Onboarding Navigators
Think back to your first day at UofL. What made you feel welcome? What was challenging?
Oftentimes, we are not able to answer some department specific questions for new employees at New Employee Orientation. Some such questions may be, where do they report to the next day? What is the dress code of their department? This is where an onboarding navigator comes in. An onboarding navigator will help guide and welcome new employees into their department and bridge that transition.
Top tasks of an onboarding navigator
Onboarding navigators will provide a warm welcome to the new hire at New Employee Orientation and set the tone for the departmental welcome.
Answer questions on the best spot to park near your office, dress code, business hours and other aspects of your office culture to prepare for their second day.
Navigators will arrange to meet the new hire at the beginning of their second day to bridge the transition from orientation to department. Your new colleague will be relieved to see a friendly face!
Introduce the new hire to their supervisor and co-workers in the department. Give them a tour of the facility. Where do they find the restrooms? Coffee? Fridge?
Many new hires are new to Louisville, or at least to the area they will be working, so this is a great opportunity for a navigator to share nearby restaurant recommendations, favorite hiking trails and so on.
See what it means to be an onboarding navigator.
Onboarding navigator checklist
- Use this checklist as a helpful guide as you meet with your new employee.
Frequently asked questions
The hiring department selects the best person to be their new hire's onboarding navigator.
Ideally, this person a peer of the new employee and located in the same or similar department. This way, they can answer important questions related to the new employee’s department.
Not necessarily! A navigator should be selected based on the new employee’s location, start date and a potential navigator’s availability. They should also be someone who is familiar with the new employees work area. This may be possible for smaller departments to always be the same person. However, for larger units, it should vary.
During the hire process in Workday, you will be prompted to add a mentor/onboarding navigator. This gives you the option to assign someone to the role. They will receive a notification in Workday as well.
The Employee Success Center will email an invitation to the onboarding navigators listed on the roster we receive from Human Resources each week.
Not at all! As we say, being an onboarding navigator is “BIG impact. Little commitment”. Here are the main commitments we ask of our navigators.
- Attend New Employee Orientation lunch on Belknap campus (free parking available!). The time and location will be emailed to you the week prior. If you have not received the information the Friday prior, please email employeesuccess@louisville.edu
- Meet the new employee the morning of their second day – the FIRST in your department and help guide them to their workspace and meet their supervisor and new colleagues.
- Answer general onboarding questions as needed or refer them to the right person/area.
We would say yes! Just because they may be familiar with your office doesn’t mean they know all the ropes of being a new employee, and it might make them LESS likely to reach out for assistance. This onboarding navigator can be a great assistant for their transition to their new role.
For any questions about onboarding navigators, email us at employeesuccess@louisville.edu.
