Factors Affecting Successful Onboarding of New Management Hires: A Special Focus on the Manufacturing Industry in Nairobi

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine factors affecting successful onboarding of new management hires in the manufacturing industry. The specific research objectives were to determine how organizational culture affects the successful onboarding of new management hires; to determine how person-job fit affects successful onboarding of new management hires; and to determine the extent to which mentorship affects successful onboarding of new management hires. The terms onboarding, successful onboarding and socialization were defined to guide us in the reading and understanding of the cha\?ters that followed. The literature review looked at organizational culture and successful onboarding, person-job fit and successful onboarding and mentorship and successful onboarding and critically reviewed information that was available on these concepts, both from books and journals. The research design used was cross sectional. The sampling frame was drawn from the list of members of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance and Kenya Association of Manufacturers. Stratified sampling was used when selecting those elements of the population that would participate in the survey. The data required was collected using questionnaires that were sent to the identified respondents via email. Descriptive statistics like frequencies and percentages were used in the analysis of the data, while the information was presented in table format. The results and findings that were derived from the study's' data analysis were discussed. The findings from the study revealed that most of the respondents agreed that company policies were easily accessible and understandable. Similarly, a good number of respondents agreed that their organizations put all newcomers through the same set of learning experiences. A significant number of the respondents were neutral. On person­ job fit, a many respondents agreed that their roles were important to the organizations mission and vision, and that their skills, knowledge and abilities matched those of the organization. Interestingly, a significant number of respondents were neutral when asked whether they underwent a set training experience specifically designed for newcomers related to their job-skills. 'The study findings also revealed that mentorship positively influenced the employee understanding of roles through observation of their senior colleagues, while a significantly high percentage of the respondents indicated they were neutral on whether they received guidance and support from experienced colleagues on how to perform their role or work. When asked whether they had a formal mentor, a significant number were neutral while an even more significant number disagreed, while when asked whether they had informal mentors, most were neutral and disagreed. Based on the many cases who returned neutral responses about special training during onboarding, the study concluded that many managers may not have received very suitable training during their onboarding. The study also concluded that person job fit affects onboarding. Similarly, the study concluded that the mentorship received by new managers may not have been adequate given their neutral responses. Overall, the study concluded that organizationai"' culture, person job fit and mentorship had a direct incremental relationship with successful onboarding of new management hires in the manufacturing industry in Nairobi. On the basis of the findings and conclusions, the study recommends that new managers in organizations should be thoroughly trained in order for them to perform effectively. The study also recommends that organizations should hire people with the right skills, abilities and attitudes because person-job fit is important for successful onboarding. With regard to mentorship of new managers the study recommends that organizations should develop mentorship programs for the new managers to enable them to learn the ropes of the organization through more experienced seniors.