November 2021 saw 4.5 million Americans resign from their jobs; a peak month of the so-called “Great Resignation” and the largest figure since 2000. As with the broader economy, architecture firms face an ongoing battle to attract and retain staff, a battle which existed before the pandemic and has only gathered further steam throughout the past two years, as we recently explored in a feature article on the topic.

As an anticipated optimism and economic activity returns to the US design and construction sector throughout 2022, the need for architecture to attract and retain staff will only magnify. "Since demand for design projects has been healthy over the last year, recruiting architectural staff to keep up with project workloads has been a growing concern for firms," warned AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker last month. "Architecture is one of the few industries where payrolls have already surpassed their pre-pandemic high, so meeting future staffing needs is a challenge that most firms will need to confront."

The first likely hurdle in meeting the needs of a future colleague is onboarding. One pre-pandemic report by analytics firm Brandon Hall Group noted that organizations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%. While the pandemic may have added further layers of complexity to onboarding processes, particularly the mass-adoption of remote work, many of the principles to effectively welcoming and guiding new colleagues transcend digital or physical interfaces.

“Your ultimate goal is to help new employees build social capital — networks of people and information which help them learn, grow and get their work done,” writes Tracy Brower, a sociologist and author of The Secrets to Happiness at Work. In a Forbes article on the topic during the pandemic, Brower stresses the importance of providing clear, explicit information on a firm’s operations, even if they may seem second-nature.

“Every organization is full of unwritten rules,” Brower notes. “When everyone isn’t in the office, however, it can be especially challenging to figure out the nuances and assumptions behind the behaviors found within an organization’s culture.” Brower recommends sharing key but explicit information about the company’s structure, roles, and hierarchies, and what is expected of staff in meetings, presentations, and thinking sessions.

Of particular relevance to architects is Brower’s advice on access to tools and technology. With a typical architect’s role requiring access to laptops, plotters, several software packages, project management systems, and general company servers when working remotely, Brower stresses the importance of providing such resources immediately during onboarding to ensure new employees feel welcomed.

Steady but purposeful development is also critical for Brower. This begins with training and orientation sessions which are not only available but also engaging and not overbearing. To further aid a new colleague’s understanding of their roles and milestones, Brower recommends establishing development goals for 30, 60, and 90-day intervals, as well as assigning meaningful yet proportionate tasks in projects to offer an avenue for new employees eager to prove themselves in their new role.

Ultimately, we’ve found that successful onboarding doesn’t require an overcomplicated playbook.

In addition to Brower’s pandemic-tailored advice, an analytics team at Microsoft focused on employees and onboarding advocates for an “Onboarding Buddy” system after their own pilot study matched 600 new recruits each with an experienced mentor for their first 90 days.

“For new hires, context is a precious commodity,” the team told the Harvard Business Review. “Without it, a new hire will likely struggle to fully understand their role or how to contribute to their team’s success. Onboarding buddies can give the type of context you won’t find in the employee handbook.”

Similar to Brower’s advice, the Microsoft team notes the importance of ensuring a new recruit is actively engaging in live projects but not overburdened in an attempt to justify their new position. “We found the more the onboarding buddy met with the new hire, the greater the new hire’s perception of their own speed to productivity,” the team shared.

“56% of new hires who met with their onboarding buddy at least once in their first 90 days indicated that their buddy helped them to quickly become productive in their role. That percentage increased to 73% for those who met two to three times with their buddy, 86% for those who met four to eight times, and 97% for those who met more than eight times in their first 90 days. Clearly, that additional layer of support is critical to a new hire’s success.”

Most crucially against the backdrop of the Great Resignation, Microsoft’s Onboarding Buddy system has created happier colleagues, with a 23% increase in employee satisfaction over their 90-day onboarding experience versus those who were not assigned an onboarding buddy. “Ultimately, we’ve found that successful onboarding doesn’t require an overcomplicated playbook,” they concluded. “All it takes is a planful manager and a dedicated onboarding buddy to ensure their new hire has a positive and productive first few months on the job.”