- This full paper track proposal deals with the challenges of designing the onboarding of new employees in digital work settings. The increasing prevalence of home office workplaces due to the corona pandemic poses new challenges for managers in designing this phase given the physical separation of team members. In the context of this research project, the aim was to examine how managers experience digital onboarding in practice and which methods they use to trigger learning and teambuilding processes.
In particular, the initial period in a new company is accompanied by many learning and team-building processes at various levels: The newcomer must acquire new technical information, create social connections with other team members, and learn on a superordinate level which values are embodied in the organization. This introductory phase lays the foundation for the initiation of further learning processes as well as the learning climate and should therefore be designed with caution.
For this purpose, data was collected using guideline-based expert interviews with managers via digital video call platforms.
Most managers reported a preference for hybrid onboarding.
Overall, it appears that managers largely use adequate strategies for triggering learning and teambuilding processes in remote work. Nevertheless, not all potentials have yet been exhausted, so this paper describes implementation proposals for the conception of leadership development workshops regarding the design of a professional onboarding.
