Onboarding Practices for Cross- Cultural Integration : A Study on New Employees’ Experiences at Company X

Abstract

Purpose – This study is on improving onboarding processes to foster better cross-cultural integration within Company X, a financial technology company headquartered in Europe. Any individual at this organisation goes through the same onboarding process, regardless of their cultural background. Thus, research aims to improve onboarding by adding cultural sensitivity, which is lacking. Design/methodology/approach – Methods of study were qualitative. Surveyed new Company X recruits on their onboarding experiences using open-ended surveys. Fifteen people responded to the surveys. used Themetic Analysis (TA) developed by Braun and Clarke to examine the data. Findings – Analysis reveals that Company X's onboarding procedure fails to address cultural differences. Thus, personal from diverse cultural background may struggle with generic onboarding due to communication styles, expectations, and cultural conventions. Cultural awareness and sensitivity are essential for inclusive and supportive onboarding of different personnel. Practical implications – Based on obtained results, this study recommends that tailored onboarding strategies like celebrating cultural diversity, implementing a buddy system , providing multicultural awareness training, and organising welcome events can improve the employees onboarding experience who have diverse cultural backgrounds. Scope and expected outcomes – The study focusses on improving onboarding processes of a multicultural company. It addresses an issue in the company’s current onboarding process: less cultural sensitivity. The study highlights how much important the cultural sensitiveness is to a company’s onboarding process and suggests recommendations to tailor onboarding strategies in a more beneficial way to employees from different cultures. Originality/value – This study addresses a problem inside this company's scenario. The conceptual framework established in the study can be utilised by any firm aiming to improve its onboarding process to be more culturally sensitive.