5 ways to optimize onboarding new hires with competency models
Imagine you are walking into a new job on your first day. You’ve interviewed, you’ve talked to people, and you think that you’re ready. But typically, unless the person you are replacing is still at the company and they are a high performer who is able to easily articulate all their best practices, the actual expectation of the required skills and behaviors for the new job are merely guesswork.
Even if you have help with the transition, most jobs are changing due to digitization and automation initiatives. How can you be sure existing personnel know the current requirements?
So you do what all new hires do. You ask people, you fumble a little, you learn as you go, and over time, you hopefully hit your stride. But what if you don’t?
5 ways competency models create the best environment for new hire success
What if you, as the new hire, had a way of reviewing all those expectations and best practices early on, so you could eliminate the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that leads to the statistics above? That’s what competency models bring to onboarding.
When you self-assess against the role-based competency model, you would be self-aware of your baseline skill set, what gaps you must close to be successful, and be intrinsically motivated to do so.
You would be familiar with the best practices and nuances of the job that will make you successful.
You would know what’s important in corporate culture, as those things are reflected in the desired behavioral examples.
If your competency assessment tool maps skill gaps to learning opportunities, you would immediately be able to own closing those gaps and begin the journey toward competency. You would be bought in and engaged in doing so because you know you need it.
Your manager could know exactly how to coach you, right from the very beginning.
Customers often ask us, “How soon should a new hire do their self-assessment?” The answer is as soon as possible. You can’t move forward without knowing where you are, where you need to go, and how to get there. Imagine how you’d feel if you had that personal success roadmap on day 1 in a new role! How much easier would it be to build proficiency organizationally if everyone began a development habit on their first day? Would that help build a culture of lifelong learning? How would that change the way someone feels about their new organization when they see the importance you place on professional development?
People are intrinsically motivated toward competence. When they can’t achieve it, they become stressed and frustrated. This leads to disengaged employees looking elsewhere for opportunities to be successful. And that leads to attrition.
If you want to retain new hires, help them achieve their potential, and avoid losing the substantial investment you make in them, embrace competency models and put them to use during the onboarding process.