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Many organisations have extensive procedures for interviewing and recruiting new hires, but once the right hire is found, procedures might not be so clear.

ING Australia wanted a single approach to onboard new employees after discovering that the experience of new employees depended largely on the approach of individual leaders.

In November 2017, ING Australia launched a new pilot called Launchpad – a digital system designed to help new employees settle in from the time they sign their letter of offer to the end of their first six months.

Fiona Monfrooy, ING Australia Executive Director, Human Resources

Fiona Monfrooy, ING Australia Executive Director, Human Resources

 

ING Australia’s Executive Director of Human Resources, Fiona Monfrooy said that Launchpad supports both new employees and leaders through the transition period.

“Research tells us that the first 90 days are crucial to any new hire,” she said.

“Launchpad helps facilitate a two-way conversation between the new starter, manager and their buddy prior to their first day. It aims to, foster excitement and reduce first day anxiety.

“We wanted to make sure that we empowered a positive onboarding experience which doesn’t stop at week one!”

Launchpad includes a welcome from the CEO, snapshot of the business and values, information on the business structure, a “survival toolkit” and an introduction to another employee – their “buddy”. The system also sends reminders and escalates tasks to manage workflow.

Monfrooy said it was important to implement an initiative like Launchpad in order to retain the best employees.

“From research and experience we knew that onboarding is a critical component of employee engagement as many organisations lose employees within the first six months,” she said.

Around 40 per cent of the workforce at ING Australia is involved with Launchpad either as a new employee, a leader or a buddy. So far, Launchpad has been rated 4.6 out of 5 for preboarding and 5 out of 5 for happiness in the first week by new employees.

To other organisations looking at refreshing their onboarding procedure, Ms Monfrooy said it is important to have a team across departments to make the process smoother and to adopt a listening approach.

“Understand what your new starters need. Talk to new starters in your company to understand what information they need to help them settle in to work and feel comfortable in the new environment,” she said.

Next steps for the initiative will include revising Orientation at ING Australia.


DID YOU KNOW?

Fostering employee participation and inclusion is the first step to building a culture of purpose and meaning. (Delivering Purpose and Meaning Report)