How does onboarding work? In the recruitment process, a lot is discussed and everything possible is arranged. Unfortunately, a lot can go wrong if you Regulate not considered.

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New job: Also observe unwritten rules

A change from one Companys to move to another is usually associated with an energy-intensive phase transition. To accept the uncertainty about future developments presupposes that the expected benefits are far higher

The former employer had a great deal of creative freedom. The motto was to use common sense when things went wrong decide existed for which there were no specifications. In the first few weeks after joining the company, it could feel like being thrown in at the deep end. Things to Learn doing, trying, and experimenting was the unspoken currency rewarded for progress. Change this one Employees in an unconventionally managed small to medium-sized company, there is a high probability that you will not have to make too many adjustments, since the control systems are expected to be very similar. The situation is completely different when you move to a large corporation.

A question of expectations

If this employee decides to join a multinational corporation with a matrix structure, it doesn't take much imagination to imagine the expectations with which he will start his new position. He is an experienced problem solver and brings a lot Background and skills with. He would like to include all of that. The unspoken expectation is in the room, exactly for that recognition to get. The newcomer may find the way in which processes are designed cumbersome, but they often do not seem to be debatable. For example, the newcomer advocates the increased internal use of social media so that decisions can be accelerated. If he suggests it, it is not unlikely that he will be confronted with strict restrictions on the use of Facetime, Googlezoom, Webex and the like. The new leader has similarly contradictory experiences over and over again when doing what they understand they were hired to do. It should give new impetus to the with a fresh outside perspective Organization bring.

In the first few weeks, she explored the processes and structures and identified a need for optimization with a high degree of probability. The self-initiated questioning as to why something is regulated in this way can already lead to resentment among superiors and employees. The new employee wants to meet the suspected, often unspoken, expectation of being able to question the control system as a lateral thinker. Often he is not aware of the fact that he is scratching the identity of the employees who identify with the company, as it has grown over the years, or he does not consider it relevant.

What are the rules in the contract?

There is a written contract. Depending on the mindset and premises of the company founders and depending on the degree of organizational maturity, this contract is either lavish or economical. The level of detail in the employment contract is revealing in relation to the rule system to be expected. The more that is regulated in writing, the higher the need seems to be Control be.

Pronounced and unspoken rules of the hiring company In a large company with a long tradition, it is likely that a sophisticated set of rules has developed over the years and that structures have developed. Many details are regulated, such as the travel expenses application, time recording, the bonus system, use and restrictions of use of the new media, promotion criteria, the interpretation of the data protection regulation, etc.

Rules create security when onboarding

Give these regulations Orientation and create security in dealing with each other. They reduce complexity by restricting behavior options and making them more predictable. A sophisticated set of rules is the company's answer to the challenge of giving employees orientation in an environment with changing requirements.

Example of conventional companies Dealing with data is a clear example. Once data has been published, it can no longer be retrieved. Which data is subject to special protection is often a matter of discretion. The top management task is to precisely determine which information is communicated to the outside world.

The limits of social systems

Limits in social systems, such as restrictions on access or use, are what filters are for a lens. Filters can be fine-tuned according to the lighting conditions. They dose the incidence of light onto the lens. This regulatory function is found in social systems in the system boundaries. These are permeable in the sense that they filter which and how much information is passed and which is not.

Matthias Varga from Kibéd and Insa Sparrer describe the give and take principle as a systemic metaprinciple. It “ensures elasticity of the system's binding forces at every system level. In this way, it promotes the stability and adaptability of the system. (Too little exchange would freeze systems [...], too much would lead to diffusion of the system.) ”

What information is made available when?

Deciding which information is made available to whom at what time is challenging and requires a great deal of experience and sensitivity. It is in the interest of the company to klare To provide direction and guidelines for decisions, to avoid legal disputes or not to unnecessarily reduce the competitive advantage over competitors. On the one hand, cooperation across company boundaries is essential in order to maintain the company's innovative potential.

Exchange with the environment is necessary in order not to miss the connection and to ensure impulses for the further development of the company. The higher the number of participating network partners outside the company and the higher the networking density, the more likely it is that innovative Solutions to find. At the same time, the research and development areas are sealed off from the outside world. Access restrictions in the real and in the digital Welt regulate the secrecy of knowledge worthy of protection.

Startups vs. conventional companies

Restrictive rules for the use of video conferencing, Twitter, Whatsapp, Facebook etc like old fashioned act, against the background of the described risks are they understandable and useful. The strength of many large companies lies in stable Success and often decades of tradition that members of this organization are often proud of. This tradition is perceived as an identity-forming value. Protecting him is an expression of loyalty to the employer. Exaggerating this strength leads to overregulation, which slows down work and, in extreme cases, freezes the company.

The situation is often completely different in younger companies, which are characterized by high flexibility and speed in decision-making. Under the collective term New Work companies whose way of working is characterized by regulating only the most elementary things and giving their employees as much creative freedom as possible.

How do the onboarding rules come about?

A set of rules is designed jointly and iteratively. Regular reflection loops identify redundant rules or those that have become dysfunctional. In retrospectives9, for example, suggestions are made to eliminate superfluous and dysfunctional rules or to replace them with functional rules. By consistently focusing on customer needs, an attempt is made to keep the overgrowth of the internal control system at bay.

These companies tend to be more risk-averse than traditional ones. They have lower entry thresholds and a higher degree of connectivity with the outside world. A few rules and specifications increase the behavior options. More creativity is possible, and with it the complexity increases. Consciously accepting this dynamic requires not wanting to predict and control employee behavior. Companies with a set of rules that grow iteratively rely on the power of self-organization. The complexity is high and cannot be managed with traditional management structures.

Share your own knowledge

In recent years, it has been common practice for top managers of traditional large companies to make a journey of discovery into Silicon Valley. The extent to which knowledge can be adapted after the trip and will have an impact on one's own culture is another matter.

Sharing your own knowledge with others can become a company motto. Many unconventional companies conceptualize their organization as social living System on. This notion has tangible and visible implications for dealing with Information. Due to the positive interactions that can be expected and the increase in the level of awareness of the company, high permeability of the filters is lived and promoted by the company management. More and more unconventional companies are opening their doors and inviting interested parties to learn together with their employees.

The Düsseldorf-based company Sipgate, for example, regularly invites to its own premises to train interested non-members of the organization together with their employees. Meetups of other initiators can also be held in the evening at sipgate:

»At some point we noticed that we mainly stew in our own juice. Unfortunately, you don't learn that much then. The pool of knowledge and new ideas was limited. […] We decided to change that and have been organizing the Lean DUS evening event since 2014. Every month we invite well-known speakers […]. We book an in-house workshop […] and a public one Lecture in the evening, just as part of Lean DUS«. 

The learning opportunities are enormous through this exchange platform, which is jointly attended by internal and external participants. The work processes and special features of the corporate culture are also made transparent through regular tours. What used to be considered industrial espionage can become a new understanding of coevolution, as illustrated in this example. want one Company learning from an unconventional company like sipgate, it is not uncommon for that company to be invited to sipgate's premises to learn with and from one another. Internationally, too, companies are looking for an exchange among themselves.