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Navigating professional transitions can be a whirlwind of emotions for employees, whether starting a new job or leaving a company. Onboarding is essential for creating a sense of belonging and shared purpose that extends throughout a new hires tenure. And this vital initiative should be about more than following a checklist. Onboarding provides an opportunity to make your newest colleagues feel genuinely connected to the team and confident in their contributions. This ensures they can thrive from day one until their final day with the company. The importance of onboarding The first 90 days are a crucial time for employees to establish themselves and for leadership to set the tone. Its a great time to encourage new hires to envision their contributions to the businesss success. When leadership actively engages and guides new team members through this process, it fosters a sense of alignment with the organizations goals. This transforms onboarding from a routine task into a long-term motivation, engagement, and loyalty initiative. Yet too often, companies miss the mark. A recent Gallup poll found that only 12% of workers strongly agreed that their firm excelled in onboarding them, and just 29% said they felt supported and fully prepared to start their role. These numbers reveal a huge opportunity gap. When companies approach onboarding as a mere formality, new employees can feel disconnected and disengaged, which leads to costly turnover and lost potential. Offboarding is another aspect of the employee experience that companies overlook. But its worth noting that how we support workers as they leave is just as important as onboarding them. A Gallup poll of 150 Fortune 500 CHROs found that just 10% considered their employer highly effective in managing departures. Leaders play a vital role in connecting employees to their colleagues and organization, especially during transitional seasons. Psychological safety invites belonging Thoughtfully designed onboarding and offboarding processes foster a supportive environment where the company makes new hires and seasoned veterans feel valued. Psychological safety is a critical element of this. It ensures employees can express themselvesask questions, offer ideas, or admit mistakeswithout fear of negative consequences. When managers promote this sense of security from day one, they lay the groundwork for their colleagues to make meaningful contributions to the businesss success throughout their tenure. Inclusion from the start The first three months are critical for new hires to understand their tasks and the companys culture and values. Preboarding and starting onboarding before an employees first day can ease the transition. Simple initiatives like giving a tour, pairing new employees with peers to answer questions, or sharing background materials in advance have a significant impact. By pacing out key details, you allow new hires to adjust in comfortable increments. This ensures that you make them feel supported and included from the start. A community approach to onboarding Onboarding isnt just about bringing our new colleagues up to speed. Its about helping them see themselves as integral team members. When you do this right, onboarding goes beyond basic training and allows new employees to envision the unique impact they can have on the companys success. This sense of ownership and alignment with the businesss values is critical, yet many companies still take a one-size-fits-all approach. Onboarding should be a strategic tool to drive long-term commitment and growth, benefiting both the employee and the company. Creating this connection requires a team efforteveryone has a role in making new team members feel welcomed and valued. Encourage early wins New hires often experience a mix of excitement and anxiety. While they may be eager to demonstrate what they can do, they might also be hesitant about when and how to engage. Empowering new recruits to take ownership of their work by notching early winswhether thats achievable projects or taskscan build confidence quickly. Assigning a familiar project that aligns with their prior experience validates employees contributions from the start and is a great way to ease them into their new role. An early win is more than a confidence boost. It creates a connection with the broader team, allowing new employees to find their footing during those pivotal first three months and beyond. Shape meaningful departures How a business approaches an employees departure reveals more about the leadership culture than it does about the individual who is leaving. A respectful and supportive offboarding process should be an extension of the sense of belonging that an employee cultivates throughout their career with the company. However, offboarding processes often lack care. An inclusive offboarding process aims to gather feedback, enhance retention, and build trust among current and future employees. Effective exit interviews allow departing workers to express their thoughts, helping organizations understand the employees reasons for leaving. When former employees feel appreciated, they advocate for the company, promoting a positive reputation in the job market. A valuable exit experience reflects the organization’s values and leaves a lasting impression, strengthening a sense of belonging for the departing employee and current and future team members. Foster cohesion through belonging Taking a team-based approach to onboarding deepens everyone’s sense of belonging. It fosters collaboration and empathy while bolstering cohesion and satisfaction. By working together to integrate new hires, existing team members can refine their leadership skills. This approach helps dismantle the hypercompetitive tendencies that can become destructive within some workplaces. When new employees feel that they are part of a team that works together, theyre more likely to engage fully and contribute to the company’s long-term success; then, when they are ready to move on, their experiences and insights shape and inform the next generation of talent.
Category:
E-Commerce
Influencers often face more negativity than most people experience in a lifetimeand with that comes a significant mental health toll. Now, a new therapy service has been launched specifically for content creators. CreatorCare, cofounded by digital creator Shira Lazar and backed by Creators 4 Mental Health and Revive Health Therapy, aims to break down both financial and systemic barriers to mental health care. While some creators earn millions of dollars, many struggle to make ends meet. To ensure therapy is accessible to all, CreatorCare offers sliding-scale rates starting at $60, with or without insurance. Launched initially in California, with plans for national expansion, the program provides licensed and associate therapists in person and via telehealth. These professionals specialize in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness-based therapy. With more than 200 million creators worldwide, the mental strain of this profession is often overlooked. Behind the scenes, creators deal with online abuse, constant pressure to stay relevant, and financial instabilitychallenges that rarely receive public sympathy. Discussions around burnout are frequently met with dismissive remarks urging influencers to get a real 9-to-5 job. But the numbers tell a different story. A 2023 Awin & ShareASale Influencer Survey found that nearly 80% of creators reported burnout, and 66% said it directly impacted their mental health. Nearly half rely on alternative income streams to reduce the pressure. Lazar, host of the talk show Whats Trending, is now helping to build a safety net for creators. The creator economy has exploded but the support systems havent kept up, she told Passionfruit. As more Gen Z step into this space professionally, we need to treat it like the real workplace it is. That means sustainable systems not just for monetization, but for mental health, too. Amy Kelly, cofounder of CreatorCare and CEO of Revive Health Therapy, echoed that sentiment: Social media is not just a platformits a recruiter,” she said, noting that 57% of Gen Z teens in the U.S. say they would become influencers if given the chance. Were grooming teens into a digital workforce with proven mental health hazardsthe modern equivalent of sending kids into coal mines without protective gear. CreatorCare isnt the only initiative addressing creators well-being. SAG-AFTRAs new influencer committee aims to expand labor protections, while the National Association of Broadcasters recently launched a Creator Council to amplify creators voices. The Creators Guild of America also released a contract rider to safeguard creators in brand partnerships. Because, yes, content creation is a real job.
Category:
E-Commerce
If someone driving a new version of a Subaru Forester crashes into a cyclist, an airbag will immediately inflate on the hood to help protect the person on the bike. The SUV, which offers the feature only on vehicles sold in Japan, isnt the first Subaru to include an external airbag. The company started including pedestrian protection airbags on its Japanese cars nearly a decade ago. But the brand says the new design is the first in the world intended to also protect cyclists. Its a basic, commonsense idea. Airbags have been proven to be effective to protect the occupants in a vehicle, says Ben Crowther, policy director for America Walks, a nonprofit focused on walkability and safety. And theres plenty of testing to show that the same is true for people outside vehicles. The Foresters hood is also designed to have as few hard parts as possible, and to easily deform to help cushion the impact of a crash. But the bottom edge of the windshield and the pillars that go up to the roof have to stay rigid because theyre part of the frame. When a pedestrian is hit by a car, head injuries are most likely in those placesand thats where Subarus U-shaped airbag can help. In a crash, the cyclist usually ends up higher on the windshield. That’s why the company redesigned its airbag to cover a larger area. The system deploys when sensors detect a certain amount of pressure on the front bumper. The vehicle has a suite of other safety features. When a driver turns on the turn signal at a corner, for example, the headlights light up an area diagonally in front, making it easier to spot pedestrians or cyclists on the road. A set of three cameras and radar offer a wider-angle view than in the brand’s previous cars, so it’s more likely to spot other road users. The vehicle also aims to reduce blind spots in all directions. These are all efforts toward Subaru’s goal to have no traffic deaths involving its cars by 2030. Of course, it’s possible to go even furtherone of the best ways to make vehicles safer is to make them smaller. Beyond car design, infrastructure also obviously matters: With separated bike lanes, for example, a crash is less likely in the first place. Speed limits are critical. If youre a pedestrian who gets hit by a car going 20 mph, one study found that you have a 5% chance of being killed. If the car is going 30 mph, that chance jumps to 45%. At 40 mph, the pedestrians chance of being killed is roughly 80%. (Japan has lower average speed limits than the U.S., along with other policies that support pedestrian safety, and much lower fatality rates for pedestrians and cyclists in traffic accidents.) External airbags aren’t a panacea, but they can help. It’s probably unlikely, though, that they’ll show up in the U.S. anytime soon, especially as automakers are already struggling to deal with increased manufacturing costs because of tariffs. And while the Biden administration was working on safety issues related to vehicle design, it’s not clear what will happen with policy now. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy “has certainly touted safety as something that his U.S. DOT wants to pursue,” Crowther says. “But there’s a lot of mixed messages, particularly through the reducing in staff at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.” The cuts at NHTSA made by the Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year disproportionately affected employees working on vehicle safety, according to reports.
Category:
E-Commerce
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