Understanding the Importance of Onboarding at a Large, Research-Intensive University in Western Canada

Abstract

Onboarding programs are understood as fundamental training required by a new employee to successfully integrate into an organization and their role. Onboarding programs have been shown to contribute to employee effectiveness and can influence worker retention and impact organizational culture. Yet while onboarding has such a strong impact on many significant factors within an organization, many companies view onboarding as an inconsequential portion of a new employee’s welcome into the institution. In this research study, I engaged in a qualitative, single instrumental case study, collecting onboarding information from a large, research-intensive university in western Canada. This study was guided by one research question: Do current onboarding processes at a large, research-intensive western Canadian university provide unionized administrative and professional staff with the knowledge and skills needed to successfully integrate into the university environment and their new role? The data collection involved semi-structured interviews with nine unionized administrative and professional staff who had worked at the university for one year or less. Research findings highlight some alignment to relevant and contemporary topics as identified within the literature, understood as best practices to ensuring successful onboarding, including pre-onboarding and organizational socialization, while also emphasizing gaps within the process, specifically around interpersonal socialization and organizational culture.