Creating a Framework for Onboarding New Professors Within Higher Education
Kaarni, Mari (2021)
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021061015561
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021061015561
Tiivistelmä
The objective of this thesis development work was to create an onboarding framework to integrate new professors to the case organization smoother and faster than before, leading to productiveness early on and retention in the long run. From recent mapping, it was realized that professor onboarding lacked systematic and uniform practices throughout this higher education institution. It was in the interest of the institution’s leadership to develop those practices since in this research environment professors are key employees and typically holding a leadership role.
Development work started with mapping the current situation of professor onboarding in the case organization. This gave insight into the existing process and its challenges. Mapping was done by interviewing the case organization’s professors on their recent onboarding experiences and interviewing those responsible for onboarding the new professors. The development work was done utilizing the service design Double Diamond framework. A customer journey map was created of the professor onboarding process and existing challenges were solved together with professor onboarding stakeholders in workshops. Combining the resolutions from the workshops and the theoretical background introduced in this thesis together with recent research articles, the new onboarding framework was formed. Finally, the newly created framework was presented to some of the professors at the case organization for feedback.
The thesis relied upon the following theoretical concepts: organizational socialization and uncertainty reduction theory. Both related closely to the theme of onboarding. The concept of organizational socialization gets into the details of the best practices when integrating a new person to a new facility and community. Uncertainty reduction theory explains how lowering a newcomer’s anxiety can lead to better experience and success at work. These two concepts, backed up with findings from recent research articles, acted as support pillars for decision-making through the development work of creating the professor onboarding framework.
The newly created professor onboarding framework became a visualization of its components. Each step and component is described carefully in the thesis. The new framework is applicable to all new professors with the possibility to personalize it to a newcomer’s individual needs. The framework brings insight to the onboarding process for both to the newcomer and to the stakeholders responsible for onboarding. The development work and its results are believed to be applicable to other higher education institutions, even globally.
Development work started with mapping the current situation of professor onboarding in the case organization. This gave insight into the existing process and its challenges. Mapping was done by interviewing the case organization’s professors on their recent onboarding experiences and interviewing those responsible for onboarding the new professors. The development work was done utilizing the service design Double Diamond framework. A customer journey map was created of the professor onboarding process and existing challenges were solved together with professor onboarding stakeholders in workshops. Combining the resolutions from the workshops and the theoretical background introduced in this thesis together with recent research articles, the new onboarding framework was formed. Finally, the newly created framework was presented to some of the professors at the case organization for feedback.
The thesis relied upon the following theoretical concepts: organizational socialization and uncertainty reduction theory. Both related closely to the theme of onboarding. The concept of organizational socialization gets into the details of the best practices when integrating a new person to a new facility and community. Uncertainty reduction theory explains how lowering a newcomer’s anxiety can lead to better experience and success at work. These two concepts, backed up with findings from recent research articles, acted as support pillars for decision-making through the development work of creating the professor onboarding framework.
The newly created professor onboarding framework became a visualization of its components. Each step and component is described carefully in the thesis. The new framework is applicable to all new professors with the possibility to personalize it to a newcomer’s individual needs. The framework brings insight to the onboarding process for both to the newcomer and to the stakeholders responsible for onboarding. The development work and its results are believed to be applicable to other higher education institutions, even globally.