ON-BOARDING
THE CHALLENGE
A large medical supply company was experiencing long delays on-boarding new hires, despite the use of an automated software system that handled transactional on-boarding activities. In most cases it was taking up to six months to train and outfit new sales professionals with the equipment, knowledge and company contacts they needed to become functional and productive in their territories.
HOW WE HELPED
After interviewing new hires, department heads and senior executives, we documented a formal on-boarding process by position. The process focused on competency, social and satisfaction goals. It was also designed to integrate into the company’s LMS. The clearly stated goals of the new process included 1) Minimize ramp-up time to effectiveness by actively engaging and encouraging new hires’ progress to productivity via assigned tasks with fulfillment timelines and reporting points and
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2) Develop a process for review and continuous improvement of the on-boarding system.
We worked closely with department leaders to identify the people in functional areas that new hires needed to meet with to
learn about products, processes and systems. Meeting times were specified and meetings were inserted into the on-boarding timelines for each new hire.
RESULTS
Ramp-up to productivity times for new hires in the sales organization was reduced from an average of six months to anaverage of forty-five days. During the compressed ramp-up period, new hires received all the IT equipment required to do the job and attended the essential training required for their positions. A master calendar tracked all scheduled meetings and training sessions required of each new hire, and managers were trained on how to ensure the process flowed uninterrupted.