Nightmares in Employee Onboarding

In this talk, Katherine Gallagher discusses the importance of onboarding new hires effectively to improve retention rates and productivity. She introduces the concept of Retention-Driven Development, which focuses on empowering new hires to onboard themselves by leveraging their own skills and knowledge. Gallagher emphasizes that effective onboarding should be employee-driven, with new hires taking ownership of their learning process. This approach helps combat issues such as disenfranchisement, overloaded managers, and stale documentation. To implement Retention-Driven Development, Gallagher suggests creating a touchpoint matrix that outlines the key topics and resources for onboarding. New hires can then be tasked with identifying gaps in documentation or processes and working with subject matter experts to address these issues. By empowering new hires to contribute actively to their own onboarding, companies can foster a more collaborative and inclusive work environment, ultimately leading to higher retention rates and improved productivity.