In today’s working environment we are always looking to enhance processes that may need improvement. The COVID-19 global health crisis changed the way we work and communicate, and it presented new challenges on how we onboard new employees and introduce them to our Air Traffic Organization (ATO) culture. As an ATO manager, do you have the proper tools and checklists in place to easily move your new employees through the orientation process? With the introduction of the New Employee Onboarding Tool, this process can become an easier path to navigate. But how?
Management Services’ Acting Vice President, Talethia Thomas has taken this onboarding experience as champion of the People Pillar of Flight Plan 21. Currently, the Management Services (AJG) new hire onboarding process begins with a "meet and greet" with the new employees, their managers, AJG’s Human Resource analysts, and the AJG-P16 onboarding team. The employees are introduced to the New Employee Onboarding Tool, which walks new employees through each onboarding task.
With the global health crisis allowing for more virtual opportunities, in trying to navigate this new "norm" how do we introduce our new employees to the ATO organizational culture and facilitate early employee engagement? According to the Harvard Business Review people have the desire to go to work, the need to understand their jobs, and to know how their actions impact the organization. Recently, Management Services (AJG) launched its new onboarding program, and describe how they are Innovating the Onboarding Experience .
Talethia Thomas states that, "the purpose with this new program is to promote early engagement and commitment while welcoming new employees into teams." She states that, "the Onboarding Tool and Orientation Workshop establish a framework where new employees can connect with coworkers and reach higher productivity levels much faster than figuring things out on their own."
The team understands that joining such a large organization, such as the ATO, may be daunting at first, but with these tools in place, new employees are able to get up-to-speed and be productive more quickly. Additionally, the onboarding team is introducing a new Manager Onboarding Toolkit to help managers navigate the onboarding process alongside their new employees.
The pilot program was a success for the AJG leadership and the Administrative Services Workforce Planning Team, AJG-P16 which created this orientation program virtually. The overall vison of this program was to create consistency across AJG, but the team is looking to help bring this innovative process to other ATO Service Units as well. Rick Mitchell, AJG-P16 Manager offers, "I am confident that the ’plug-and-play’ framework will become a valuable product for our ATO customers." Marc Galeski, AJG-C110 Culture & Organizational Dynamics Team Manager, recently attended an onboarding session for a detailee within this team. Galeski believes that "the key foundational element of Leadership is building strong relationships. I can think of no better way to start a successful relationship than to welcome new members to the team. If you invest in the relationship and you invest in the people, then the dividends will continue to multiply." Recent attendee Renard Payne, on detail to AJG from Air Traffic Services (AJT), noted that, "the New Employee Onboarding that I attended was not only very informative, but I also found it to be very pleasant. Thus far I am finding it to be reflective of the work team that I am detailing with."
The Administrative Services Workforce Planning Team is looking to help all organizations with this new one-stop shop for onboarding new hires into the ATO here at the Aeronautical Center. Mitchell concluded, "our team is ready to support you in customizing the program for your service unit’s needs. Email the ATO Onboarding team so that they can help you improve your onboarding process as hands-on consultants through the process."
