Take Charge of Your Business with the Onboarding programme.

jobsDB Learning exclusive workshop “Onboarding”, jointly organised with The Executive Workplace, was held at Marina Mandarin Hotel in October. Mr George Bradt, Managing Director of PrimeGenesis shares his ideas behind the Onboarding Programme, and why you should practise it. By Tan Wen Hui.

It all began with a hiccup and ended with a musing. When George B.Bradt, bestselling author of The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan, witnessed a sticky situation which took place at his previous company some 20 years ago, he found the inspiration to come up with a solution that would solve the problem.

The answer: a solution that would get new employees, regardless of ranks, up to speed in no time. Known as the Onboarding Programme, this solution is designed to ensure that companies do not risk facing a productivity downtime, while the new employee adjusts to the environment.

Hiring managers, here’s a look at how the Onboarding Programme helps to enhance productivity.Then again, did you know that 40 percent of senior level executives fail during their first 18 months onboard, no?

Tan Wen Hui on behalf of jobsDB.com speaks to Mr George B.Bradt about his ideas behind onboarding program.

What made you decide to come up with this whole idea of ‘onboarding’?

That was some 20 years ago when I first got mad with the organisation I was in, and I believe that we were doing such a poor job in bringing people into this particular organisation. And in particular when this one man showed up, which we spent a fortune on him – we had him, his family and dog relocated from the Unites States – we even have to pay a signing bonus.

And when he showed up for the first day for work, everyone said “Great, you’re here, wonderful! Now we need to get you an office, business cards, computer...” That was when I rubbed in and said that there should be a better way to do this. And so I started getting down to work; doing things, and, surprise, it worked! Several years later, I decided to see if I could bring this idea out of the company and yes – it made a massive impact on everyone! That incident had inspired this programme.

How will the Onboarding Programme benefit both corporations and HR managers?

For sure, what I do know is that onboarding works well be it whether your business is located in Singapore, or anywhere else in this world. First, it helps employees to deliver better results faster. And in any situation, it is always better for employees to get up to speed faster, and better, especially since the 2009 Financial Crisis.

Secondly, onboarding reduces the risk of failure. How? Our research has shown that 40 percent senior level executives fail at their first 18 months. They are either fired, or they leave. Onboarding reduces that by 30 percent. So, in terms of reducing failure, onboarding reduces the turnover rate because it helps people to deliver better results faster. Thirdly, there is this phase in life in which our leadership skills are born.

People polish up their leadership skills, pick new skills, develop them and transition them. If you do something while onboard, you are helping the business, the team and yourself – with a lasting impact. Onboarding brings out the best in them in order for them to succeed.

How does the Onboarding Programme works?

Onboarding works differently for different people. However, the basics of this programme lies in these five ideas: align, acquire, accommodate, assimilate and accelerate. First, you get people aligned, as in what you want your new employee to do; how he or she is going to fit into the company. Second, you recruit them in a manner which sets them up for success.

Then you accommodate. That is ensuring they are laid with the right tasks for work so they can start doing things from day one. Back to the Japan story, you don’t want people showing up without computers. Then you assimilate them by making your new employee work with others. Once you’ve done that, you accelerate their progress which helps them deliver better results better.

Any parting words for both HR and hiring managers to take note of when hiring a new employee?

Take charge. If you’re the hiring manager, take responsibility for every step of your new employee’s onboarding. You can delegate tasks, but bear you’re still responsible. You’re in charge that the recruitment goes right. You’re in charge of making sure that the setting up goes right. You’re in charge of assimilating your new employees into your culture, as well as accelerating their progress. And if you do all these, right, so will your new employees.

About George Bradt


Mr George Bradt is the founder and Managing Director of PrimeGenesis. He has a unique perspective on transformational leadership based on his combined senior line management and consulting experience. After his education at Harvard and Wharton, George progressed through sales, marketing and general management roles around the world at Fortune 500 companies including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, and then J.D. Power and Associates as chief executive of its Power Information Network spin off.