During the onboarding process, acclimating new team members to the cultural norms of the organization is essential for their traction and success.
All organizations have a unique code which is not always easy to unlock.
Beyond gaining a strong understanding of the organization’s mission, values, and long-term goals, new team members also need a deeper connection to what makes the place tick and how successful colleagues navigate the culture.
Becoming immersed in the fabric of an organization is largely about relationships.
The faster new team members develop strong ties to top performers, the more likely they are to commit, succeed, and stay. When new team members are adopted by their successful colleagues, they operate with a safety net and with a brisk tailwind at their backs.
Too many leaders and organizations leave this integration to fate or to natural connections.
But the best organizations are much more intentional about launching a new team member relationally. They bake in a connection strategy to the onboarding process that benefits everyone.
Identifying the critical relationships each new team member needs to develop and creating structured introductions to facilitate those initial conversations is a good first step.
But what matters even more is for the new team member to find a trusted source to teach them the ropes. This needs to be a seasoned colleague who has the interest and capacity to serve as a guide and navigator for a specified time.
Playing this role for a new colleague is a good development experience and allows a veteran team member the ability to make a meaningful contribution to strengthen the team.
This role goes by many names in organizations, including sponsor, immersion guide, onboarding buddy, peer mentor, onboarding captain, senior guide, and relationship coach.
Whatever title they go by, they all serve essentially the same role: They accelerate comfort and competence by providing a safe space for candid questions and cultural decoding.
These seasoned guides make themselves available to their assigned team members and offer their view of how the organization works and what things mean.
By serving as a sounding board and source of understanding, these guides help their charges navigate the rapids that would otherwise engulf them. By introducing them to the colleagues they need to know, they accelerate the new team member’s traction and help them to make the critical connections so important for their success.
Tapping into the social network of the organization is perhaps the best predictor of a new team member’s long-term success.
Good organizations don’t leave that to chance. They turn to a sponsorship model to turn outsiders into insiders as quickly as they can.
