Most employers get it wrong from the get-go when they make new employee orientation about the company. These programs are much more successful geared towards the new employee.
This is your typical employee orientation:
– Bring them to the boardroom.
– Bore them stiff with the history of the company.
– Then after that give them a proper tour of all departments.
– You will introduce them to the relevant department heads, and then you will break for coffee.
Sounds boring right
All along, the message you are sending is: “Welcome onboard your newest adventure. Find a way to fit in and absorb yourself into this culture. You are lucky to have made the cut.” After that, they will become a part of the firm.
While this has been the norm in corporate affairs all through, it’s far from perfect or interesting.
You can improve on it, make the experience more welcoming and include more information. Helping new employees embrace their new environs and prepare them for a great time at the company.
By helping the new employees get used to the internal office culture, you will help them feeling welcome and improving their company loyalty.
Regardless of Size, Orientate
First, let’s discuss size. You may think that your organization is too small to warrant new employee orientation. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Regardless of the size of your firm, you will need to take the new employee through the system. Break the ice so that the rest of the team gets to know about the new member.
Failure to do this will leave the new employee in a maze of confusion. No one has it easy introducing themselves to new people and trying to figure out where the printer is. If they are going to be productive, then they will need a proper introduction process.
Embrace Individualism
One of the reasons for companies hiring outside the existing talent is to bring in new blood and ideas. Unfortunately, when you ask them to get with the program, there will be no space for creativity and change.
When orienting the new employee, you can allow them to give you a better idea on how they can do their job.
New ideas could boost productivity, add valuable information and get rid of monotony.
This is not in any way to mean that you should get rid of what has worked for you all the years, but you could be more open to change.
If they have a better idea of graphic designs, you could look at them and give it thought. You never know what injection of new ideas and a few tweaks could do to the company.
One On One
If you can (and you have more than one new employee), conduct the new employee orientation on an individual basis. This way, you target each of them and get to know more about their individual prowess.
If done in a group, a few will always shine, leaving the rest feeling more like followers than leaders.
It does not have to take the entire day, and you can also do it online to save time. The reason why exclusive tours are important is that they focus on the individual and their role.
If all your new employees are going to be working in the same department, or for the same manager, the group approach would be okay.
A combination of a personal touch and the ability to have everything digital is also a great idea, you don’t need to ask them to fill out every form in person.
By using a service such as Valker for your new employee orientation, you can take a lot of strain from the HR rep.
Ask For Feedback
Your older workers were once new, and they needed orientation. Ask them about their experience and use the feedback to make this round better for the new group.
You could put out a questionnaire or ask them to write down what they feel would have been beneficial when they joined the organization.
Learning from your mistakes will help you get a better understanding of how to approach new employees.
Mentorship
Everybody wants value added to them, and they want to add value back. Before you bring in the new lot, you could assign them mentors from your existing pool of superiors and managers.
One of the hardest things that happen with new employee orientation (especially on their first job) is the feeling of novelty.
They have no friends or accomplices, and so it would help their progress a lot more if they had a buddy showing them around and making them feel at home.
Continue this relationship for at least 30 days until they are fully absorbed into the company, after this period they are more used to the culture.
Make it Fun!
Encourage your new employees to mingle with the staff as soon as they can. During the orientation, you can ask them to get signatures from various associates. Hand them a list and whoever gets the most signatures wins.
What will this do? It will help the new employees practice their people skills, and break the ice with colleagues. They will need to be creative to get the busy associate to sign their sheets.
After this small encounter, the team will get to know their surroundings a little better.
Make your own rules as long as they get you results. Nothing is cast on stone, new employee orientation requires some trial and error.
Also published on Medium.