Onboarding stage

Onboarding is the period from the first day at work until one year with the emphasis on the first 6 months, but some onboarding elements continue also until the end of the first year.

Graybill et al. (2012) give recommendations that an exemplary onboarding program should include implementation already at the recruitment stage and the following components should be included in the onboarding: socialization, policies, safety, communication,

mentoring/buddy, significant program length, checklist for all levels and unique activities identified by individual institutions.

As can be seen in Figure 16, this professor onboarding framework’s onboarding stage was divided into smaller periods as it is a long stage and includes many contents. These substages are: first day at work, first 2 weeks, first 2 months, 3-4 months, 5-6 months, 7-8 months, 9-10 months, and 11-12 months. Next the details in each substage are elaborated.

Figure 16: Professor onboarding framework 2021 – onboarding stage

The first day at work should start with the manager’s welcoming and discussion. Typically, the new professor meets on the first day the HR representative to discuss practical issues.

The manager or a colleague should give a tour of the facilities and introduce the new professor to anyone who comes along. The new professor is guided to own workspace and work tools should be ready on day one. Onboarding plan is handed out to the new professor with clarification on its details. Some onboarding tasks already await the new professor in HR systems and those can be started on the first day, together with independent online

eLearning for newcomers. Professor gets gradually more familiar with the department that he/she has started working in. Through meeting other people one by one for lunches, coffees or randomly, the professor builds up own knowledge of the university and school as well.

During the first 2 weeks the new professor should meet the dean of own school to discuss the school organization, strategy, decision making procedures and any topics that the new professor is interested in. During these two weeks HR representative continues to give

guidance and orientation on practical and employment related issues. The independent online eLearning and onboarding tasks should be completed by the professor during this time. A campus tour is arranged for newcomers and there the new professors will get a wider perspective of the whole campus but also has the possibility to meet and network with other newcomers of the university. Every new professor will be named an Onboarding Buddy for the first six (6) months to support early integration. After this relationship each new assistant professor is name a mentor to support in advancing in the academic career during the next year. Meeting department faculty and staff is a priority of the first two weeks. This way the new professor builds quickly own network and gets plenty of information on the department, the school and the university as well as on ongoing research topics and plans.

The first 2 months

As the first two weeks are reserved for settling in and arranging all the administrational duties, the onboarding starts with full force during the first two months, from week three onwards. There will be monthly discussions with manager on onboarding progress, on any questions and on orientation to departmental issues. Leadership onboarding begins and there is an already existing program for it. The leadership program takes at least one year. Teacher and supervisor onboarding starts, and the exact systematic contents and responsibilities of the program will be further clarified and refreshed for this new professor onboarding framework outside the scope of this thesis.

To make the new professor acculturate better into the new surroundings, possibly even country and language, a course on Finnish culture and language starts during the first two months. One other item to help with integration is participating in newcomer events, which have a socializing and welcoming approach.

Orientation to different services at the university starts at this point as well. These services are Finance, Communications, IT and Technical facilities. A researcher concentrated onboarding entity starts at 1-2 months concentrating on how to apply for research funding, write the application and run the project. Other topics for researcher orientation are research ethics and open science.

Networking was identified as a lacking element in professor onboarding thus it has been added as a separate element in the onboarding to highlight its importance and all the actions that can be done there in order to build networks right from the start of the employment.

3-4 months

On top of all the existing orientations at 3-4 months some more items emerge which makes it the busiest time of the new professor onboarding. Innovation orientation is covered during this time. Support for building collaborations is provided early on for possible future research projects. There is an onboarding feedback questionnaire submitted to the new professor.

Most important of all this is the time, when the new professor will have a discussion with manager about own academic career and the goals for it for the next year and the next four years. Assistant professor lunch takes place usually around this time and that is a good possibility to network with other professors as well as discuss with the provost on the tenure track career system.

5-6 months

Based on the formal discussion on the academic career goals a memo will be prepared. Other new topics for this time period is a discussion with HR Manager on onboarding experiences so far and an orientation on legal issues.

7-12 months

During the rest of the first year many of the orientations continue such as the leadership onboarding and the teacher and supervisor onboarding. Manager continues to have monthly discussions with the new professor with varying topics. At seven months the onboarding buddy relationship ends formally, and all assistant professors are nominated a mentor for the next year to support them with their academic career development. A second assistant professor lunch is arranged during this period.