Onboarding på distans - En kvalitativ studie om nyanställdas arbetstillfredsställelse av onboarding på distans

Abstract

The study aims to investigate onboarding when taking place remotely from the perspective of new employees and relate their experiences to job satisfaction. A qualitative method was applied with semi-structured interviews for data collection with eight employees in different industries. The respondents' industry affiliation consisted of HR work, sales, customer service and marketing. Common to the respondents was that they started their employment during the Covid-19 pandemic and have carried out their onboarding remotely. The interview answers were coded and categorized thematically through thematic analysis and resulted in three main themes: The importance of structure, To belong to and become part of the organization and Collegial and managerial support. The study's theoretical frame of reference consisted mainly of Herzberg's motivation theory, Bauer's model for onboarding and Scott's framework for onboarding taking place remotely. The respondents gave varied and detailed answers on how their onboarding was related to job satisfaction. Results of the study show that a predominant part of the respondents had a positive experience of onboarding remotely. The structure of the onboarding and social support from both colleagues and managers proved to be the main factors for the experience of job satisfaction. The respondents with a negative experience of onboarding remotely described lower job satisfaction with a lack of both structure and social support as well as the difficulty of belonging and becoming part of the organization. For successful remote onboarding, virtual tools were important for the possibility of effective socialization. The virtual tools promoted relationship building through contact with both manager and colleagues and facilitated the opportunity for help. The interview results revealed the importance of the individual's own role during an onboarding taking place remotely. The new employee had to take responsibility and initiative to get into their work role and be socialized into the organization.