Preboarding and onboarding at KI

The correct management of our pre- and onboarding processes can be of great benefit. The new employee’s experience of them must correspond to the image we present as an employer and we must live up to the expectations that were raised during the recruitment process.  

A new employee will have many questions and if we’re to optimise the employee experience we must make sure that these questions are answered. Effective onboarding increases the chances that new employees will settle quickly into their position, feel engaged in and satisfied by their work and want to remain a member of the KI staff for a long time.  

A poorly managed process can make a new employee soon choose to leave the organisation.  

Common process and system support 

In the past, KI’s departments took different approaches to pre- and onboarding and were responsible for their own processes and checklists. Nowadays there is a common process and system support mediated by, above all, Microsoft Dynamics, which makes life easier for managers and HR personnel as well as candidates and new employees. 

The aim has been to quality-assure and structure the process, and to modernise, streamline and simplify it. When circumstance change, such as when the Migration Agency amends its rules, common system support makes it easier to adjust the process for all departments at once. 

Candidate adaptation and automatic mails

Microsoft Dynamics guides HR personnel through each step of the process. The various steps, and thus the information to be sent to the candidates, is adapted to their particular circumstances. For instance: 

• If the candidate is a Swedish or non-Swedish citizen 
• If the candidate is from within or outside the EU 
• If the candidate is able to stay for less than or more than one year
• If the candidate is a researcher, doctoral student or considered for a technical/administrative position
• If the candidate communicates in Swedish or English 

The candidate receives automatic emails based on the different variables. In the preboarding phase,  these emails describe how and when the candidate is to submit the requested documents. The candidate will also receive an inspirational and motivational welcome email from the KI president and relevant head of department before his or her first day at work. 

Once settled, the candidate will receive emails containing important information and instructions. 

The system also supports more detailed and personalised communication with the candidate. There are numerous email templates that can be edited before being sent to the candidate or his/her recruiting manager. 

Recruiting managers receive emails containing, for example: 

• Reminders to write study certificates on the employment of non-EU doctoral students 
• Reminders to book meetings with their new employee and other practical matters 
• Information and instructions relating to the personal introduction meeting 
• Information that the new employee is on a probationary contract and instructions on how to act 

Depending on the department’s own routines, the manager or administrative officer will receive 

• Editable templates for the introduction schedule to be filled in and sent to the employee
• A checklist of activities that are to be completed before the employee’s first day, such as preparing access passes and workspace.