A “Welcoming New HR” Workgroup arose out of the HR Design Community of Practice to develop mechanisms for strengthening our welcome of new human resources employees to UW–Madison. The goals of this initiative include (1) fostering early adoption of an HR network for new HR employees on campus; (2) facilitating learning of HR-specific system access and knowledge; and (3) encouraging ongoing communication and collaboration amongst HR across campus. The campus’ decentralized structure has traditionally posed challenges to achieving these goals.
The workgroup has been meeting over the last few months to develop the following initiatives:
- Developing and offering a formal orientation for new HR employees: this would follow the monthly UW–Madison New Employee Orientation (NEO) and be held at the Office of Human Resources (OHR) at 21 N. Park. The session would offer welcome from OHR leadership; introduce new HR professionals to their Workforce Relations, Compensation & Titling, and Talent, Engagement & Recruitment contacts in OHR; and help to provide context for getting started with various HR resources at UW.
- Building a resources website within the existing HR Communities of Practice website for new and existing HR professionals at UW.
- Including on this website resources such as an HR glossary, HR system access links, a ‘Top 10 HR Sites’ list, and a suggested training map that HR departments can use during onboarding.
- Developing an HR mentoring program that would pair new HR professionals on campus with mentors from similar sized departments/ divisions to assist with acclimation, networking, and early professional development.
If you are interested in sharing ideas with the workgroup and/or serving on the workgroup, please email hr_communities_of_practice@ohr.wisc.edu.