Start planning early
It is advisable to start planning early, even as soon as the newly hired employee has signed their employment contract.
Familiarize yourself with UiO's onboarding procedures and use NHM's checklist for managers to ensure that you remember everything. Create a folder that only you have access to, where you can store the checklist and eventually other onboarding documents.
Identify a buddy and other key people
The onboarding of new employees is your responsibility, but you can seek help from others. Identify key people who can assist you in planning and implementing the onboarding process, as well as a suitable buddy for the new employee.
Create an onboarding programme
Create an onboarding programme that you send to the new employee together with other relevant information two weeks prior to the start date.
Template
You can use NHM's template and customize it as you wish. The first page provides an overview plan for the new employee's first year. The second page is a programme for the new employee's first two weeks. It is beneficial for the new employee to have a clear, straightforward, and flexible program for the initial two weeks. The onboarding program should be adaptable to the new employee's evolving needs
Section-Specific Onboarding Guidelines
Administration
New administrative employees are individually supported with relevant training and specific courses related to the scope of their position.
Useful information and relevant UiO courses for administrative staff include:
- The Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management (DF?)
- DF?'s online course in financial regulations (in Norwegian)
- UiO courses in
Botanical garden
New employees in the Botanical Garden section receive individual follow-up regarding relevant documented and certified training.
Seasonal employees should read the following checklist and follow the instructions provided. The checklist should be signed at the start of the employment relationship.
The checklist is also relevant for other new employees in the section.
SFS - Department of Research and Collections
The planning and implementation of onboarding in SFS is a collaborative effort involving the research group leader, project manager, and, in the case of onboarding PhD candidates, their primary supervisor.
Newly hired PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers with duty work must enter into a duty work agreement with NHM no later than two months after their start date. The composition of duty work should be varied and within the museum's areas of work. It may be beneficial to include meetings with the sections where the duty work is to be performed in the onboarding programme.
New PhD candidates are required to have
- a welcome meeting with the PhD committee
- and should be invited to meetings with the finance department within six months of their start date.
SKF - Department of Technical and Scientific Conservation
New employees in SKF must be familiarized with the fundamental rules for laboratory and collection operations. Therefore, all new employees in SKF are required to take:
- Course in Safe Handling of Chemicals
- Course in Gas Safety
- Basic laboratory safety course
- First aid course
Training in collection management will be provided by qualified personnel at each individual collection.
Depending on the tasks involved, certain courses may also be required:
- Radiation safety courses
- Competence certificate related to work processes, such as hot work, working at heights, small electrical tools.
- Driver's license: car, lift, truck etc.
UTAD - Department of Exhibitions and Public Services
Planning and implementation of onboarding for new employees in the specialist groups is done in collaboration between the section leader and the group leaders.
UTAD has specific checklists for new employees in the museum shop, museum hosts, and climate hosts.
- Checklist for new employees in the museum shop (in Norwegian only)(restricted access)
- Checklist for new museum hosts (in Norwegian only)(restricted access)
- Checklist for new climate hosts (in Norwegian only)(restricted access)
Depending on the tasks involved, the following UiO-courses may be relevant:
New employees from abroad
New employees from abroad may be unfamiliar with the Norwegian work model, local social norms and practical things that needs to be taken care of. Dealing with the Norwegian system and bureaucracy may be challenging, especially upon arrival. The need for good information and good facilitation, both before and after the researcher arrives, and after they have started in the new position, will be greater than for Norwegian employees.
If you are expecting a new employee from abroad, please refer to NHM's website for information on receiving employees from abroad.
Onboarding of new managers
- Onboarding of new managers at NHM (web page will be published during 2024)
New employee dialogues (onboarding dialogues)
The manager is responsible for conducting a total of five new employee dialogues with the new employee within the first year of their employment. These dialogues are valuable for both the new employee and the manager. They provide an excellent opportunity to get to know each other, clarify expectations, and address any questions or concerns related to the role. These conversations will help establish a shared understanding of the role and the new employee's tasks. They will also facilitate a smooth integration of the new employee into the team and establish a strong basis for future collaboration.
Please follow the template for new employee conversations and make note of follow-up points on the last page of the document. Save the notes in the folder along with the other onboarding documents.
Rounding off and evaluation
It is natural to evaluate the onboarding process in the last onboarding dialogue. Onboarding interviews are replaced by ordinary one-to-one work dialogues.