THE CHALLENGE:
Chime is Ireland’s national charity for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people. Through advice, services and community, Chime supports those who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, while championing equal rights and advocating for full inclusion in every part of society. It is a values-driven organisation whose mission is to support clients to achieve the best possible outcomes.
With a culture built on inclusion, collaboration and a genuine belief in the potential of every member of its team, Chime understands that excellent service delivery begins with excellent people. As the organisation continued to grow, the need to onboard new starters in a way that truly reflected those values became increasingly clear.
Starting a new role is one of the most significant transitions a person can experience. Research in neuropsychology consistently shows that periods of change place considerable demand on our cognitive and emotional resources, and that the quality of early workplace experiences has a lasting impact on confidence, engagement and performance. Chime recognised this and made the decision to invest in a structured, skills-based onboarding programme that would go beyond the practical and logistical, to genuinely support new employees to thrive from day one, and to build the kind of collaborative connections that underpin a truly inclusive working culture.
THE SOLUTION:
The New Starter Programme is the most recent chapter in a long and productive partnership between Adaptas and Chime, one that stretches back to 2021 and reflects a shared commitment to building a workplace where every person can grow, contribute and thrive. Adaptas first worked with Chime to design and deliver the Aim High and Think Big Programme, a comprehensive staff development initiative designed by Dr. Celine Mullins and that covered areas including growth mindset, time management, strengths profiling, goal setting and effective manager relationships. That same year, Adaptas partnered with Chime’s Senior Management Team to deliver a dedicated Management Team Development Programme, exploring leadership styles, emotional intelligence, peer coaching, strategic leadership, creating a high performing team and the art of difficult conversations. In 2022, the partnership deepened further with a series of facilitated team meetings that brought Chime’s values and culture to life across the full organisation, from the Social Work and Explore Team and Residential Team to the Finance, Audiology and Assistive Technology Team and beyond. It is from this strong and trust-filled foundation that the New Starter Programme was born, and its continued success year on year reflects what becomes possible when two organisations commit to genuine, long-term collaboration in service of people’s growth.
Building on that shared understanding of Chime’s culture and ambitions, Adaptas designed and delivered a bespoke four-week blended learning programme, now in its third consecutive year of successful delivery. The programme was intentionally structured to combine virtual and in-person touchpoints, creating a learning journey that built momentum and genuine connection across each cohort of new starters.
The programme opened with a virtual Kick Off Session, designed to introduce participants to one another and to the learning pathway ahead. This was followed by two full days of in-person workshops before concluding with a virtual Review and Wrap Up session. Between sessions, participants were supported through structured pre-work, a Personal Goals Exercise, and a Buddy Meet Up system that encouraged peer learning and accountability in a genuinely supportive way.
The in-person days were designed to be immersive and interactive, bringing together content grounded in both neuropsychology and practical performance skills. The topics covered were carefully sequenced to build on one another, and included:
– Time Management and Focus
– Mental Skills for Performance, including confidence-building and nervous system regulation
– Goal Setting using a research-based approach
– Values and Strengths Identification
– Career Development Planning
– Effective Meetings with Your Manager
Over the years Dr. Celine Mullins, Annika McGivern and Bernie McNelis have facilitated Day One, bringing expertise in communication, executive presence and evidence-based feedback to help participants build confidence and clarity in their approach to time, focus and performance. A second facilitator coach (Bernie McNelis/ Jennifer O’Dea) have joined for Day Two, adding background in experiential learning and executive coaching to support participants in exploring their values, strengths and career aspirations in a dynamic, engaging environment.
The programme was designed by Dr. Celine Mullins (Psychologist, Coach and Learning Designer) and Annika McGivern, (Performance, Sport and Exercise Psychologist), who drew on the latest thinking in neuropsychology and performance science to shape a curriculum that is both intellectually grounded and deeply practical. The team at Adaptas approach consistently bridges the world of sport performance and business, translating insights about how we think, feel and perform under pressure into tools that people can genuinely use.
Throughout the programme, participants completed pre- and post-programme surveys, allowing for continuous measurement of impact and iterative improvements to the design over successive cohorts.
THE RESULTS:
The impact of the Chime New Starter Programme has been consistent and measurable across all three years of delivery. In 2023, the pilot set a high bar from the outset: 77% of participants reported being VERY satisfied with the overall programme, offering a strong foundation on which to build. There was a recognition at this point of the need to create a slightly more inclusive approach throughout each step of the programme, to enable the deaf and hard of hearing colleagues to get full value from the programme.
By 2024 and 2025, post-programme survey data told a compelling story. Across the four core confidence metrics measured in both years after the programme, participants consistently rated themselves well above the midpoint on a scale of one to five. In 2024, average scores across the cohort were 4.4 out of 5 for confidence in meetings with their manager, 4.4 out of 5 for time management, 4.2 out of 5 for giving and receiving feedback, and 4.1 out of 5 for goal setting. The 2025 cohort produced similarly strong results, with averages of 4.4, 4.3, 4.1 and 4.1 respectively across the same four areas. Across both years, 100% of participants said they would recommend the programme to a colleague.
The learning environment created by the facilitation team received consistent praise. In both 2024 and 2025, the statement “the instructors created a safe and inclusive environment during this training” was met with strong agreement or agreement from every single respondent. For an organisation like Chime, whose identity is rooted in inclusion and human connection, this is a particularly meaningful result.
Qualitatively, certain themes emerged with notable consistency across all three years. Time management, and specifically the 168-hour weekly audit exercise, was singled out repeatedly as a genuinely eye-opening tool. Values identification and goal setting were frequently cited as areas of real personal insight, with participants in 2024 highlighting structured frameworks such as GROW, BOOST and SBI as practical and immediately applicable. Across every cohort, participants noted that the learning felt relevant not just to their new role at Chime, but to their broader lives and professional development.
THE FEEDBACK:
Participant voices across all three cohorts speak consistently to a programme that exceeds expectations and delivers lasting insight.
From 2023, participants described an experience that was interactive, inclusive and genuinely transformative: “The programme exceeded my expectations. It was interactive, ensuring that everyone was participating and getting the most out of the sessions.” Another noted simply: “Beyond my expectations. Helped me explore my core values.”
In 2024, one participant captured the practical depth of the programme clearly: “The programme gave me practical tools and models for how to manage time more effectively, manage and reduce stress using simple breathing techniques, how to make the most of meetings with my manager using the GROW framework, and how to receive and give feedback using the BOOST and SBI models.”
By 2025, participants were articulating their shifts in thinking with real confidence: “Perfectionism is not real. Perfectionism is a habit and it can be kicked. I now have a better idea of how to achieve a goal and do so in a way that works for me.”
The facilitation team received equally warm praise: “Some of the most engaging, friendly and encouraging trainers I’ve ever had, and managed to keep the content interesting even though the training was spread over four sessions.”