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New employees always feel a little bit lost in the workplace, especially when they’re fresh out of college and looking to make an impression. Here are 26 tips that will help you ease into your new role at work without any problems.
New employees are often unsure of the best way to approach their new job. This article has some great tips for you on how to get started and what to expect from your first day at work. Read more in detail here: new employee orientation best practices.
According to the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), new recruits who get great orientation are 69 percent more likely to remain with a business for three years. A well-designed employee orientation, which includes offering the appropriate tools and training, may help your company recruit and retain better people.
We enlisted the help of the professionals to share their knowledge. Here are 26 professional new employee orientation ideas and advice.
1. Teach new hires how to write a company summary.
Instructional Solutions’ President, Mary Cullen
The writing skills of your new employee are critical to the success of both internal and external communication. A new employee must be able to properly convey his or her expertise in writing and recognize what information is important to coworkers and customers. Otherwise, the new employee will obstruct the flow of information. Check to see whether your new hire can produce a concise explanation of your company’s unique services and essential procedures while maintaining the tone you want to convey. Assign an internal writing mentor, give validated business writing resources, or offer business writing training to do this.
2. Introduce new hires to the C-Suite and other senior executives right away.
Devon Satnick, Reonomy’s Director of Talent
It is critical for new hires to interact with executives on their first day in order to develop an efficient employee orientation program. New workers will feel more at ease in the company and surroundings as a result, resulting in instant interdepartmental cooperation. Every new employee at Reonomy gets to hear about our CEO’s entrepreneurial experience on their first day. As a result, the new recruit has a greater understanding of the company’s strategy from the executive’s viewpoint, making them more motivated and ready to assist right away.
3. Have a good time
Anja Zojeska, TalentLyft’s HR Enthusiast and Content Marketing Specialist
Make your new employee orientation session genuinely one-of-a-kind! Think beyond the box and be inventive. Make it a little more enjoyable! You may, for example, convert your orientation program into a scavenger hunt by gamifying it. Make a list of duties and challenges for your new employee. It’s a terrific chance for your new recruit to get to know the rest of the team in a less formal, more casual setting.
4. Establish a buddy system.
Ntiva Inc.’s Human Resources Manager, Rathi Siddarth
Assign a buddy/team member to your new recruit for at least the first two weeks, ideally a month, to help them adjust to the work environment, culture, and practices. We’ve found that doing so allows the brand-new employee to assimilate into the system without feeling overwhelmed or isolated. The buddy system is a fantastic approach to encourage informal information sharing, as well as easing the new recruit through those first few nerve-wracking weeks. It may also be used to get feedback on the company’s onboarding process. It also encourages employee participation among both new and current employees, which is critical for maintaining business culture and team spirit!
5. Set a daily goal for yourself.
LeaseFetcher’s Managing Director, Will Craig
When it comes to orientation, always be clear about your goal; this will help you concentrate your efforts and produce an experience that will benefit both your workers and the member of staff who is doing the orientation. It isn’t necessary for your goal to be elaborate or difficult. It might be as easy as helping your new employee feel at ease in your company or teaching them the fundamentals of a certain procedure. Whatever it is, plan your day around achieving that goal. Break down the day into pieces that assist extend the employee’s grasp of how to perform the work to your criteria, for example, if the goal of the orientation is to educate your employee how to follow a certain procedure.
6. Get some job shadowing experience.
KBC Staffing’s Director of Recruitment, Rich Franklin
Our first week involves a job shadow of the person who has an identical or most similar role to the new hire. The new hire will essentially sit and watch the person do their job and then ask questions at Q&A periods that are booked throughout the day. During week two, we provide training on any software that a person will require and assign them a mentor, usually the person that they shadowed during week one. From week two until week four, we make sure that the new hire has a one-on-one meeting with everyone on their team so they can learn about each other. Finally, weeks five through twelve consist of weekly check-ins with the mentor.
7. Don’t Be Negative
GoodHire’s Director of People, Mikaila Turman
In general, pay attention to how you convey information. Avoid criticizing the firm, its workers, or its internal operations. Make sure to express your positive expectations for workers and their roles in the organization. Also, constantly emphasize the importance of employee feedback and give a mechanism for giving comments. Tell them that they should feel free to speak out if they want to see anything changed at the workplace or firm.
8. Stay away from information overload
Healing Holidays’ Managing Director, Frances Geoghegan
There might be a lot of information to present to a new employee during their orientation. As a result, you must be cautious not to cram too much into a single session. It’s difficult enough for a new employee to negotiate workplace politics, new coworkers, and regulations. As a result, it’s preferable to stretch out the orientation sessions across a few days to give them enough time to process the information you’re providing them. Start off with the basics and build up to the more complex stuff—this will make it easier for them to remember the core information, which will help them to pay attention to the bigger things.
9. Assist Them in Getting Used to Processes
Ketan Kapoor, CEO & Co-Founder, Mettl
Every organization has its own culture and set of norms, and a new employee must acquire a sense for it on the first day of orientation. They must be given a tour of the company’s unique procedures, which will assist them de-alienate and feel at ease every time they come to work. It may contain both formal and informal features that make the workplace more enjoyable and interesting while also encouraging healthy relationships. It may also contain information about upcoming events and activities that will entice the joinee.
10. Make sure your training session begins with a positive attitude.
The VGC Group’s owners and co-founders are W.E. Da’Cruz and Naomi Jordan Cook.
Set your training session on a day or time when the majority of your workers are tired, preoccupied, or depleted. Using your operations cycle as a guide, choose a day and time to introduce your new employee to the rest of the team.
Begin the workout with an energy booster, which may be as easy as an icebreaker question or a joke or as difficult as a game. Regardless matter the option you select, the end effect should be a group of workers that are aware, enthusiastic, and upbeat. When a result, as the new employee learns to accept the corporate culture, he or she will share the same good energy.
11. Begin before the first day of school.
SalesUp! Business Coaching’s HR Specialist, Melina Gillies, CHRP
Many new workers feel out of the loop from the minute their foot first crosses the threshold, due to the unavoidable delay between offer and start date. Orientation should begin as soon as an offer is accepted, and employers may do a lot to ensure that new employees feel welcome. Allowing employees to examine regulations and procedures and pre-complete some of the more tedious paperwork, or sending care packages with corporate gear, helps them to receive a true sense of company culture. Introduce the new employee virtually to important members of their team, and have existing key workers (including executives) record a brief video or email welcoming their new coworker, adding an amusing fact or two about themselves. Putting a face to a name alleviates some of the initial anxiety and makes effective integration that much simpler.
12. Make Expectations Known
Marc Snyderman, Esq., Apolline Group Co-Founder and Vice President
When it comes to employee onboarding, having the manager construct a 30/60/90 plan with the employee is a smart idea. This helps to level-set expectations for both the new employee and the boss, allowing them to understand what they need to do in the initial time and providing a realistic baseline from which they may work and be rated. The 30/60/90 plan, in my experience, energizes employees to ramp up faster and show they can achieve more than was originally planned. Their learning curve time is greatly reduced, allowing employees to return to work sooner. It also aids in the development of a feedback and engagement culture.
13. Distribute Pre-Work
Edmit’s CEO and Co-Founder, Nick Ducoff
We utilize Trello, a basic project management application, to enable new workers to autonomously traverse the onboarding process while ensuring that they complete all of the requirements. We make them read and absorb research and pertinent material for each of the phases, and then either write a memo with their takeaways or discuss them directly with me, maybe because we are truly into learning.
They will learn about college kinds and “fit,” what individuals look for when choosing a college counselor, financial guidance on paying for college, and college decision-making research throughout this process. There will be homework and an exam at the end, just like in higher education! However, the goal is to provide them with a thorough awareness of this place and the issues we are addressing for college-bound kids and their families.
14. Provide Tools to Make the Transition Easier
Founder of Lottery Critic, Nicholas Christensen
Employees that are new to the company will be nervous. There will be a great deal of information to process, and their worry and anxiety will make at least half of it meaningless. Assure them that the employee handbook or the “welcome” package will have all of the necessary information. Explain that the meeting would be brief and that it will serve as a corporate introduction. Introduce them to the break room or kitchen at the conclusion of the presentation, where they may get a snack and interact with their colleagues.
If you’re doing a group employee orientation, have the newcomers wear name tags for the duration of the day. Introduce each new employee by going around the room and asking them to explain their favorite and least favorite foods as an icebreaker. The facilitator should take the lead and add some humor—laughter is a terrific way to relieve tension on the first day on the job.
15. Orientation should not be limited to a single day.
RedPeg Marketing’s HR and Employee Experience Manager, Pearlie Oni
Any orientation procedure that lasts less than three days is just insufficient, and you should aim for at least a week. I’ve seen one-hour orientations, which is hardly enough time to get paperwork done, much alone acclimate new workers to their new work environment. We spread out our orientation sessions throughout the course of the first week. New recruits visit with several department heads during this period to learn about our organization, what we do, and how we do it. New recruits are also given instruction on how to utilize the tools and applications that we use.
16. Don’t Let Onboarding End on the First Day
Tamica Sears is the founder and executive coach of Sears Coaching.
Long after the new recruit orientation session, your onboarding process should continue. To ensure that their staff are acclimating effectively, leaders should check in with them at least once a month for at least three months. They should ensure that they have the tools and resources they need to execute their job, that they are aware of the requirements, and that their coworkers are treating them properly. A mentor should be provided to new recruits to assist them learn the ropes. They should meet their mentor at new recruit orientation and start building a connection with them straight away.
17. Begin a virtual team member video onboarding program.
Founder of SproutHR, Ashley Cox, PHR, SHRM-CP
Virtual team members don’t often get the same level of onboarding as in-person team members, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Set up video sessions with virtual team members to gain some face contact with these new workers. This will assist you in establishing better connections and relationships right away. Consider holding a large video conference with your complete team or individual meet-and-greets with your new virtual team member.
18. Orient New Employees to the Company Culture
DiSC Bodhi Founder Petal Bovell-Proffitt
I believe that businesses should assist new employees in learning about the company’s culture. The orientation gives a chance to explain how your company runs and how things are done in your company to new recruits. Some firms, for example, require workers to undergo a DiSC evaluation, which exposes them to the organization’s communication style. Trainers assist workers learn how DiSC personality type influences cooperation and teamwork during the real orientation, which matches with the enterprise’s organizational principles.
19. Current Job Opportunities
Total Engagement Consulting by Kimer, Stan C. Kimer, President
Do provide a presentation on the organization’s overall learning and career development opportunities, including biographies of successful corporate executives. I created a career development tool for a customer that included career maps of many successful workers, and they tested it in a new employee orientation before distributing it to all staff. They were quite aback by how much the new staff enjoyed it! Employees were told that they could advance in the organization and enjoy a lengthy career there.
20. Emphasize the importance of promoting workplace diversity.
Bearly Articulating’s Chief Academic Officer, Jeannette Washington, M.Ed.
No one wants to “sit and get” when it comes to onboarding and employee orientation. Instead of starring at my coworkers, the finest orientations I’ve attended have made me feel like I’m at a family reunion meeting distant relatives. In this era of diversity and inclusion, it’s critical for every employee to feel appreciated for what they bring to the table and how they contribute to the puzzle. As an example, I recently led an orientation to foster cognitive diversity in the workplace, during which I encouraged new and seasoned employees to rise and take a step forward if they could empathize with a certain remark. People moved forward and exchanged familiar smirks with their counterparts in a lovely sequence of gestures. We’re all the same. After all, when you put the game away, the pawn and the king go in the same box.
21. Prepare and tailor a plan for your new hires using a checklist
Versique’s HR Coordinator, Caroline McMahon
It’s normally two weeks before a new recruit begins that you find out about it. Make the most of that time by preparing ahead of time. We utilize a checklist at Versique to ensure we don’t overlook anything. Everything from tech setup to creating a training program to setting up their workstation is covered. This guarantees that when the new recruit sits down on their first day, they are prepared to go right to work. Don’t assume that the training strategy you employed for the previous hiring would be effective for the current recruit. Take the time to personalize each orientation strategy.
23. Put together a Scavenger Hunt
Organize a team-building activity for your new recruit to engage in alongside regular workers during orientation week. This will allow the individual to get to know other workers and the workplace layout while also introducing them to the corporate culture. A scavenger hunt is a fun activity that will be enjoyed by everybody. It will also allow existing workers to renew their firm materials while forming new ties. This page has further suggestions for a new recruit scavenger hunt.
24. Embellish Their Workstation with Company Merchandise
Involve your marketing department in the onboarding process. Request business swag so you can greet your new recruit with it as soon as they arrive at their desk. Hiring great talent implies that they belong to a social circle and network of people who have similar interests and talents, so make sure your new recruits wear corporate shirts, bags, or pens to promote you. But don’t be afraid to let your imagination go wild. More business swag surprise ideas for your new recruits may be found in this post.
25. Request feedback on the onboarding process.
Allowing your new recruits’ voices to be heard will make them feel appreciated. By soliciting feedback, you will learn how successful your orientation process is and what areas need to be addressed. Encourage them to ask additional questions so you can figure out what needs to be included in your next orientation plan. Some firms do this procedure via a casual interview with a manager, but you may also design a new hire survey to allow new recruits time to think about their responses. This post will demonstrate how to do so.
26. Hang a photo of the staff on the bulletin board
Expecting a new employee to meet everyone on their first day is unrealistic. Setting up a picture wall off your crew may be an excellent method for new recruits to learn about your team and vice versa if you have a large workplace with more than a handful of workers. Request that everyone submit a candid photo of themselves at work, along with a brief comment. Create a section for new hire images with a statement like “Say hello to [name] from [department].” It’s the first day for him/her!” Conversation in front of the picture board will almost certainly serve as an icebreaker and a chance for existing staff to connect with new hires. Here are some possibilities for employee picture boards.
Now it’s your turn.
New employee orientation helps to reduce errors that might hurt your company’s efficiency. Welcome your new recruits with these recommendations for getting them settled in fast so they can become useful contributors to your organization.
Do you want to share some of your favorite new employee onboarding ideas and advice? Please let us know in the comments section.
The “employee orientation examples” is a blog post by the experts at Vault.com. They are sharing their top 26 new employee orientation tips.
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