Back to School with Joyce Knight: YES Prep’s Employee Onboarding Process

All Onboard

In this episode of the "All Onboard" podcast, host Thomas Kunjappu speaks with Joyce Knight, Director of Talent Strategy at YES Prep Public Schools, about their innovative approaches to employee onboarding. Joyce shares her unique perspective gained from HR roles in education, media, and healthcare, and how these experiences have shaped her strategies at YES Prep. She emphasizes the importance of creating a tailored employee onboarding process that caters to the diverse needs of instructional and non-instructional hires, ensuring each new employee feels welcomed and supported from day one.

Joyce delves into the specifics of YES Prep's employee onboarding program, highlighting the balance between centralized and decentralized approaches. For instructional hires, the onboarding journey is customized based on whether they are new to teaching or just new to the organization. This includes a mix of training sessions, campus culture immersion, and mentorship. Joyce also discusses the challenges of onboarding mid-year hires and the steps YES Prep is taking to ensure a consistent and engaging onboarding experience regardless of the start date. This includes developing a new hire onboarding checklist and utilizing employee onboarding tools to streamline the process.

Throughout the conversation, Joyce underscores the value of feedback in refining the onboarding process. She shares how YES Prep conducts focus groups and new hire onboarding surveys to gather insights and continuously improve their employee onboarding system. Joyce also highlights the importance of company-wide events, such as Senior Signing Day and the annual kickoff, in fostering a strong organizational culture and helping new employees integrate seamlessly. By leveraging these strategies and best practices, YES Prep aims to create one of the best employee onboarding experiences in the education sector.

For those looking to enhance their own onboarding programs, Joyce offers practical advice on the importance of listening to employees and involving diverse voices in the onboarding process.