When Onboarding Meets the Digital Labyrinth

Project: Improving the Onboarding Experience

Situation:

Amidst the complexity of a modern corporate ecosystem, the onboarding process emerged as a defining area of opportunity within an employee's journey. With a sprawling network of resources both at the company, organizational and team level, navigating the labyrinth of information proved daunting for new hires. Recognizing the imperative to improve this experience, we embarked on a mission to redefine the onboarding process for a 5000+ person marketing organization.

Obstacle:

The challenge was multifaceted. Uncovering entrenched silos, the disparate nature of resources and the sheer scale of the organization posed significant hurdles. In order to integrate various tools and platforms the project demanded a unified strategy.

Action:

As the SharePoint® and Viva Engage® Admin and Strategy Subject Matter Expert, I was the senior strategy advisor to a multidisciplinary team of marketing experts. We orchestrated a comprehensive audit, meticulously mapping the existing onboarding journey to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement. Armed with insights gleaned from this diagnostic phase, we crafted a visionary blueprint aimed at redefining the onboarding experience.

Results:

By breaking down silos and nurturing connectivity, onboarding evolved from an individual task to a shared experience. Previously, it could take months or even years for new hires to connect with colleagues from different teams or business units, requiring proactive networking efforts. With our new approach, new hires were interacting with seasoned colleagues across the organization within their first month, bridging professional divides to form genuine human connections.

• Phase 1: Central to our approach was the creation of a unified onboarding site on the SharePoint® intranet. This site served as a guided experience for all incoming employees, providing a curated repository of essential resources and fostering a sense of belonging from day one. We meticulously curated bios of company executives and organizational leaders, fostering transparency and connectivity across hierarchies.

• Phase 2: We recognized the importance of forging interpersonal connections in the digital realm. To this end, we provided an introduction template, empowering new hires to personalize the slide. Beyond the professional, this template delved into personal interests, hobbies, and cultural nuances. Leveraging Microsoft Viva Engage®, think internal social media, new hires shared their intros, launching a wave of warm welcomes and forging serendipitous connections across the organization.

• Phase 3: Navigating the intricate web of corporate resources can be like traversing a labyrinth. In our final phase, we curated an onboarding map, guiding new hires through the maze of benefits, policies, role specific onboarding resources, and tools for the job, including an acronym dictionary. From 401K enrollment to employee resource groups, we demystified the onboarding process, empowering employees to chart their course with confidence.

Microsoft Tools Leveraged:

Using Microsoft's suite of tools, we were able to provide a simple and modern onboarding experience with the SharePoint® intranet while using Viva Engage® to amplify engagement and foster community. Teams® and SharePoint® facilitated seamless collaboration for the project team, while Whiteboard® and, Lists®, lent versatility to our planning toolkit. Empowering the project team to create a thoughtful onboarding experience, conveying to every new hire our genuine investment in their journey and well-being.