The start of the school year is filled with energy, optimism, and intention-setting for everyone, and especially for new staff who will teach and lead alongside us this fall. The excitement and rush of a new year are terrific moments to engage new staff positively, but can also create special challenges for focused support that have to be addressed if we want to retain as well as onboard these colleagues.
As you prepare for new staff members, three mindset shifts can give the onboarding process fresh intentionality and purpose.
Onboarding Goes Beyond Orientation
Effective onboarding is an ongoing process that takes place over an extended period of time. Though onboarding can include aspects of orientation and training, it goes well beyond that.
Onboarding is defined as the action or process of integrating a new employee into an organization. In these times of teacher shortages and retention challenges, it is crucial that onboarding not only prepares new staff for work success but also creates a sense of belonging which can improve retention.
Consider the following questions as you design onboarding to actively engage new staff in the daily practices of your school or district.
Three Questions to Shift Onboarding Beyond Orientation:
- How might we learn of the expertise that new staff brings to the work and share the expertise that already exists with them?
- What structures might we put in place to integrate new staff members into the culture of our school/district by networking our practice?
- How might we build a sense of ownership and mutual responsibility for learning design and outcomes?
How your team chooses to onboard staff sets the pace and tone for the rest of the school year for not only new team members but also for all those who interact with them. While there are a number of ideas and tools for onboarding, at the end of the day, small shifts in onboarding can add up to large impacts on staff success, retention, and belonging.
What mindsets are you shifting this school year?
Connect with Mira Education to jumpstart your onboarding practices. Let’s reimagine onboarding together.
For P20 education organizations seeking solutions to complex challenges, Mira Education is a proven design and implementation partner that applies a unique collective leadership approach to sustainable systems change to positively impact leading and learning.
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