Discovery report: tips and examples for integrating it effectively into your onboarding process
The discovery report is a tool that companies are increasingly using to enhance the employee experience and improve the employer brand. If it is well structured and integrated into the onboarding process, it can enable companies to adopt a continuous improvement approach. This article explores the best practices associated with the discovery report and provides an example of a questionnaire that can be used to structure the discovery report for new employees.
The aim is to turn this report into a key stage in your onboarding process.
What is the company discovery report?
The discovery report invites new employees to share their first impressions of various aspects of the company, such as management, internal processes, the business, the business model and relations between colleagues. Generally, this report is written after a few weeks’ induction, giving the newcomer dedicated time to formulate and share their thoughts.
Good practice for an effective discovery report
To ensure that the discovery report is beneficial, it is crucial to follow certain best practices:
Encourage transparency and trust
To obtain genuine feedback, employees need to understand that their feedback will not be used against them. The risk otherwise is that they will censor themselves. You would then end up with smooth and completely unusable discovery reports! So you need to reassure them about the confidentiality and use of their feedback.
Analyse and use feedback objectively
Use data analysis tools to sort and summarise feedback. Classify feedback by theme and frequency to determine priorities for action. For example, if several discovery reports indicate a recurring problem with a certain internal process, the company can set up a working group to analyse this feedback and propose concrete solutions.
In addition to onboarding, the depth of analytics functionality is a decisive criterion in the choice of an HRIS, whatever the HR process under consideration (recruitment, training, interviews, etc.).
Provide a framework, but leave room for freedom
Employees must not feel restricted. An overly rigid framework consisting essentially of closed answers or multiple-choice questions will have counter-productive effects. At the opposite end of the spectrum, not giving new employees any guidance at all on what is expected of them can be just as damaging. It may therefore be worth providing a general template containing open and closed questions, while encouraging employees to add free sections for observations or suggestions not covered by the template.
The usefulness of the discovery report in the onboarding process
By following these best practices, the HR department can ensure that its discovery reports are both useful and effective. The positive effects on the onboarding process are numerous:
Early identification of problems and opportunities
New arrivals can bring a fresh perspective to existing practices, helping to identify bottlenecks or opportunities for improvement. To do this, make sure you regularly analyse discovery reports to identify recurring problems. Put in place an action plan to address the problems identified and communicate the changes made to employees to show the impact of their feedback.
Reinforce the commitment and motivation of new employees
By allowing them to express themselves, the company shows that it values their opinions, which can increase their sense of belonging right from the start of their induction. To maximise employee involvement, however, it is important to ensure regular monitoring and reporting of the actions taken in response to employee feedback. Otherwise, the boomerang effect could well be the result! Your initial good intentions could backfire and damage your employee experience.
Nurture a culture of continuous improvement and innovation
By encouraging feedback, the company positions itself as a dynamic player open to change. To take this a step further, you can create initiatives where the ideas gathered from feedback reports can be tested and implemented across a team or department. For example, organise internal hackathons or brainstorming workshops to develop the ideas proposed by new arrivals.
Example of a discovery report outline
To help HR Managers design an discovery report questionnaire, here’s a sample structure. We have identified the 12 key questions to ask your new recruits. Be careful, however, to adapt this template to the context of your company.
Introduction:
- How did you experience your integration into our company?
- What aspects of onboarding did you particularly appreciate?
Management and professional relations:
- How would you describe the management style of your team?
- Did you find it difficult to establish relationships with your colleagues?
Processes and organisation:
- Which internal processes do you find well structured and efficient?
- Are there any procedures that you find complicated or unnecessary?
Activity and tasks:
- How do you perceive your current responsibilities and tasks?
- Do you have any suggestions for improving the efficiency of your job?
Innovation and continuous improvement:
- Do you have any ideas for improving the company’s products/services?
- What innovations do you think the company should explore?
Conclusion:
- Do you have any other comments or suggestions?
- On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate your overall experience so far?
Note | The discovery report is a strategic tool for companies wishing to improve their onboarding process and offer a quality employee experience from the very first months. By following best practice and encouraging employees to express themselves freely, HR Managers can turn this process into a lever for growth and continuous improvement.