Engaging and Retaining Employees Through Onboarding

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

The Maricopa County Superior Court redesigned the new employee onboarding program to enhance the new employee experience. The process was improved from start to finish, and new tools were created for staff and for managers. Staff created an integration guide for new employees that provides important information at their fingertips, and the manager’s received a new guide to provide a template for a great onboarding experience. A peer buddy program was designed and implemented, which consists of trained ambassadors that welcome new employees, escort them through the HR in-processing process and helps them acclimate to their new department. The previous 8-hour lecture-style new employee orientation event was eliminated. Instead the employee participates in interactive computer based courses that they can begin on their first day. Training topics include compliance issues, ethics, and a Judicial Branch overview. When employees complete the online courses, they attend a 4-hour welcome event with court leadership that is designed to inspire and emphasizes the nobility of the branch, ethics, safety and procedural fairness. At the conclusion of the event, the Presiding Judge hosts a special swearing in ceremony where new employees are presented with a Judicial Branch coin. The program has been very successful. We have been able to reduce new employee time away from their jobs by 50% and new employee retention has increased by 13%.