The Organizational Network Fieldbook: Best Practices, Techniques, and Exercises to Drive Organizational Innovation and Performance

24.1. An Onboarding Challenge

Successful onboarding always requires careful planning, but some situations present even greater challenges for new hires than others. We found this two years ago, when we made the transition from a hierarchical organizational structure, in which engineers were assigned to programs for long periods, to a more agile matrixed structure, in which engineers provide guidance to multiple programs for limited periods. Our engineers essentially became consultants—a big change for them. Instead of working in a lab as hands-on problem solvers, designing and building equipment, they had to interact directly with clients (military and civilian program managers with diverse backgrounds and missions).

This put a new emphasis ...