FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2008
Contact: Sarah Howe
202-775-9111
PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE AND BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON RELEASE RECOMMENDATIONS TO HELP UNCLE SAM BRING ON NEW EMPLOYEES – AND KEEP THEM!
WASHINGTON – The federal government must do a better job integrating new employees into the workplace according to a report released today by the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton, Getting On Board: A Model for Integrating and Engaging New Employees.
Teaming with management experts at Booz Allen, the Partnership assessed how to best integrate and engage new civil servants from the time they accept a job through their first year of service – a process defined as “onboarding” in the report. Successfully onboarding employees during their first year of service makes them more engaged, increases retention by as much as 25 percent, improves performance and ultimately accelerates time-to-productivity.
The report captures snapshots of new government employees’ experiences when they first started their jobs, including one federal employee who counted $2.85 cents in change left in his desk drawer because he had no computer and nothing to do on his first day at work, and another who recounts that his supervisor didn’t come to see him for the first three days he was there.
These first impressions matter, according to the report, because 90 percent of employees decide whether or not they will stay at an organization or look for a new position within the first six months on the job.
The key recommendation of the Getting On Board report is for federal agencies to implement a four part strategic onboarding model that outlines steps to integrate and acculturate new employees, so they are welcomed, informed, gain a sense of commitment to the organization, and ultimately, so they are more effective and productive. The model steps include:
- Defining principles to ensure the onboarding process is aligned to the agency mission;
- Identifying specific roles for agency personnel and new employees;
- Implementing specific phases and activities to integrate new employees; and
- Measuring and reporting on onboarding outcomes.
The onboarding model was developed based on best practices from the private sector, and lessons learned from focus groups with federal employees and interviews with agency managers.
“What federal agencies do or don’t do has a large impact on a new worker’s view of government service,” said Max Stier, Partnership for Public Service president. “And, ultimately that will impact how effective agencies are at getting the job done.”
The report includes a tool kit for managers, an onboarding checklist, a new employee reference guide and pre-first day communications plan. The Partnership and Booz Allen are holding workshops for federal agency human resource managers beginning this week to help agencies apply the onboarding model.
The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to revitalize the federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works.
Booz Allen Hamilton has been at the forefront of management consulting for businesses and governments for more than 90 years. Providing consulting services in strategy, operations, organization and change, and information technology, Booz Allen is the one firm that helps clients solve their toughest problems, working by their side to help them achieve their missions. Booz Allen is committed to delivering results that endure.
Click here to view the report.
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The Partnership for Public Service works to revitalize our federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works.
