I remember my Goddaughter’s baby dedication like it happened yesterday. From what I’d seen from others I figured being a Godparent was going to be a big time “figure head” responsibility. Show up at a few birthday parties, be the RSVP on the sweet sixteen party invites and have a seat of honor at her wedding. How hard could that be?

Alyssa’s parents decided on a baby dedication ceremony at their church in New Jersey when she was about 3 months old. Her Godfather and I fussed with the dresses she would wear to the church and during the ceremony. Family and friends were there dressed with cameras ready.

As the Bishop began the ceremony, the baby began to wind up a cry that carried across the church. Of course, her parents, Godfather and I figured she would calm down since were all standing there. Boy, were we wrong! I eventually took her from the church mother (what choice did I have with all the frowns in the room?). The sweet sacred ceremony we anticipated sounded more like a baby exorcism. I learned something valuable from this experience.  Not only did I realize the responsibility that I was taking on as I Godparent I also realized we were “onboarding” her into our religious practices.

When I began my Human Resources work, I kept this in mind for every employee orientation I conducted. It was important that each onboarding wasn’t a rote experience for the employee; how the onboarding was managed could make a great deal of difference in the employee’s perspective about their work and the company. The understanding each employee has about the company, their total benefits package and expectations about their conduct rest a lot in the onboarding they receive. In addition, how each employee blends into the culture and how they feel about being their authentic selves at work rests a great deal in the follow up to the onboarding. Follow up can involve formal or informal mentoring/buddy systems and the all-important meeting (after 90 days) with the employee to make sure he or she understands their duties and has what they need to do their best work. There were many stakeholders involved with the baby dedication ceremony and there are many stakeholders involved in the successful onboarding of employees. If onboarding is done correctly, the hiring department and the business are enhanced and the new hire will thrive professionally. One of the most detrimental things to any business is to have a new hire that is not clear on their job, the culture or about his/her total compensation package.

When Alyssa was a young adult, she mentioned something about babies who sometimes cry out in church and how distracting that could be. I laughed and told her about her baby dedication – then we both laughed!

Lesson learned.