Can You All See My Screen? An analysis of virtual onboarding due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Summer Interns and Recently Graduated New Hires

Abstract

This research was conducted to examine the relationship between Generation Z Recently Graduated New Hires (RGNHs), Summer Interns (SIs) and their onboarding in order to determine organizational connectedness during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research examined a sample population of RGNHs and SIs to determine if they could be attached to an organization’s mission and vision through a virtual onboarding scenario. Attachment to mission and vision in the literature review was determined to be the main factor connecting new hires to an organization, leading to a lower attrition rate and increased productivity. However, the research examined in the literature review was not specifically conducted on the Generation Z workforce, nor were these studies concerning virtual onboarding. They also did not take the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration. After determining whether new hires within this sample population were connected to company mission and vision, the research ascertained how this sense of connectedness was created. Finally, the research examined whether connection to mission and vision would lead to a feeling of willingness to return for Generation Z new hires. Through a qualitative and quantitative analysis methodology, prominent themes from the literature review such as mentorship, autonomy, sufficient meeting time with managers/direct supervisors and with the new hire cohort, were analyzed to determine what new hires within this sample population need in order to feel connected to an organization at large. This research attempted to take into consideration the differences between industries, divisions and functions in determining what is necessary for the specific nuances in onboarding scenarios. Due to limited literature review on industry specific onboarding scenarios, these specific nuances were only found for Engineering and Academia. The research found that that connectedness to mission and vision has a moderate correlation with willingness to return for RGNHs and SIs. Connectedness to mission and vision is made up of connectedness to teams and others within the cohort. Mentorship and increased understanding also lead to connectedness to the organization and willingness to return for the Generation Z new hire. This research constructed that there is an urgent need for future research on virtual onboarding for various populations of new hires to improve organizational connectedness and willingness to return.