Breaking Down the Barriers of New Hire Isolation
Anthym, a platform designed to connect employees through personal memories and music taste, has launched its latest product aimed at making the onboarding process more personable for new hires. Dubbed "Welcome," this offering expands Anthym’s music-based team connection experience, which was first introduced last year at TechCrunch Startup Battlefield.
Creating a Deeper Connection Through JamTracks
The core concept of Welcome revolves around "JamTracks" – five songs that correlate to important memories in an employee’s life. These memories can range from adopting a dog to losing a loved one. To facilitate this process, employees are tasked by their hiring managers to complete a JamTrack, which is then shared with the rest of the team. This sharing of personal experiences fosters a deeper connection between colleagues and sets the tone for a more inclusive workplace.
ChatGPT-Powered User Manuals: A Game-Changer in Onboarding
In addition to JamTracks, Welcome introduces a groundbreaking feature powered by ChatGPT – a tool that generates employee user manuals for managers. These manuals provide valuable insights into an employee’s personality, communication style, core values, and how they might interact with other team members. For instance, if an employee selects "Married My Best Friend" as a favorite memory paired with the song "Marry Me" by Train, the AI-driven tool will inform the manager that this individual values strong relationships.
The user manual feature leverages proprietary large language models (LLMs), combining employee data and researcher data from Anthym’s group of scientific advisors. These experts include:
- Dr. Elizabeth Margulis, a Princeton University professor in the Music Cognition Lab
- Dr. Matthew Lieberman, director of UCLA’s Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab
- Allen Romano, AI startup founder and former FSU professor
"We take all that memory data and we tap into personality assessments, social cognitive neuroscience, music and cognition," explained co-founder and COO Jeremy Gocke.
The Founding Story: A Vision for Connection in the Workplace
Gocke and CEO Brian Mohr founded Anthym after discovering how many employees crave connection in the workplace. According to McKinsey’s findings, 46% of workers reported that working with people who don’t trust or care for each other was a reason for leaving their jobs.
"We realized that work life and personal life don’t intersect," Gocke said. "So, when the pandemic hit and people were at home on Zoom calls, we had an idea. ‘You can see my dog running [on the screen] and you can hear Brian’s kids yelling in the background.’ It made us more human."
Gocke added, "What if we did something where we took really important life moments, and we married it with music?"
Music as a Unifier: Fostering Togetherness
While sharing personal memories and favorite songs may seem unusual at first, music has been linked to forming a sense of togetherness. This phenomenon is similar to how fans bond with strangers at concerts.
"Music is a huge unifier," Gocke emphasized. "It’s like a time machine."
Addressing the Challenges of Poor Onboarding
Welcome aims to solve the common issue of poor onboarding, which can lead to low self-esteem, weak engagement, and a heightened risk of quitting. According to Gallup’s report "Creating an Exceptional Onboarding Journey for New Employees," inadequate onboarding and a low sense of belonging are the two main reasons for voluntary turnover in the first 90 days of employment.
Availability and Pricing
Anthym’s new Welcome offering is officially available today, following its beta rollout earlier this year. The company boasts 160 workshop clients and offers an annual subscription ranging from $1,200 to $6,000.
As Anthym continues to innovate and push the boundaries of employee connection, it’s clear that Welcome has the potential to revolutionize the onboarding process for businesses worldwide.
