onboarding

Transboarding: onboard colleagues between departments

Malique Steenbrink

June 25, 2018

min read

Table of Contents

Text Link

Back to resources

There are various reasons for ‘a transfer’ like we called this in the world of football. Sometimes people aren’t very happy in their job and want to do ‘something else’. As a good employer, you could check within the organization if there are any other possibilities for current employees. On the other hand, people might get a promotion within another team. In other words internal recruitment. More on this? Read the expert deep dive: ‘Transboarding’ is critical when managing the internal talent pipeline.

How many times do you onboard?

During HR Blend, the Dutch event hosted by among others Appical, the employee journey was mentioned several times again. Is it redundant? Since almost all companies are using it? No, but it's nothing special either. It's basically the same for every company, with a little nuance here and there.

It goes from unconscious orientation to conscious orientation to apply to a job offer to onboarding to development to a new job or an exit and offboarding. And if it's a new job it's again development with again the outcome of a new job or exit and offboarding. Now here's a question for all of you:

Why do we onboard new employees, but not existing employees to a new job?

I'm not saying this should be the same process. Since you already know the company, or you should. But moving to a different part of the company, a different unit, isn't that like to an entirely new job? I've seen cases in major companies where someone actually switched between departments by a headhunter. I kid you now, the company paid fees to a headhunter for one of their own. In major companies, you usually don't know much about the other side of the company.

So why don't we onboard our moving colleagues? Why don't we use an app to introduce the new department? The specific culture of this department? The dress code might differ. Who gets coffee might differ. Use of social media might differ. And I can go on and on and on.

I've done some work in healthcare. Let me tell you, a cardiac surgeon and a dermatologist might work in the same hospital, the culture in these departments is as close as the culture of Japan and the USA. So why don't we help make this transition easier too?

The advantages of transboarding

It’s also important when a job requires new skills from an employee that he or she may not necessarily have yet. When an employee is promoted to his first management position, they will most likely need to learn about effectively delegating tasks. A proper transboarding program can help them get settled and improve their productivity.

A transboarding program that delivers in all the right ways will accomplish these goals: