Reference no: EM133266938

Case Study: Digital Onboarding at Adobe

The first day of a new job for individuals everywhere represents more than just employment: hope, a new start, a next step, a chosen path, and a better future. Positioning employees for success, new-hire orientation at Adobe-what Adobe calls New Employee Success-has been refined into a holistic experience that familiarizes personnel with critical guidelines, stirs creativity and innovation, as well as garners satisfaction and engagement. To achieve all of these objectives, Adobe conducts new employee orientation using Adobe Connect. At the weekly digital orientation, the company brings employees together to share a common understanding and vision for the company's future. By transforming new-hire orientation from locally facilitated events to a standard, shared virtual experience, Adobe is better supporting its growing workforce by syndicating core cultural themes around values and collaboration more consistently, without sacrificing user experience. Connecting dispersed employees to each other and the orientation experience requires more than compelling content. "Digital content is always evolving and Adobe Connect provides an extensible platform that allows us to plug and play new digital content as it becomes available. This is especially true of video media," says Justin Mass, head of digital learning innovation at Adobe. "Adobe Connect gives us more flexibility and creativity with how we present information and ideas, as well as continually evolve our digital learning experiences." Creating an engaging experience online is challenging without the right toolset, since it is easy for people to get distracted with day-to-day business happening around them. By empowering presenters to reach participants one to one, they can maintain focus on the discussion. Adobe Connect is also unique in offering presenters complete control over the user interface and tools. For example, facilitators can activate several chat pods to be running side by side to compare and contrast ideas. Activities, games, and other types of interactivity can be woven throughout the session, so participants are helping shape the content and experience itself, making sessions truly immersive. "To deliver virtual learning at scale, facilitators need to find different ways to draw on the experience and insights of participants," says Mass. "Adobe Connect transforms participants into co-presenters because of the ease of use and unique tools that facilitate interactivity, helping to share knowledge across the organization in a way previously unimagined."

Question 1: Identify five best practices from Adobe leveraging digital technology to provide the best possible onboarding experience to its global workforce.

Question 2: What are the potential limitations of the digital technologies embedded in these best practices?

Question 3: How transferable are these best practices to other geographies, industries, and organisations?

Question 4: What kind of learning and work environment do these best practices require to be successful?