Fostering and Supporting Joint Research Initiatives

Did you know that existing research shows that companies who demonstrate positive onboarding see an 82% improvement in new hire retention rates and a 70% improvement in productivity? Earlier this year, Digital Nova Scotia was featured (page 28) in Saint Mary's University's Office of Innovation and Community Engagement's (OICE) 2022 Report (which also featured our member Modest Tree - page 12). The feature story focused on Talent Retention in Tech, where our team at DNS worked closely with professor Dr. Debra Gilin and Masters students Haya Bakour, Maddy Blazer, and Jingdi Wu in the Industrial/Organizational Psychology program at Saint Mary’s University. The team led research and collected feedback from industry partners to develop an upcoming onboarding framework and tool, Setup for Success. The final product is designed to layout successful onboarding practices for companies as they manage and retain their talent. The tool will be useful not only to tech companies but also to various industries looking to enhance their existing onboarding practices. The Saint Mary's University's Office of Innovation and Community Engagement (OICE) facilitates research relationships between Saint Mary’s University and companies, government departments and community organizations. OICE is the initial point of contact for faculty members and external partners wishing to collaborate. The office assists with finding suitable expertise, contract development, and advising on funding opportunities.

“Retention is one of our sector’s priorities focuses and working with the talented research students at SMU has resulted in the creation of an onboarding framework for new hires that directly targets our industries specific needs. The Setup for Succes tool is currently being piloted by some of our member companies who have shared positive responses, and we look forward to releasing it to our sector as a whole once this phase is complete.” - Wayne Sumarah, CEO of Digital Nova Scotia

Upon the successful completion of the pilot in mid-2022, this free-of-cost onboarding tool will be accessible on our website for tech companies and non-tech companies to drive best-practice when it comes to onboarding. [button link="https://www.smu.ca/flips/OICE-Report-2022/#page=1" label="Read the Full Report"]