Career transitions don’t start or end with a job offer.
One of our founders, Maia Daniels, learned this first-hand during the pandemic. Maia found it frustrating to “work the building” to meet colleagues at her new job when there was barely anyone in the building. She worked with human resources at her new employer to create a cohort of pandemic joiners to support one another in networking and communicating with their new teams.
Our other founder, Bob Schless, runs a recruiting firm and noticed similar challenges with candidates he was placing during the pandemic.
Maia and Bob teamed up to create Ascend Onboard which supports professionals at three critical moments:
• Transitioning out during restructuring
• Navigating time between roles
• Stepping into new or redefined positions
Ascend Onboard’s cohort-based programs help people regain clarity, confidence, and momentum—while helping organizations lead change with credibility and care. Our workshops teach the skills that will let employees—like the tree in our logo—bend and adapt to career transitions in an ever-changing work environment.
Ascend Onboard runs workshops to help employers onboard professionals in transition and retain top talent.
Ascend Onboard helps experienced professionals navigate career transitions — exiting roles, moving through disruption, or stepping into new chapters. We provide your employees with the tools to accelerate onboarding during career transitions. We offer workshops with six virtual meetings for cohorts of up to 8 employees. We help employees in transition learn the tools to connect with their new colleagues. Sessions are facilitated by career coaches, seasoned executives-turned-academics, and other professionals with experience advising candidates on work transitions.
Launched in the spring of 2022, Offsite Onboard (d/b/a Ascend Onboard) has successfully piloted this concept with multiple organizations. Surveys of initial pilot participants indicate that 100 percent of them felt the workshop was a valuable use of their time.
Workshop Topics
Week 1
The New Reality
Introductions and review of guidelines to create a trusting environment
Week 2
The Culture Compass
Building your network to facilitate success and gain awareness of your company culture
Week 3
New Rules of Communication
Communicating effectively in a hybrid work environment
Week 4
Permission to Onboard
Setting goals and best practices for constructive feedback with your boss
Week 5
Adapt and Advance
Training on how to build resilience
Week 6
Maintaining Gains
Tips for productivity and conclusion
Facilitators
Chappell Marmon is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in helping individuals navigate relationship challenges and finding their way through life transitions. She facilitates the introductory session on creating the conditions for psychological safety by building trust among the cohort. She lives and works in Boulder, Colorado.
Sue Mann is a Certified Executive and Leadership Coach who partners with organizations and people to deliver results when the stakes are high, and the challenges many. She teaches the evidence-based Community Resiliency Model® to help individuals and teams achieve greater leadership effectiveness. She is based in Ithaca, New York.
Raj Purohit is an international policy lawyer and academic turned businessperson who runs several start-up enterprises. Raj also maintains a career coaching practice where he specializes on goal setting and increasing productivity, the subjects of the two sessions he leads. A native of the UK, he resides in Washington, D.C.
Barbara Robinson is a management consultant and executive coach. She works with individuals and teams to increase their job satisfaction or find their way to the right career. Barbara uses a highly nuanced psychometric instrument, The Birkman Method, that enables clients to increase their resilience, her session focus. She is based in Washington, D.C.
Testimonials
Laura
“Offsite Onboard helps employees start doing better work sooner, preventing them from looking for new opportunities when they find a rough patch early on the job.”
Bryce
“I looked forward to these sessions at the beginning of the week. From the first session the speakers addressed any anxiety and hesitancy we all might have about even why we were there… addressing that really allowed me to come to that space with an open mind and some vulnerability.”
Dave
“Offsite Onboard gave me a sense of belonging.”
Jessie
“I appreciated the tips and tricks to being successful when starting out in a new role. These talks let me know that I wasn’t alone.”
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