Starting any new job inevitably brings both excitement and anxiety. We all started our current jobs knowing there would be the “learning curve,”—that uncomfortable time when everything is new and unknown and we are least able to excel in our new position. We’ve all been there, and we all wish we could have been more successful sooner. Like us, all the future non-craft employees at Manson will be faced with the same challenges, the same anxieties, and the same desire to succeed.
But what if we wanted to fix that problem? What if we wanted to ease that “learning curve” for our new colleagues joining Manson in the future? What if we felt the drive to follow our Manson values: to take care of our people (even new employees!), do the right thing, and find a better way? What would that look like? Welcome to Manson 101, the new onboarding experience for non-craft employees.
Manson’s Learning & Development department partnered with the Human Resources (HR) and Marketing departments to tackle the onboarding challenge and to find a better way to engage our new employees. Manson wanted to help new employees feel more confident and connected and less anxious and overwhelmed at the start of their Manson journey.
We wanted to provide an effective learning environment by throwing out the old “fire hose” approach and helping new employees learn in digestible bites. Imagine being a new employee and being presented with a road map that sets you up for success. Imagine feeling yourself purposefully learning fundamental skills and processes like navigating Microsoft Teams and Manson Hub, reading your pay stub, or coding your credit card charges. Imagine a curriculum that allows you to learn about your new company’s culture and heritage, aiding your comprehension of the shared language and stories your colleagues use. Imagine integrating into your new team more quickly, mastering the basics, and moving more swiftly into the technical contributions that brought you here.
Onboarding with Manson 101
“It’s almost professional malpractice not to provide the most assistance we can to help our new colleagues feel confident, competent, and connected as soon as we can,” says Thomas Barrett, Manson Director of Learning & Development. “The sooner we can create that engagement, the sooner they will make an impact for their team and the company. Everybody wins.” That’s the driving premise of Manson 101: to engage early and regularly throughout the beginning period of employment. Thomas notes that the same principles apply for our craft employees and that a craft version of the program is being designed.
Manson 101 is a five-week program that begins on Day 1 for new non-craft employees. “Historically, the non-craft onboarding process at Manson has been focused on immediate priorities, such as paperwork, the drug screen, safety training, and meeting new team members around the office,” explains Danika Brown, Manson HR Operations Manager. “The desire to roll out a robust onboarding program has been a long time coming at Manson.”
Of course, all of those old processes will continue, but now, many more resources are available to the local teams to create a more fulfilling onboarding experience. The table below depicts the enhanced new hire experience. Each week, a goal contributes to the bigger objective of enriched onboarding, delivered in bite-sized topics totaling about an hour each week.
While the array of Manson 101 topics is diverse and inspiring, the other half of the challenge is delivering organized and clear material. To achieve that, we overhauled and recreated the existing New Hire Portal. Renamed the “New Employee Portal,” the entry point is now easy to find right on Manson’s Intranet splash page. From there, the materials are organized into two sections according to whether you are a new employee or hiring manager.
For New Employees
Both sections have their respective materials organized on a timeline of when they occur, so the SharePoint pages serve as a roadmap or checklist for successful onboarding. Each step and requirement is explained and laid out clearly for the new employee. In the Portal, new employees will be presented with a link to sequenced Manson 101 Modules. The modules are housed in the Manson Online Learning Library, which we affectionately call MOLLy. In MOLLy, new employees will find all the M101 modules available to them in order. The system will “drip feed” each week so that the new employee isn’t overwhelmed by too much information. The Manson 101 course will be added to their learning record when completed.
For Hiring Managers
The portal provides the hiring manager with a complete path with all the steps and materials needed to hire new employees successfully. The process starts with completing the necessary paperwork to initiate a hire. Then, it moves stepwise through each task, including welcoming the new employee and assisting them in completing their M101 experience.
At Manson, we aim to hire people with the highest potential available, hoping they will make us all better at our jobs and make our company more successful. “But high-potential people have high expectations, even at the beginning of their careers here,” points out Jimmie Collins, Manson Proposal & Marketing Manager. “We need to engage the potential our new employees bring and maximize it as soon as possible to ensure they are challenged and successful.” Manson 101 sets the tempo for that level of employee engagement right at the beginning and sets up our new teammates to feel inspired and accomplished as early on as possible.
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