Onboarding coaching is a structured coaching process during first 100 days of a new hire to increase the speed of a new employee’s adaptation to the new role and diminish possible risks.

It is commonly understood that a new employee will only fully realise their full potential in the new role after 6 months. With onboarding coaching, this process can be twice as fast – new employees benefiting from the support program and coach are more likely to feel and act at their full potential after just 100 days of employment.

It is also a well-known fact that when something goes wrong with the employment relationship, it happens during the first weeks and months – and in most cases it could have been avoided. This is exactly what onboarding coaching is for.

Ideally, onboarding coaching starts before the first day of employment. There are things to do before – think about the first day at work, the meeting schedule – whom to meet and when? Are these people available at all, if you start making appointments during your first day in the office? These and lots of other details are better when thought through and planned before the first day.

Who are the key players in this process?

The main beneficiary – the coachee – is naturally the new employee, but there are other important players too. The boss to whom the new employee is reporting, and the HR person who is internally responsible for the new employee’s onboarding. A good cooperation between these 3 people and the coach is essential.

How does the process look like?

• First there is a kick-off meeting with the HR representative(s) and hiring managers, where the objectives and process are discussed and agreed upon.
• The other kick-off meeting is held with the new employee, presumably a week or two before their first day in the new role.
• Then there will be bi-monthly meetings (and, if necessary, additional contacts via e-mail or phone during the first 100 days, focusing on key milestones – what to achieve during 1^st week, month, 100 days. Naturally any issues and possible actions are discussed. During these meetings, some time is devoted to the personality of the coachee and their important relationships. Sometimes the analysis of the immediate team is going to be the subject of one of these meetings. For this, a Teamscope profiling for the team might be useful.
• At the final stage, the coach gathers 360°-feedback and discusses the results with the coachee and helps to build a development plan based on this and other results.
• A wrap-up session with the direct superior and/HR partner finalises the process and some follow-up action, a possible extension of the coaching relationship might be discussed.