I once heard a saying to that effect, and with that I want to dedicate this edition of this newsletter to that most critical part of socialization into any organization or entity. And it’s not simply a matter of new-hire orientation. If you’ve worked in a hospital system, like I and many of our colleagues have, you’ve probably had to sit through two to three days of intensive orientation and training sessions, after which you transfer to your department to get even more hands-on “training.”

Since the pandemic and its attendant work-culture disruptions, like short staffing and hybrid work, the question of onboarding seems to have taken a bit of a back seat, going by the conversations I have had in the past few months with clients.

The thing is, onboarding is much more than new-hire orientation. Yes, it’s a compliance issue for some organizations, but at its best, onboarding should be an end-to-end O2E, as I call it — organization-to-employee transaction experience. The organization here does not have to be a for-profit. Even volunteer roles and organizations running on volunteer experience are not immune from the responsibility of providing a functional onboarding experience. And by functional, I mean one with the least amount of friction, that allows the new adult on the block to get to work.

I have been on the other side of a not-so-stellar onboarding experience (if one could even term what happened an onboarding) and had to intentionally step away from the role after a few weeks, to make room for someone else who might be able to function in the entrenched, existing culture.

I’ve coached people who had to step away after a year, or two, or three, and they can still chalk up a measure of dissatisfaction to an underwhelming onboarding experience.

The examples I give, including my own, I realize may be occurring from a place of privilege (or burnout too, if I might add), as not everyone might have the wherewithal to give up a role because of poor organizational socialization.

So what do you do if you find yourself in a new role and the onboarding is not going the way you think it should?

1. Do not ignore your intuitive intelligence. If you sense something is not quite right, bring it up to the team lead. And as a matter of assertive and confident communication, bringing it up should always be from the perspective of the organization, not simply because.

2. Advocate for the role and your part in it. Don’t wait until the 30- or 60-day review.

3. Ask other team members for help in pointing you to the right sources of support. Find peers and not-so-peers, and get to know them over virtual coffee, even as you remember that socialization is not a one-way street. We all have to play our part within the ecosystem of an organization.

And lastly, remember what I said in point one above. If the place is too dysfunctional, your best socialization move would be to go find another “society” to be a useful member of, and part of a functioning whole.