Are You Onboarding Your Promoted Employees?

BY Kathy Crosett
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It’s always a positive step to promote an internal candidate. Your team members like to see an internal career path and imagine their next step on the ladder. You might also be thinking you can save yourself the time and expense of onboarding a new employee when you promote a promising internal candidate. That kind of thinking can lead to big problems, Ed Zalewski warns.

Writing for Bizjournals​.com, Zaleski cautions that employers shouldn’t shortchange promoted employees. Sure, these folks know the drill at the annual holiday party and when the best food trucks visit the parking lot. On the other hand, when an employee starts any new position, he may need a mentor to show him the ropes. He may also need extra management support during the transition, if he’s expected to train his replacement.

If your promoted team member has moved into a management role, his onboarding process should include an introduction to the types of HR duties he’ll be expected to carry out. For example, will he be doing first level candidate screening or does that responsibility belong to someone else?  Are there sensitive management challenges in his department that he needs to know about? Take the time to consider what your new employee isn’t likely to know and cover these topics during onboarding meetings.

To really make the promoted or transferred employee feel welcome, take him out to lunch. Encourage other team members to meet with him, formally or informally. These meetings should cover the official stuff, like who does what in the department, and where his responsibilities begin and end.  Sharing the unofficial details with him, like who usually brings donuts on the first Friday of the month, is a big step in making him feel valued and a true part of the team.


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