As the old saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. This is especially true for companies who view their new hire orientation process as a necessary evil rather than what it can be – an opportunity to create a lasting, positive image of your company with incoming employees.
When orientation is not a priority, companies miss a perfect opportunity to instill their values, corporate culture, and beliefs toward 3rd-party representation with new employees from Day 1. These are all important elements of a strong foundation for building and maintaining a positive workplace. What’s worse, they stifle the employee’s excitement and enthusiasm for their new opportunity.
Taking the time to thoughtfully plan and execute your orientation program is a worthwhile investment of time and resources to get the new employee up to speed as a productive, fully engaged member of the team as soon as possible. Although no two orientation programs are exactly alike, here are some potential ideas to consider when designing your program.
- Before the new employee reports on the first day, send him or her a package that provides an overall picture of the organization and conveys your excitement about them coming on board. Keep it light but try to help them “connect the dots.”
- Obtain some personal information about the new employee’s hobbies, interests, and background and distribute it around the office. This will make it easier for your staff or team to extend a warm welcome.
- Begin the first day of the orientation program with a personal welcome from your CEO. This is a powerful way to send a message that “we value our employees”, and it will give the new hires a positive feeling about the corporate culture and about their new jobs. If this is not logistically feasible then enlist the support of another senior executive.
- Include a welcome reception at the beginning of the first day to celebrate the decision of the new hires to join your company. This is a simple step that will help build camaraderie among the new people.
- Take time, but not too much time, to cover the rules and values of your company. Review key company policies, but don’t bore the new hires with too much detailed information. Distribute an employee handbook so they can read the details at their leisure. Also use this time to complete any mandatory forms. Most importantly, describe the corporate culture and provide clear expectations for employee behavior. War stories or an internally produced video can enhance new hire understanding of your key messages. Involve as many people as possible in the program to give the new hires a chance to meet several people in the organization.
- Give the new employees a tour of the facility to get a “lay of the land.” Don’t forget to show them their new workspace as this is what they will be most interested in seeing. Ensure it is clean and everything they will need to do their job (e.g., desk, chair, phone, computer) is set up beforehand.
- Establish a planned agenda for the new hire’s first 1-2 weeks on the job, including brief meetings with key people he or she will be working with. Consider limiting the meetings to the morning, followed by lunch with a key manager or executive. Try to leave the afternoons open to allow the employee time to begin to get acclimated to his/her new role and work environment.
- Establish a buddy system and pair each new employee with an existing staff member to answer any questions that come up and to check on how things are going from time to time.
