An Overview Of New Hire Orientation

New employee orientation is the process of introducing new hires to their job, the organization, and their co-workers. It is all about the company, how the new hires fit into the system, and why they are important.

Employee orientation is known as the process of introducing new employees to the workplace.

The basic organizational information is provided to the employees as they are prepared to meet the new people and roles within the company. An effective employee orientation program makes the employees aware of their roles and responsibilities.

Orientation is important as it signifies the beginning of a relationship between an employer and an employee.

By clearly communicating the roles and responsibilities to new employees, they can be productive from day one. A clear policy of employee orientation ensures that all employees receive the same information.

In This Article

Orientation Versus Onboarding

Understanding the difference between orientation and onboarding is necessary, as both words can be confused.

The onboarding process starts when a candidate receives a job offer and is likely to become a future employee. It ends when the employee can accomplish the job that they are hired to do.

On the other hand, employee orientation focuses on the employees on the first day or the first week of their job.
When it comes to orientation and onboarding, the latter involves a longer process than the former.

Though both of them have the same goal, which is to familiarise the new hires with an organization, the job, and the people

Why Is It Important To Have A Positive Attitude?

Employee orientation is a critical process through which new employees understand their jobs.

Now the question is: what would be the objective of having a great orientation program?

Being familiar with the organizational structure

When new hires join an organization, assign them a new mentor to show the organization the ropes.

A physical tour of the organization will show them where to find the necessary tools to help them in their work.

Also, make the mentor understand what the company stands for and its values for the new hire.

Introduction of company policies and procedures

Every organization has policies in place to ensure the following decorum. The introduction of these policies or procedures is an essential task, and it includes the following:

Dress code
restriction on smoking
Good workplace ethics
Emergency procedures, etc.

The recruits need to follow and understand them, and it helps an organization maintain discipline and decorum in the workplace.

Job responsibilities and expectations

During the orientation process, discussing the job responsibilities is also crucial. But there could be points that have not been touched on or discussed earlier.

Proper orientation enables the employees to understand their objectives at work and what they need to do.

In the long run, it gives them an idea of the organization’s expectations. This provides them with the necessary motivation and helps them succeed in their work.

Employee benefits

If an organization has a retirement or other benefits, like insurance benefits, present them to the employees.

You need to provide other information, like sick leaves, vacation perks, or holidays.

Also, you may provide fact sheets on how these benefits have helped the employees in the long run.

In this manner, an employee may be able to maintain a better work-life balance, as it gives them a greater degree of security and a flexible job.

Developing relationships

An orientation program also focuses on developing positive working relationships. New employees could feel isolated in the work environment if they join.

This would lead to introductions at the workplace, as they are introduced to their team members or peers.

Proper orientation would enable an employee to get familiar with their team members. This would result in efficient work and lead to the achievement of a common goal.

Concentrating on the needs of the employees

When new employees join an organization, they are hesitant to inquire about their needs.

Prepare a suggestion list where they can ask for what they need.
This will give them the feeling that they are valued in an organization, as they tend to become more open in organizations.

Doing it the right way will equip them with the necessary tools to be successful in their work.

What Should Be Covered in New Hire Orientation?

A well-planned employee orientation enables an employee to adapt to new surroundings.

It is also important for an organization to improve its bottom line without using any robust policies. This will take time and commitment, but it will help an organization in the long run.

The employees tend to feel more relaxed at their workplace, enhancing their productivity.

A good orientation program allows employees to provide feedback on how they feel at work. This feedback usually helps an organization sort out the differences at their workplace that an employee is facing. With this feedback at hand, an organization can considerably improve its structure.

Benefits Of Orientation

Some of the benefits of the new employee orientation process are as follows:

Reduces anxiety and stress

This has to be the main benefit of an employee orientation process. Irrespective of how well you have prepared the candidates for the recruitment process, they are bound to be nervous on the first day.

A well-organized orientation reduces stress by clarifying what is on the agenda and beyond.

An increase in commitment to the organization

Proper orientation will make the new hires feel welcome, appreciated, and needed from the start. This is going to significantly increase their commitment.

Increase productivity and decrease mistakes.

When done properly, employee orientation will enable the employees to speed up things faster. It is also going to help avoid unnecessary mistakes.

Reduced turnover

Due to the benefits mentioned above, employee turnover will reduce, and an employee orientation would show that people care and provide them with the tools that would enable them to do the job well.

Contributes to a positive relationship and communication with a new hire, their manager, or colleagues.

New employee orientation best practices

Let us figure out some of the best employee orientation practices, as they have to focus on teaching coping skills for the stress aspects the new hires face. Below are a few best orientation practices to follow.

Include realistic information.

The key is to manage expectations and avoid disappointment. The reason is that since you have presented candidates with a realistic job overview during the hiring process, it is better to avoid unrealistic expectations in the first place.

You need to include information on what you can expect from the new hire, and this can be in the form of a 90-day plan.

Provide general support and assurance.

Starting a new job is a stressful task for most of us. The purpose of employee orientation is to take away stress and reassure people.

The ideal way to cope with stress is to have social support. One of the better ways to deal with this is to assign a new hire a mentor or a buddy. New employee orientation includes more than helping people cope with stress.

Incorporate the organizational culture.

Certain ways of doing things, like having lunch, may seem obvious to all those already in the company, but this is not going to be the case with newcomers.

Make it a point to include this employee socialization as part of your company culture.

Preparing for the first day of orientation

This is true for the manager, the organization, and the new hire. Before the orientation begins, ensure that the new hire’s premises are ready, which includes the hardware and software, as the manager must be fully prepared for the same.

Being a new hire, you need to have all the necessary information to get to the office, as this will take some degree of anxiety out of the way.

Fun and games with colleagues

Make sure that future colleagues know that the new hire is arriving and spend quality time with them during the orientation process.

This could be the first thing when the new hire enters the office or during the team lunch.

Include some fun elements into the mix because the first day is the moment they try to remember for the rest of their tenure. There are numerous games that you can come up with.

Explain the software.

Employee orientation should be part of the software and the new tools a hire will use. This will call for an explanation of the tools everyone in the company uses, as you may think of internal chats, email responses, etc.

Depending on the role-specific software indicated, the software training is going to be less elaborate.

Use checklists

Checklists are an ideal way to create structure and ensure that all the necessary steps are done properly.

Be consistent

Creating structure is all good, but if people are not using the checklists, they may be useless. Make it a point for the managers to use the latest version of the checklists for employee orientation.

Evaluate and improve

Obtain feedback from the new employees, improve the process, and keep optimising the new employee orientation.

New employee orientation ideas

When new employee orientation ideas arise, dozens of examples emerge. Below is an idea of the employee orientation process you can follow on the first day and in the first week

On the first day,

Around 9 am.

A new hire joins an office where he is welcomed with flowers, cake, and a bottle of champagne. The objective is to share the sweet snacks with people in the office, as it provides an informal opportunity to greet the entire team. It also introduces the team members to the company culture and makes them feel welcome in the new family.

Around 9.30 am

Discuss with them the agenda of the day. Once the pressure is off, the new hire will feel at ease when they sit down with the manager to formulate an agenda for the day. The goal is to provide employees with a structure so that they know what to expect.

Around 9.45 am.

An office tour is part of the new employee orientation, and knowing their way around the office makes them feel more at home. It makes sense to do the office tour within the first hour. You can show them the kitchen, bathroom, coffee machine, printers, and offices, as well as how to close the office if, for example, they are the last person to leave the office for the day.
Introduction to colleagues and their teams: When you show the new hire the premises during the office tour, introduce everyone to the team. Well, there is a possibility that you could have met them during the cake-cutting process, but still, a few may not have been present. Since you will be working with team members, having a one-on-one session with them is better.

Around 10.30 am(it depends on the size of the office and the number of colleagues).

A 90-day plan: Here, the employee will receive a 90-day plan that includes an elaborate explanation of the various elements. This enables them to manage their expectations and provide a concise structure.

Around 11.30 am

Take a moment to breathe. For the remainder of the morning until lunchtime, give people a moment to relax and formulate their first impressions about the company they have encountered so far.

Between 12:00 and 2:00 pm.

Have a team lunch. Organize a team lunch to make the first day of the job more memorable. This allows both parties to learn more about each other in a more informal setting.

Around 13.30(after lunch is over),

The afternoon can be kicked off in an innovative manner with an HR presentation. Mostly it is done by the company founders, who closely work on what the company achieves in terms of goals, roles, and culture. This will also be the case when we share the company’s values, culture, and mission.

At 14.00

Weekly and monthly structure: this is when the employee sits down with the new hire once again. The objective here is to present the weekly or monthly structure of the company. This may include weekly or stand-up meetings, business updates, monthly meetings, and the weekly lunch surprise.
Invitation to team calendar events and holiday calendar: the new hire is added to the calendar for the activities mentioned above and gains access to the company calendar.
Providing access to the employee folder may turn out to be boring events but are less relevant as they can be ticked off during the same meeting.

Around 3 pm.

The official agenda that can be for the first day of orientation is closed. Give people the option of going home early, or if they want to celebrate, they can do it in the office and start working on the projects or chat with their co-workers.

In the first week,

Here are some of the New employee orientation ideas for the first week include

Pick a restaurant: Allow the new hire to pick a restaurant for lunch. This may be a restaurant, or you can opt for a takeaway if they prefer to have lunch with everyone in the office.
Personal interaction with the team members: On the first day of the orientation, you may include sitting down with your members, but if the agenda becomes full and certain team members are not around, you may schedule a first meeting during the week.
Sit down with the hiring manager. On top of that, you may schedule a sit-in with your hiring manager, and there has to be a recap after the first week. What are the things that went well, what are the things that could go better, and is there anything else that needs to be addressed?
Planning a company pitch—at a personal level, I like this idea. Ask the new hire to pitch the organization to every member, as it will give them a better understanding of what the company does now compared to when they joined.
Adding the new employee to the company page, then adding the new hire to the employee page, which would make them part of the family,
Introducing new company members on LinkedIn: This same logic would be applicable to introducing new company members on LinkedIn. Such an approach would also help in developing a close relationship with the customers.
90-day check-in meetings are to be planned. The 90-day check-in meetings are one of the things that need to be evaluated. It is better that you schedule monthly meetings during your first week in the company.

Conclusion

New employee orientation is a great time for both the new hire and the new organization.

A well-planned and structured process that prioritizes a new job’s emotional and mental aspects goes a long way toward establishing a long-term relationship with the people.

If you have any creative ideas about employee orientation, then you can share them with your peers.