplace, clarifies where certain documents are stored, and masters office equipment (copier, fax, his own work computer). The skills necessary to perform work in this position are clarified and specified.

At this stage, the mentor should outline those goals and objectives, the achievement of which will be assessed at the end of the probationary period. The employee must be properly informed of the criteria by which his performance will be judged. He should be introduced to the frequency of reporting, as well as its forms. It is necessary to provide feedback to the employee in every possible way to clarify certain issues and adjust mutual expectations.

Stages of adaptation for a new employee

The adaptation system at each enterprise includes several stages. The first thing you need to do is assess how professionally prepared the new specialist is, find out whether he has worked in this field before, whether he is familiar with the requirements and specifics of the work process, and whether he understands the labor organization scheme that is used specifically in this company. This will allow us to imagine the real timing of the adaptation period and develop an appropriate plan.

The next stage of the adaptation period is general orientation. The employee needs to be introduced to the current procedure, the history of the company, its traditions, corporate ethics and rules. If possible, it is recommended to introduce the newcomer to the team in an informal setting. This stage must be completed no later than the employee’s first week at the new place of work.

The next step is actionable orientation. It's time to put the acquired knowledge into practice. The newcomer joins the work and active life of the team. To know for sure whether he understood and remembered everything correctly, and whether he is successfully applying it in practice, he receives feedback from a specialist. This will also help to understand whether the newcomer has found a common language with colleagues, management, shares the company’s values, etc.

The final stage of the adaptation process is functioning. If any difficulties have been identified for an employee in performing his duties, it is at this stage that they all need to be overcome so that the newcomer understands the job 100%.

Changing the status

The stage of effective orientation consists of the newcomer’s gradual entry into a new status and the establishment of interpersonal relationships with colleagues. Within its framework, the employee’s active actions in a variety of areas of activity should be encouraged, checking and clarifying how information is absorbed. Here, more than ever, maximum support for him with an assessment of the effectiveness of certain actions is important.

Upon completion, the employee enters the stage of full functioning. It is characterized by the completion of overcoming problems - both industrial and interpersonal - with the transition to a state of stable work. With proper effectiveness of the adaptation process, this is possible after only a few months from the date of admission. This reduction in the onboarding period helps the organization reap significant financial benefits, especially when hiring new staff in large numbers.

At all stages of adaptation, it is very important to ensure effective interaction with those assigned to the role of mentor, to monitor compliance with what was planned, to monitor the employee’s participation in training programs and to ensure that he is provided with any necessary materials and tools.

Let's sum it up

At the final stage, an analysis of the success of the adaptation process and its individual elements should be carried out. Usually this stage is timed to coincide with the end of the probationary period. Two weeks before the scheduled date, the manager should be reminded of the upcoming procedure and provided, together with the mentor and the employee himself, with forms for evaluating the latter’s performance during the probationary period. No later than three days before the end date, you should monitor the completion of such assessment forms, discuss the results of adaptation and draw the necessary conclusions.

If the decision made is negative, the employee is offered either a new position (transfer) or is notified of his dismissal. When a positive decision is made, congratulations follow on the successful completion of the probationary period and a conversation is held, the content of which is setting key tasks for the next working year and developing an individual development plan.

Stages, deadlines and success criteria

To facilitate the adaptation process, it is useful to develop formal criteria for successfully completing the probationary period and set clear deadlines. The HR department can help immediate managers with this.

“Managers often try to move on to informal subjective assessments of the work of their subordinates,” says Ekaterina Kasatkina. “In the case of a new employee on a probationary period, it is important to see tasks with clear criteria and an understanding of professional expectations from him in the first months of work.”

To understand how successfully adaptation is proceeding, you can track the following indicators:

• the percentage of employees who successfully completed the probationary period on time and ahead of schedule;
• the percentage of employees who left the company during the probationary period;
• percentage of employees who left the company during the first year of work;
• percentage of employees dismissed after completing the probationary period;
• percentage of employees serving as mentors.

On average, the probationary period in companies lasts one to two months. As a rule, it consists of several stages: employee selection, test assignment, internship. Even at the stage of getting to know an employee, you can already understand how well he can work with the team.

At Yota, the process of complete adaptation of an employee takes three months, but, according to HR Director Veronika Elikova, employees join the team much earlier than this. The mandatory first stage is training. The duration of this stage depends on the position: for example, for those who work with clients, a five-day training is provided.

At Cantata, there are two types of employee adaptation: a two-month acquaintance with the company, during which a decision is made on cooperation by both parties, and a three- to six-month period of deep adaptation. At the first stage, the employee gets acquainted with the assortment, theory and basic skills of working with guests; at the second, he attends trainings and various departments, and gets acquainted with the general director or manager.

At the second stage, the employee, together with the mentor, chooses in which direction he would like to develop within the company - management, merchandising, gift design and packaging, service. He also has personal areas of responsibility for part of the work in the store and additional functionality in addition to sales, based on the employee’s area of ​​interest and the goals of the store.

At GoodSellUs, candidates without work experience are allowed to ask questions about a test task on Skype directly to the manager in order to immediately establish a working contact, after which they conduct an interview with the newcomer and invite him to a corporate chat in Slack. As a rule, by the final moment the newcomer is already familiar with two or three employees within the company and feels more comfortable. After this, in the first month, employees work on small tasks in a specific project under the supervision of an account manager and the head of the company.

At Asia Import Group, the trial period lasts one week. First, a workplace is prepared for the employee: all the necessary materials, introductory videos, and office supplies. On the first day, employees get acquainted with the documents, history and structure of the organization, the company website, and the team. The introductory stage lasts the entire first week - it is during this period that newcomers have time to understand the principles of the company’s work and study the features of the goods produced and provided,” says Artem Lylyk, CEO of Asia Import Group.

The adaptation process in the Radiotekhnika chain of stores lasts about a month. It is divided into two parts: the probationary corps and the probationary period. The trainee corps is a set of theoretical and practical tasks that are related to the overall work of the company. The estimated turnaround time for assignments is ten days, but management welcomes it if the trainee completes this stage in up to five days.

The one-month probationary period fully includes introduction to the position according to the job descriptions that exist for each position: from a cashier in a store to an executive director. During the probationary period, a certain goal is set, upon fulfillment of which the employee automatically becomes a full-time employee.

And further…

At each stage, difficulties are possible, called adaptation crises, which are fraught with anxiety and stress.

If (as often happens these days) employees are moved between company divisions in different regions, the personnel service must work out in advance all organizational and other issues related to such reshuffles. It wouldn’t hurt any company to have the necessary statistics regarding the average length of the adaptation period for newcomers, which will allow them to organize the work of newly hired personnel as successfully as possible.

The adaptation process can be considered fully completed when the employee finally joins the team and ceases to be a newcomer.