Building a Research Onboarding Program in a Pediatric Hospital: Filling the Orientation Gap with Onboarding and Just-in-Time Education

An onboarding program is a powerful tool to welcome new employees and support their productivity. Children's Mercy Hospital created a systematic Research Faculty Onboarding Program (RFOP) to engage new research faculty from their first day with the hospital and to shorten the startup time to productivity. Surveys and interviews indicated that onboarding has provided new faculty with a sense of community with the larger organization. The RFOP has four aims: 1) to increase new researcher productivity, 2) to improve retention rates of new faculty by helping them become involved and connected with the organization, 3) to provide audience-specific, in-depth, timely information that is useful and memorable, and 4) to reduce redundant conversations while guaranteeing the delivery of high-quality, consistent, and accurate information. Prior to their start date, faculty receive a web survey designed to communicate the scope of their research and immediate logistical needs. Based on this information, faculty receive personalized quick-start guides, crucial introductions, and logistical setup within their first 10 days. Finally, the program includes a Triage Unit to provide just-in-time training as faculty set up their first research projects. This structured Research Faculty Onboarding Program is competency-based through mentorship and classroom-setting lectures. Keywords: Employee Satisfaction, New Employees, Best Practices
Introduction Expectations of excellence and productivity in academic medical centers can be challenging for new research faculty as they struggle to make sense of their new environment (Birden, 2017; Goldschmidt, [...]