Cornelia Gamlem of Gems Group: 5 Essential Elements for Creating a Successful Employee Onboarding Experience

An Interview With Rachel Kline

Plan Ahead. Prepare for the logistical and administrative issues that accompany bringing someone new into the organization. Preparation allows the details to be executed flawlessly. Otherwise, you could send a message that the new hire is not valued. That’s not the way you want to get started. For example, notify all the other administrative functions and virtually introduce the new hire to the point of contact. Provide any necessary logistical information about the workplace.

Onboarding is a crucial but often overlooked step in the employee lifecycle. A successful onboarding process will make the new hire feel part of the team, provide further clarity around the role and responsibilities, and get them up to speed and performing fast. In this series, we are talking to prominent HR and business leaders about how they seek to create exemplary onboarding experiences. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Cornelia Gamlem.

A passion for helping organizations develop and maintain respectful workplaces is the reason why Cornelia left an HR leadership role with a Fortune 500 IT services company to start her consulting practice. That led her on a journey to becoming a speaker and author. She and her coauthor have written eight books together. You can learn more from their website, www.bigbookofhr.com.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

My entrepreneurial spirit led me to start my own consulting practice after working for several corporations. At a Fortune 500 company, I held operational HR positions before moving into a corporate leadership role. Throughout my career, I worked and collaborated with a variety of individuals and companies across many industries, was active with employer advocacy groups, and served in national leadership volunteer roles with The Society for Human Resource Management. Along the way, I met so many wonderful colleagues, including my co-author, Barbara Mitchell. We were given a great opportunity to share our knowledge through the books we write together.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Not so much a mistake, but a funny encounter that could have been disastrous for me if I hadn’t been thinking on my feet. I was in a new job with a new company for a month when my phone rang. My director’s phone had been inadvertently transferred to me.

I introduced myself and the gruff voice on the other end said, “This is Jack Smith. Who are you?” Excuse me, how rude I thought wanting to respond, “Who are you?” I didn’t, thinking someday I could work for him. I explained I was a new recruiter. He softened his tone, and asked for our director, who wasn’t available. I asked if my manager could help him, and transferred the call to her.

When my manager finished the call, she came to see me. “Who was that?” I asked. Turns out that Mr. Smith was our corporate VP. Up to that point, I’d met most of the leaders in our business unit, but the corporate staff was a different story.

My takeaway: Be sure to incorporate a briefing about the corporate leadership into our onboarding process. And, by the way, five years later I interviewed with Mr. Smith [not his real name] for a job on corporate staff. I did eventually work for him.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for, who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I’ve had many mentors throughout my career to whom I am grateful. One was a colleague and consultant I knew who kept encouraging me to leave the corporate world and become a consultant. When I finally made the decision to do so, and gave notice at my job, he joined a dinner celebration and ceremoniously removed my corporate shackles.

He didn’t just encourage me. He engaged me as a subcontractor when I was starting out. I learned so much from him and his staff about best practices and processes as well as client engagement. This gave me so much confidence.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“We have to know where we’ve been to know where we’re going.” — David McCullough

I heard the late author and historian, David McCullough, say this during a speech. It caught my attention because it was something I always said to my colleagues — especially about our policies and practices. It’s so important to know not only what we’re doing, but why we’re doing it. What’s the precedent for setting this policy? Why did it work then and will it still work now? Knowing where we’ve been can help us shape a better path forward.

Thinking back on your own career, what would you tell your younger self?

You don’t have to have all the answers. You just need to know where to find them. You need to know who to ask. My standard response to inquiries became, “I don’t know, but let me find out and get back to you.” I gained a great deal of respect from colleagues doing so.

Let’s now move to the central part of our interview. What does the onboarding process consist of at your organization?

I’m a solopreneur, so onboarding isn’t an issue for me, but it is for my clients. As we talk about leveraging technology, I stress the importance of using text messaging and mobile technology. It can streamline so many processes and enhance communication — a vital part of the onboarding process.

How have your onboarding practices evolved over time and why?

I’ve witnessed onboarding evolve from new hire orientation — basically a “paperwork party” — to the integrated process it is today supporting employee engagement and retention.

Before the current technology was available, I worked on an acquisition where we captured data from the employees’ current company’s HRIS and migrated it to ours. At the time we thought this was cutting edge. We had them verify the captured information and limited the amount of paperwork employees needed to complete. This left more time for employee meetings where we could answer questions and provide information about the company.

The evolution of intranets and employee portals, and user-friendly HRI systems, makes that last example seem quaint. Today, there are enterprise management systems, like Workday or BambooHR, that allow direct employee interface.

With technology freeing up time and processes, quality attention can be devoted to managing the onboarding process, including providing detailed access to organizational information — history, mission, values, and leadership. With the emergence of AI, will chats with new hires to answer questions be incorporated? It will be interesting to see what evolves.

Could you share a successful onboarding story and what made it successful?

I had a client, a small government contractor with limited resources, whose onboarding was very haphazard. I helped them organize what they had and what they needed so things would not continue to fall through the cracks. We gathered, reviewed and revised all the necessary information and forms before developing sample communications and checklists. In addition, we developed an agenda for day 1 — starting at headquarters for an orientation then proceeding to their department manager or to their offsite, government office location with a colleague who took them to lunch along the way. This was part of the buddy system they implemented. An agenda was also set for the manager ensure that all employees had a similar experience.

Several months later they called to tell me they had some staff who were benched from projects for two months and they wanted them to automate portions of the onboarding process. Would I help with developing a workflow? Of course, I jumped at the opportunity. It was heartening to see them evolve their process. They also developed a video from the senior leaders to share with new hires for those occasions when those leaders were on travel.

What made this successful for this organization was their recognition that they wanted something memorable and their willingness to tap into their own talent to bring it to a higher level.

Based on your experience and success, what are your top five tips for a successful onboarding process? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. A Welcoming Process. Treat onboarding as a welcoming process. Involve other team members. Imagine getting an e-mail from someone at your new organization who introduces themselves as a soon-to-be peer with visible excitement. Today’s workplace structures vary among in-office, hybrid, and totally remote. For example, provide a link to a YouTube video introducing the team. It’s easy to do, and it sends a powerful message along with building camaraderie early. The new employee will be comfortable reaching out to them with questions. Another way to make someone feel special is to plan to have a welcome gift for the employee that lets them know you’re happy they joined.
2. Plan Ahead. Prepare for the logistical and administrative issues that accompany bringing someone new into the organization. Preparation allows the details to be executed flawlessly. Otherwise, you could send a message that the new hire is not valued. That’s not the way you want to get started. For example, notify all the other administrative functions and virtually introduce the new hire to the point of contact. Provide any necessary logistical information about the workplace.
3. Leverage Technology. I mentioned intranets, portals and cloud based systems earlier that allow employee information to be furnished before the first day of employment. These are particularly helpful for benefits enrollment. More importantly, utilize mobile technology and text messaging. For example, send welcoming texts to employees in advance. Text messages can contain links to information and reminders to complete necessary forms. Stay current on emerging technology, such as AI.
4. A Meaningful First Day. Nothing makes a person feel special or welcomed than a memorable greeting. Introduce teammates, either in-person or virtually. For example, depending on logistics, you could plan a breakfast or lunch — even if it’s simply sending pastries or lunch to a remote workers house. Plan to have a team meeting as a way to build rapport and trust. Managers, use this time to review the job and its requirements along with expectations. Provide any department-specific information including a review of the department’s mission and how it supports the overall organization.
5. A 90-Day Process. To be successful and meaningful, approach onboarding as a process and not an event that takes place in the first days of employment. Have formal checkpoints. Each check-in sends a clear message that the organization is focused on helping their success. For example:

After the first month, ask the employee about their experience joining the organization and the team. What worked well and what could have been done differently?

At 60 days get a feel for how things are going. Ask about work or organization issues, or questions about job responsibilities and/or the team. This provides insight about their perception of the culture and the work environment.

At 90 days, provide feedback and ask about challenges and successes. Don’t just focus on the present and the current job. Touch on career growth, sending a message that the organization is taking enough of an interest in them to begin preparing for their future.

Can you share 3 or 4 of the most common mistakes you have seen businesses make during the onboarding process? What should one keep in mind to avoid that?

1. Lack of early manager involvement. A successful onboarding process starts with the manager’s involvement before the new hire arrives. There is a magical period between an employment offer being accepted and the first day of work. Employees conducting extensive job searches may still be in touch with other employers. Stand out so the employee is not tempted to accept another offer that may come along. A warm and welcoming message from the manager right away is impactful and will be noticed. This can be a phone call or an email or even a handwritten note depending on circumstances and culture.
2. Managers not being available to new hires on the first day or days. Managers need to make it comfortable for the new team member to ask questions and to get a sense of how things work in your organization. Of course, sometimes things happen and managers get pulled into unexpected situations. It’s important to have a back-up plan, and a good team will fill the gap during the first day(s).
3. Overwhelming new employees on their first day or days with information. Organizations often fall into the trap of thinking they’ve got to get paperwork completed and information into the new hire’s hands as soon as possible. Spread it out. A good onboarding process will have a great deal of information about the organization and its leaders, but it’s not critical for the new hire to know this on day one or week one. Point them to places where they can find the information and review it at their leisure. Remember you can always send text reminders in the coming weeks and months.

How does or how would your approach to onboarding remote hires differ from those who will work onsite?

As technology advances, the differentiation dwindles. There was a time when remote employees had to travel into the office for onboarding, or more typically, new hire orientation. As explained earlier, an essential element of onboarding is integrating the new employee into the team — and that team may be distributed geographically or be hybrid. Some important activities, such as team introductions and meetings, can easily be done virtually as well as in-person.

In remote situations, the manager and a team member may reach out via a video call before the first day of employment. If everyone’s works at the same physical location — even in a hybrid arrangement — you can welcome a new hire by providing a reserved parking spot on day one, have a peer greet them in the building, and display a welcome board with the new hire’s name. Of course, have the individual’s workspace ready. For remote individuals, you can still have a virtual welcome board greet them at the beginning of a meeting. And consider their reaction when they log onto their computer for the first time and notices a personalized email from the CEO welcoming them. This would work in an in-person situation as well.

How do you measure the success of your onboarding program?

A strong onboarding process has undeniable influence on outcomes, including lowering turnover and decreasing attrition. Look at retention indicators. Also, depending on your industry, look at and measure productivity. A successful program builds strong alignments between the new employee and colleagues, their jobs and the overall mission of the organization.

Measure employee engagement. This starts by asking the right questions during the 30, 60, and 90-day check ins. One client has a one-day off-site retreat for employees who have worked for the company for 18 months. You can also measure employee engagement among this group of relatively new hires by using a simple engagement survey.

Which tools do you use or recommend for your onboarding?

There are so many onboarding tools on the market today. I’m reluctant to make recommendations for one simple reason: the tool has to meet the organization’s needs and those needs vary depending on size and industry, and the organization’s resources.

My best advice, as with purchasing any product or service, is conduct a thorough due diligence. Many of these products offer on-line demonstrations. Research the provider. Talk to other users with similar needs to yours. Talk with peers in your industry about their experiences.

For a text messaging and mobile web application, check out Engage by Cell.

We are very blessed to have some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have a private lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this.

I’d love to sit down with Ari Melber, host of MSNBC’s The Beat. Ari is an excellent and engaging interviewer and a serious journalist. He has a deep understanding of the issues he’s discussing, and he respects the integrity of those issues. These issues are often complex, but Ari explains them in easy-to-understand language. He is thoughtful and balanced, always sticking to the facts and does not present opinions or theories as fact.

How can our readers further follow your work?

A link to my website is included in my bio and I invite readers to visit it. There they will find my social links a contact form, blog, and information about me, my coauthor and all of our books. LinkedIn is a great way to contact and connect with me.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!