How it feels to be the new kid…
Plan International are advancing children’s rights and equality for girls in over 75 countries around the world. Within their strategy, they have an ambition to change the lives of 100 million girls. With new people joining the team all the time, it is important that they are able to contribute quickly and stay motivated.
The challenge
There are plenty of studies that show the importance of a good onboarding programme for motivating new starters and encouraging retention.
Plan International was aware of this, but being a global organisation, they faced the challenge of making inductions accessible and engaging across diverse locations, time-zones and teams. Rather than waiting months for the next Induction programme to run and travelling across continents to get there, they wanted to make sure all new starters got a timely and ‘consistent yet personalised’ experience.
The solution
A digital solution seemed obvious. Everyone has access to Workplace so why not utilise an already popular platform so that onboarding new starters becomes everyone’s business?
We put together a digital induction framework that would provide the ideal induction experience, for new starters, teams and managers.
Making it work for Plan International
We developed three themes to help structure the outcomes we wanted for participants during their inductions – “Build pride”, “Feel connected” and “Know I am supported.”
These were inspired by the work Plan International was doing to “Bridge the gender digital divide”. The aims of this work were to make girls more digitally connected, to build support networks and to instil pride and empowerment. By linking the induction to these themes, new starters get an early exposure to Plan International’s values and strategy.
Rather than fix it, we developed a solution that enabled Plan International to be self-sufficient and flexible content curators. Using Workplace, we designed a solution that was engaging, cost effective and global.
It meant new cohorts could interact regardless of location and language; it engaged new starters in conversation with senior leaders; enabled content sharing, collaboration; and interactive learning. For the business it meant clear ownership and simple, engaging and effective onboarding for all.
The results
The digital onboarding model is a great solution for any organisation. Here’s why:
- Support is high – The platform approach makes the induction programme completely inclusive because everyone has the same access to tools, resources and people (and the translation function removes any language barriers). Leaders and influencers become much more easily accessible to new starters too.
- Ownership is clear – At Plan International, the global Comms and People teams curate content and conversations, while bots serve reminders and tips. Local and regional offices close the learning loop with ‘in person’ induction activity tailored to each individual’s location, role and team.
- Engagement sky-rockets – Participants have the power to own and shape their own induction experience, taking part in groups, polls, quizzes, live-streams and of course, uploading their personal stories and creating their own conversations. Existing staff are part of the induction experience too, which has enormous collaboration and engagement potential.