Lu Smith joined Holst in Summer 2017. Here she writes about her first-time experience of onboarding at Holst …

I’d never heard of onboarding before starting at Holst. How different my last workplace might have been if this process had been used! Of course you would expect Holst to be right up there with finding and introducing great ways to make their staff feel fully integrated. But my initial reaction was disbelief. Would I really need a whole 2 weeks of formal onboarding within the company to be able to do my job effectively?

I had been hired to do the job, and gone through psychometric testing to ensure I was the right fit. What more did they want from me?

Well, it turns out the process is actually designed around my integration and my needs, to ensure I got up to speed as efficiently, effectively and as comfortably as possible. It gave me a 360 degree overview about the company and the roles and personalities within it. Thereby understanding how my role fits into the business as a whole.

Onboarding starts at interview

Looking back, my onboarding experience began in the interview. My interviewer greeted me warmly and asked about my talents and interests, previous challenges, and my learning and working styles. It was an empathetic interview. It left me with a positive impression about Holst, and helped influence my expectations on the type of organisational structure it has.

Over the 2 weeks of my formal onboarding process, I spent time with almost every team member in the office. It wasn’t hard to establish personal connections. Proper 1-2-1s helped me to build relationships and understand everyone’s role within the company. My onboarding covered all the bases in the gaps of my knowledge, to ensure I had a thorough overview about Holst and the McQuaig Psychometric System.

Tailored onboarding at Holst

However, what I like best is that the onboarding experience at Holst tailors onboarding to each new hire. It doesn’t just to fill the gaps in the knowledge. Through the McQuaig Word Survey® report and spending time with me, my manager knew how best to introduce new things to me. I needed appropriate time in between these meetings to process what I had learned, and to allow me time to take notes in order to work out if I needed more information to fill my understanding.

At Holst, there is a willingness to help new staff get acclimatised and established into their roles. This is from accounts to trainers, and from directors to associates. The overall atmosphere is to ensure the whole team enjoys a sense of belonging and a shared purpose. To that end my onboarding was far more than just orienteering myself in the company. It is a continuing process to convey the brand and values of the company. To explain the people and culture and to understand expectations. It has provided the tools for easy assimilation into my role and ultimately to full productivity.

Onboard like Holst!

Download the Ultimate Guide to Onboarding from The McQuaig Psychometric System.