Onboarding & Happiness: practices for effective integration of new comers

"Project Idea This project is dedicated to researching and developing modern onboarding practices that simultaneously: • increase new employees’ happiness, engagement, and psychological safety, • leverage social connections to improve the effectiveness of the integration process, • accelerate both professional and social integration into the company, • enhance long-term business performance through higher productivity and engagement. The focus is not only on processes, but on the human experience — how people feel during their first months at work and what truly helps them become part of the team. Key Research Areas 🔹 Onboarding Practices and Tools • Universal effective solutions (best practices) • Unique practices with scaling potential • Practices that actively leverage social networks Focus on in-person, remote, and hybrid formats. 🔹 Social Integration Analysis of how companies: — help newcomers build social connections and what tools they use (Random Coffee, buddy systems, communities, meetings, rituals), — create a sense of belonging and inclusion. 🔹 Role of Helpers and Mentors Research into: — who supports newcomers (buddy, mentor, manager, HR, AI assistant), — how these people are selected and what creates the greatest impact, — which factors increase the effectiveness of support. 🔹 AI in Onboarding A dedicated focus on: — where and how AI is already used (chatbots, personalization, learning, navigation, analytics), — which use cases are most effective, — how AI affects the experience, speed of adaptation, and sense of care. Project Format • Survey of employees who have changed jobs within the last 6 months (general sample) • In-depth interviews with HR leaders about onboarding practices • Large-scale HR survey on processes, tools, and outcomes Based on the data, materials will be produced and potentially a modern onboarding model will be developed, enabling organizations to assess onboarding effectiveness and benchmark their results (similar to candidate experience evaluation frameworks). Project Objectives • Develop a methodology for assessing onboarding experience and a system of metrics similar to the Candidate Experience Index (CandE). • Identify the role of social connections during integration and ways to increase onboarding effectiveness through networking activities. • Formulate recommendations to improve happiness, engagement, and adaptation effectiveness. • Identify best, optimal, and innovative solutions, including the role of AI. Output Formats • Reports • Articles • Webinars • Online interviews with experts and research participants "