Preboarding, Orientation, and Onboarding of New Pharmacy Faculty During a Global Pandemic

Keywords: COVID-19, faculty, tripartite mission, mentoring, career development INTRODUCTION Recruitment of new faculty requires a significant investment of time, effort, and money, so it is important to set up new faculty for short- and long-term success in their new role.1 One way to do this is to have new faculty participate in a formal onboarding process as it can increase the retention rate among new employees by 69%.1,2 In addition to increasing retention, a formal onboarding program can help new hires reach productivity two months earlier than nonparticipants.3,4 This is an important outcome as the first 90 days are a crucial time period for new hires to become functional, engaged, integrated, focused, and productive.5 Onboarding is the process of assimilating new employees into an organization, including facilitating relationship formation;clarifying expectations, roles, priorities, and metrics;showing how to access resources;reviewing the organizations' culture, goals, mission, and vision;and providing development opportunities.3 The process begins on a new employees' first day. Because of the gap between the hire and start date in jobs like academia, onboarding programs should include pre-employment onboarding (preboarding) as well.1,3 Orientation is another part of onboarding new pharmacy faculty and is concerned with the administrative aspects of a new job, such as setting up payroll, parking permits, benefits, ID badges, credentialing, and computer access.3 Orientation is an important part of onboarding as it sets the tone for the new employee's transition and shapes their impression of and relationship to the organization.3 Overall, successful onboarding and orientation programs can lead to increased satisfaction and retention of new faculty.1 Under ordinary conditions it is important for a school to have a formal onboarding process in place, but during a global pandemic it is crucial. While some new faculty may want to move early to unpack and explore their new town, relocating during COVID-19 may require quarantining upon arrival and adjusting timelines. Because of social distancing and decreased gatherings, new faculty may have limited opportunities to meet new people in their community. The orientation mentor can also assist new faculty on their first day of work by helping them to complete required paperwork (eg, benefits, timesheets, payroll, and HR training);acquire an employee ID badge;gain office, building, and practice site keys or access cards;identify internet technology (IT) support for secure, encrypted, WiFi and on-and-off campus network connections;access library and virtual private networks (VPNs);secure computer passwords, equipment, supplies, and parking permits;and obtain and set up an office.8 The orientation mentor can also help new faculty with completing credentialing paperwork necessary to acquire practice site privileges. An onboarding mentor can serve as a "sponsor" whose job it is to facilitate introductions by connecting, advocating, and using their influence to make recommendations.11 Onboarding mentors should serve as a bridge for early relationship formation and formally introduce the new faculty member to faculty, staff, and students to decrease the guesswork behind "the new person" in the building.

Fulfilling the Tripartite Mission During a Pandemic.

This commentary examines the challenges pharmacy faculty members have faced while working to fulfill their school's tripartite mission of teaching, research, and service during the coronavirus identified in 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It also outlines considerations that need to be made before moving forward regarding communication, collaboration, and culture. The pandemic has created opportunities for pharmacy educators to take instructional risks and attempt new didactic and experiential teaching methods and assessment strategies. Working remotely has not only altered pharmacy education, but also scholarship and service. Conducting a broad range of collaborations with accelerated timelines to address COVID-19 has in some instances forged new relationships both between and within universities and focused faculty members on grantsmanship and writing. Faculty governance and administrative leadership have been focused on solving challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in a collaborative, transparent approach guided by faculty bylaws. Programs have found ways to use these changes to their advantage while advancing the mission of the Academy, which can contribute to changing the culture of how we interact and care about each other with the hope that the positive changes made have an enduring and meaningful impact for years to come.