Effective Onboarding

Onboarding turns the key, opening the door to talent development

Investing in onboarding means investing in employee success and the business of the future. Effective onboarding programs both increase and facilitate employee engagement and business results; onboarding shortens the employee learning curve by increasing job knowledge. If you need to design, revise, or expand your company's onboarding program, Effective Onboarding offers a simple-to-follow path forward.

Talent development experts Norma Dávila and Wanda Piña-Ramírez combine their significant consulting experience and the latest onboarding trends to create a single source for onboarding best practices, job aids, templates, and checklists. Also included are examples and stories based on real-life situations the authors have encountered in their practice. While many books about onboarding limit their approach to employee recruitment and selection, this book is more comprehensive, following employees through their first year on the job. Effective Onboarding clarifies the differences between orientation and onboarding, describes how to build a business case for your onboarding program, and guides you to design, implement, evaluate, and sustain the program that's right for your organization.

Effective Onboarding is part of a new ATD series, What Works in Talent Development, which addresses the most critical topics facing today's talent development practitioners. Each book in the series is written for trainers, by trainers, and offers a clear, step-by-step path to solve real issues.

About the Authors

Norma Dávila is a certified career development strategist who guides clients through targeted introspection and self-assessments to identify strengths and interests before embarking on career changes. Her approach to career coaching positions her clients to gain the self-confidence to present themselves as the best candidate during job interviews. A certified resume writer by PARW/CC, Norma adapts her advice to best suit client professional experience and aspirations. A firm believer in the value of networks, she steers them to optimize every opportunity to connect with others. A natural talent developer, Norma focuses her practice on entry-level and midcareer professionals, and has supported employees from industries including banking, technology, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, dairy products, aerospace manufacturing, retail sales, risk management, and funeral services. She is recognized for communicating complex ideas in easy-to-understand terms and introducing concrete examples to which they can relate. Norma specializes in designing and delivering learning experiences that lay the groundwork to acquire and strengthen competencies and skills on topics such as team development, business writing, customer service, performance management, employee communications, and transition management. She is a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional, and has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Yale University and master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology from the University of Chicago.

Wanda Piña-Ramírez is an action-driven, strategic management and executive consultant with a proven track record of contributing to the bottom line in companies spanning from multinational corporations to small businesses located in Puerto Rico, the continental United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Her innovative and open-minded consulting style is an asset when dealing with ambiguity and challenging business situations. As the longest-serving member of AON Puerto Rico’s Mejores Patronos (Best Employers) Committee, she has firsthand knowledge of industries as diverse as restaurants, insurance, medical laboratories, pharmaceuticals, hospitality, banking, pharmacy information systems, general information processing, and building materials. Wanda is certified as a coach from the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, as a practitioner in neurolinguistic programming and applied kinesiology by the International NLP Trainers Association, as a human resources administrator by the Escuela Avanzada de Administración de Recursos Humanos y Legislación Laboral de Puerto Rico, and as a legal intercessor for cases of domestic violence and aggression in Puerto Rico. She is a frequent guest on radio and television programs, where she brings together the legal and business components of talent development and human resources management, tackling such topics as business metrics, labor law, sexual harassment, and domestic violence. Wanda also contributes her expert opinion on the latest issues affecting today’s workforce to news outlets and other forums.

Wanda and Norma are business partners in The Human Factor Consulting Group, senior consultants for AON, and subject matter experts, program facilitators, and program translators for SHRM specializing in Latin America. They are both certified DDI facilitators and co-authors of Cutting Through the Noise (ASTD Press 2013) and Passing the Torch (ATD Press 2015). They’ve also written articles in TD and multiple blogs, and presented at ATD’s International Conference & Exposition, SHRM’s Talent Management Conference, SHRM’s Conference Preview Workshops, ATD’s México Summit, and Ellevate.