Based on my previous experience in L&D (working for Boots the Chemists and The Nottingham Building Society), one of the crucial elements of engaging people during onboarding is providing them with a sense of purpose and place in the organisation.

We can help people have a sense of purpose and place by:

• Helping them have direct line of sight from their role to the customer.
• Understanding how their role ‘fits’ into the organisation.
• Understanding the impact of the organisation on the wider world (including environmental impact).
• Getting a sense of the culture/values/ethos of the organisation they have joined.

It’s a lot to cover!

Throughout my career (both as an employee being onboarded myself and as an L&D manager doing the same for others), the most effective tool for growing understanding, driving discussion and generating insightful questions about an organisation has been (in my opinion) the effective use of rich pictures as part of the onboarding process. So much so in fact that I now spend most of my time creating these for organisations!

Rich pictures are images that share complex organisational stories and messages in easy to understand and impactful ways. They can be static images or evolving images that build to create a complete story over the course of the onboarding process.

Used standalone or as part of planned onboarding and induction programme, rich pictures can be shared on-line or in print formats including posters, murals, large format displays and interactive business games.

Rich pictures can be shared before an employee joins an organisation as a pre-orientation tool or during the onboarding process itself once they have joined the organisation.

RICH PICTURES ARE ALSO IDEAL FOR VISUALISING, COMMUNICATING AND ENGAGING PEOPLE WITH THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS:

• Organisational / Business Vision
• Organisational / Business Strategy
• Culture and Values
• Transformation and Change
• Health & Safety and Regulatory Compliance

I’m very happy to have a further conversation about the use of rich pictures in the onboarding process if that would be helpful. Feel free to contact me or visit www.crackerjackvisualthinking.com to find out more about our work.

John