Content provided by: Cappfinity

As millions of companies continue to take a more hybrid approach to the working week, Cappfinity considers how ‘best in class’ onboarding should be done and the role early development can play.

Since most of the world had to switch to virtual working almost overnight last year, companies have been experimenting with how to bring employees back to the office on a hybrid basis and how to effectively onboard new employees in a hybrid world.

Early development opportunities

Having a strong pre-boarding, onboarding and ongoing development strategy is vital to ensuring that early career professionals feel engaged and ready to be their best, professional selves from day one and as the virtual months go by. This creates a solid psychological contract with learning and development from the get-go.

In our experience there are four key ways to support your early careers professionals’ development in a hybrid world:

1. Self-led can be your superhero

The modern learner needs their development to be at the ‘point of need’ – timely, relevant and personalised (Bersin, 2018).

We’ve seen great success with self-led digital toolkits that encompass a series of activities, reflective exercises and resources drawn from organisational psychology to help each individual make a positive impact in their early days.

2. There are no one hit wonders

Many graduates and apprentices will have joined a few months ago, but their development shouldn’t stop after the induction week is over. Research shows that learning transfer is more effective in a journey as opposed to standalone events (Brinkerhoff).

A digital mentor e-newsletter series can be designed to raise self-awareness, create a strong foundation for learning to occur on-the-job, and provide continuous engagement.

3. Virtual not distant

Connected employees are more productive, experience less stress, and are more engaged (Forbes 2018, Cross et al. 2005).

In our new socially distanced hybrid landscape, with a little more planning, webcams working and recognising that spontaneity needs to be scheduled in, we can build strong connections with newer joiners.

At Cappfinity we run virtual extravaganza development days as a powerful way of supporting early career professionals to build deep connections, meet key stakeholders, and discover how to leverage their strengths.

4. Add real value to face-to-face

It’s important to make the time that is spent in the office really count. Find out what new employees are comfortable with and put together a plan based on their needs to enable them to focus on things they can only do in-person on their office-based days.

This could be meeting other team members for lunch, attending a client meeting or some on the job learning with more senior colleagues.

Hybrid onboarding and ongoing development can be a positive and successful experience for early careers professionals if you have a strategic plan, use the right tools, and make the face-to-face time count.

For more information about our hybrid and blended onboarding solutions, contact cappfinity@cappfinity.com or check out our easy-to-implement ‘Start Strong’ and ‘Early Impact’ packages.

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