DEIJ Introduction Series: Ethical Onboarding

The foundations of ethical and moral determination are unique to each person, community, and organization. While ethics may seem implicit or part of a “secret ingredient” for an organization, bringing conversations about ethics into the light is crucial. Equity Labs encourages organizations to use the lens of their ethics to examine different practices and processes. When it comes to introducing and maintaining ethics for an organization, onboarding is a likely place to begin. Implementing an ethical onboarding strategy can model the kind of behavior the company wants to see long term and ensure new and long-time employees are getting what they need.   

1. Central to designing or updating any organizational practice or process is to ask if it is in alignment with the company’s values and ethics. When it comes to onboarding, it will be critical to consider how an organization wants to frame itself to the new employee AND what opportunities are present for the employee do to the same. Onboarding can and should be reciprocal.  

2. Another component to consider in ethical onboarding is how the time is used. Consider giving equal time to training on:  

   1. Operational systems like time tracking or email use 

   2. Familiarizing new employees with company culture and meeting new team members (get-to-know you strategies based on the employee’s needs or personal style) 

   3. Reviewing (with patience) the entire employee handbook to ensure the new employee understands all the pathways for self-advocacy and change-making within the organization 

By giving equal time on each of the examples above, it can demonstrate an equitable and ethical approach where the employee’s belonging and relationships are just as important as their operational skills.  

Resources 

Building an Ethical Company (hbr.org)  

Interested in building an ethical and equitable onboarding process? Reach out about our Policy, Procedure, and Program Review Consulting Package.