1. 23issue 14.8 hRmasia.com
Onboarding
Graduate Development Special
As graduates become an increasingly important component of today’s workforce,
HRM investigates how companies are devising onboarding programmes to keep them
happy and settled into their new roles
By Sham Majid
Picture this scenario.
You are a fresh graduate and after scraping through several
nerve-wrecking interviews and finally convincing your would-be
employers you are the one for the job, you have been offered the post.
You gratefully accept the job and turn up at your first day of work,
filled with optimism and excitement at the prospect of finally
embarking into the working world.
However, what appeared to be your big break quickly begins to turn
sour, with an ineffective company onboarding programme coupled
with unclear instructions and a lack of support from supervisors
onboarding
express
All aboard the
– all culminating in a miserable maiden working experience.
You then decide that enough is enough, and you quit: a lost
opportunity for both yourself and the organisation which would
have been banking on a far longer tenure.
Companies from Hong Kong may be able to attest to this.
According to the jobsDB Q2 2013 Hiring Index in that market,
among firms who recruited fresh graduates in the past three years,
approximately half of them (48%) possessed a turnover rate of
50% or more for this class of recruit.
Some 41% of those organisations cited that the average tenure of

2. 25issue 14.8 hRmasia.com
Graduate Development Special
24 issue 14.8 hRmasia.com
Onboarding
During the final stages of the graduate onboarding programme, training is
focused on driving performance and impact as well as managing perceptions,
leading, and influencing.
“Our focus is on providing our graduates with the best platform for success
and a structured onboarding programme will help them ramp quickly in their
roles and become valued contributors,” says Fourie.
In addition, the role of the Microsoft “community” is deemed to be extremely
vital for the success of a new hire.
“Each MACH hire is assigned a buddy and a mentor on top of access to the
global MACH community,” adds Fourie.
Microsoft’s thorough and layered approach to onboarding programmes for
graduates is already paying dividends.
“We are glad to note that our graduate hires have lower attrition rates than is
commonly experienced in the industry,” says Fourie.
DBS gets personal
Another organisation that prides itself on formulating sound and
comprehensive onboarding programmes for its graduate recruits is DBS Bank.
DBS hires more than 150 new graduates for entry-level roles each year. In
2013, it received close to 7,000 applications for the Management Associate and
Graduate Associate Programmes.
“At DBS, we welcome our new graduates with an orientation programme,
First Day@DBS,” says Laurence Smith, Managing Director, Group Head of
Learning and Talent Development at DBS Bank.
At this session, new graduates are inducted into the DBS family by learning
about the bank’s history, vision, strategy and policies.
After the session, they get to meet senior managers and hear about the
various departments and functions within the bank. Mentors and buddies are
also introduced to the new graduates to initiate them into the company on a
more personal level.
According to Smith, new graduates then undergo rigorous training that is
designed to sharpen their technical and personal effectiveness skills, and build
up their knowledge on the banking and finance industry before they commence
their job rotations.
Before embarking on these, the Programme Manager will also engage new
graduates in a conversation to check on their well-being, performance and
Renewed effort with onboarding
The Onboarding 2013: A New Look At New Hires report by the Aberdeen Group deduced the
key drivers for onboarding among participating organisations. The report showed that:
• 68% of respondent organisations drove onboarding to get new employees more productive
quickly
• 67% drove onboarding for better employee engagement
• 51% pushed for onboarding for better employee retention
• 49% pushed for onboarding for better assimilation of new hires
Among the top pressures for onboarding were:
• The need to better engage with employees (50% of respondents cited this)
• Pressure to meet company’s growth objectives (49%)
• The shortage of required skills (44%)
The study involved 230 organisations and was conducted in January and February last year.
graduate recruits was just one to two years, while 34%
said the average was between three and 12 months.
Meanwhile, a 2013 Onboarding Trends Report found
that a combined 71% of its survey respondents were
presently in the midst of updating their onboarding
programmes (see: boxout).
Even more surprisingly, the Onboarding 2013: A New
Look At New Hires report by Aberdeen Group revealed
that only 37% of organisations had invested in strategic
onboarding that lasted more than two years (see: boxout)
On the ball with onboarding
While onboarding programmes are important in enabling
new employees to bed in and adjust to their own job
scope and company’s operational structure, they are
absolutely imperative for fresh graduate recruits, says
Leslie Hayward, Shell’s Vice President of HR (Singapore
and Asia-Oceania Operations).
“Onboarding programmes are important to help fresh
graduates gain the required information, network, and do
the role successfully, especially since they are new to the
organisation and the working world,” says Hayward.
As a global conglomerate, it is no surprise that Shell
boasts a rigorous onboarding programme for graduates. It
receives around 500,000 applications annually. Of these,
it recruits just 1,200. In Singapore, Shell hires between 30
and 40 graduates each year.
The Shell Graduate Programme provides an industry-
leading development framework for graduates, Hayward
says, and is open to graduating students or anyone with
less than three years’ working experience.
The company’s onboarding programme – 12 Global
Onboarding Steps – kicks off even before the graduate
joins the company, Hayward reveals.
First, the supervisor emails each new recruit basic
information needed for their first day at work, and
outlines key milestones to be covered in the first 12
months, including establishing goals and identifying
development and training needs.
The line manager also explains the Shell Graduate
Programme in detail and discusses how to develop their
professional and functional competencies.
All Shell graduate hires also attend Shell Life, a
five-month leadership development programme.
This involves a two-month virtual training, five days of
face-to-face training, and finally a three-month in-role
embedded position.
“Our fresh graduates take on substantial full-time jobs
from day one,” says Hayward.
“A significant part of learning and development comes
on the job and a structured onboarding is critical to
bringing them up to speed quickly.”
Shell’s effusive commitment to graduate onboarding
programmes is equally matched by Microsoft.
“Onboarding programmes are essential to help fresh
graduates transition from the world of academics to the
world of business,” says Anna Fourie, Regional University
Staffing Consultant, Microsoft Asia-Pacific.
Microsoft’s onboarding structure begins with graduate
hirers joining the Microsoft Academy of College Hires
(MACH), says Fourie.
The Microsoft Academy of College Hires is for
undergraduate, Masters and MBA-level hires.
The undergraduates and Masters programme runs for
two years, while the MBA programme is for 18 months.
Both MACH programmes run worldwide and are
designed for graduates joining Microsoft’s sales,
marketing and services group.
The programme is focused on the development of
technical knowledge as well as the development of “soft
skills”, including leadership, team work, development of
personal brand, and career guidance.
“Critical to the success of the MACH onboarding
programme is the opportunity for our graduates to
develop a network which provides them with a
supportive community as they grow and develop over the
coming years,” says Fourie.
“Our graduate hires receive Orientation Training, Role
Guides and attend trainings as part of the MACH
community to help them develop their personal networks
for success.”
The onboarding programme is split into three core
sections.
During the first seven months, graduates focus on
learning about the organisation, its customers, and how it
works to deliver Microsoft’s commitment in today’s
“mobile-first; cloud-first” world.
The next nine months are focused on understanding
each individual’s own unique work style and what they
can contribute to the team in order to drive impact in
their business areas.
Bleak outlook of onboarding
The 2013 Onboarding Trends Report shed some telling information on the state of
onboarding programmes in the corporate world.
According to the report:
• The majority of respondents (49%) were presently updating their onboarding
programmes
• 22% continually update their programmes
• 19% updated their programmes within the previous two years
• And for 10% of respondents, it had been more than three years since their
onboarding programme had been updated
• More than 73% of respondents revealed that the biggest reasons behind
powering change to their onboarding programmes was to speed up new
employees’ performance and to improve employee retention and loyalty
• The majority of respondents hinted that HR (87%) and Learning and
Development (72%) departments were most involved in crafting and updating
the onboarding programmes.

3. Graduate Development Special
26 issue 14.8 hRmasia.com
they get the opportunity to be involved in a diverse range
of challenging projects, working with people from
different backgrounds and perspectives.”
For example in Singapore, engineering graduates can
work at the Pulau Bukom Manufacturing Site (Shell’s
largest wholly-owned refinery) or the petrochemicals
complex on Jurong Island.
Singapore is also the global headquarters of two of
Shell’s businesses – Integrated Gas and Global
Commercial – and the regional hub for its Upstream
Exploration and Production activities, and the
Downstream Trading and Chemicals businesses.
Hayward explains that employee retention and talent
management are key considerations of the design of a
good graduate and onboarding programme.
“A comprehensive talent development programme,
including strong onboarding, continues to be a
competitive advantage to attract, recruit and retain top
graduate talent,” he adds.
“Shell has always had a structured approach to
onboarding as we recognise that good onboarding is
critical to successfully integrate a new hire into the
organisation.”
Immersing in the experience
To maintain the pipeline of talented employees, DBS
entices bright prospects at an early stage in their careers,
via the highly sought-after Management Associate
Programme, says Smith.
“As part of the programme, our Management Associates
and Graduates Associates are given extensive learning and
development opportunities, and will undergo rotations
that will give them exposure to different businesses and
develop a breadth of knowledge,” he says.
In addition, a mentoring and buddy system also
provides a support system to assist in helping the new
Graduate Associates.
Graduates have a dedicated full-time Programme
Manager that manages them during the programme and
is able to quickly ascertain their strengths and
development areas, and provide guidance.
According to Smith, graduates are also encouraged to
sign up for learning and development programmes
carried out by the DBS Academy, the bank’s in-house
training arm.
“The academy creates integrated solutions which support
collaboration and learning across the bank,” says Smith.
“They are designed to support employees’ career
progression and new graduates can develop their skills
and capabilities by attending orientation programmes and
role-specific induction courses.”
In tandem with the bank’s plethora of onboarding
expertise and resources, personalised learning roadmaps
also enable graduates to assess their individual career
progression as well as their development opportunities.
career aspirations. Department managers will also
provide feedback on their performance and discuss goals
for the first year.
After the first rotation, which ranges from seven to 11
months depending on the programme structure, new
graduates are given a performance review conducted by
their managers.
This is to enable the new graduates to know whether
they are on the right track, and to allow them to fine-tune
their approach to their new roles as necessary.
They also receive performance reviews for each of the
subsequent rotations. “Buddies” are encouraged to check
in regularly with the new graduates to offer personal
assistance where required.
Smith says DBS Bank believes that a successful
onboarding programme can help to improve the retention
rates of new graduates.
“Our own internal data shows a stronger retention rate
and quicker progression as a result of this long term
investment in our talents.”
Getting stuck in
According to Hayward, the Shell Graduate Programme
provides a consistent and global standard for early career
development and assessment of graduates.
“Graduates appreciate the opportunities for continuous
learning through training courses, accreditation, and
on-the-job learning through real challenges and
responsibilities from the first role undertaken in the
company,” says Hayward.
“What many graduates and staff find attractive is that
Onboarding
Top three onboarding mistakes
An online article from eLearning Industry has highlighted the three biggest
mistakes firms make when devising their own onboarding programmes:
Mistake number one: Overloading
Trying to force through copious amount of company information in one day is
not only over-ambitious but also ineffective. When new workers are overwhelmed
with information ranging from HR policies, to roles and responsibilities and to
company values, a lot of pressure is placed on them.
Mistake number two: Onboarding in a day
Programmes that fail to continue onboarding training beyond a number of
workshops can impede the workers’ chances of settling properly within the
company. An employee may not be able to inculcate everything learnt from the
workshop, and if there is insufficient support after the workshops, it can result in
more errors and longer time taken for productivity.
Mistake number three: A one-size-fits-all approach
While a one-size-fits-all approach seems to be the most cost-effective manner
of transferring knowledge to new workers, it can be a huge mistake when the
diversity of new recruits is not factored in. Different people learn differently and
ensuring that they learn according to their needs will reap more rewards in the
long run.