What is new employee orientation?
In this post, we will discuss new employee orientation. We explore its definition, advantages, and best approaches, providing you with an example of what orientation might look like. We’ll also provide a new employee onboarding check list. Now let’s get started!
The process of settling in new hires to their positions, coworkers, and the company is known as new employee orientation, or NEO. It’s about your company’s identity, how new employees fit in, and why they matter.
Realistic Orientation Programs for New Employee Stress, or ROPES, is a suggested framework for creating new employee orientation programs (Wanous & Reichers, 2000). Interesting fact: John Wanous coined the phrase “ROPES” in 1992 to refer to the requirement that newcomers “learn the ropes.”
In this article’s best practices section, we’ll go into greater detail about a few ROPES model components.
New employee orientation vs onboarding
It’s important to distinguish between new employee orientation and onboarding because they are often mistaken for one another.
The moment an applicant signs the offer letter and subsequently becomes an employee, the onboarding process begins. It comes to an end when the worker can perform the duties for which they were employed independently.
On the other hand, orientation for new employees concentrates on them on their first day or week. NEO is therefore a crucial component of the onboarding procedure.
Put another way, there is a (much) longer procedure involved in onboarding than in new employee orientation. Nonetheless, their shared objective is to acquaint new workers with the company, its members, and their position.
Advantages of new employee orientation
Employee orientation is known to have the following advantages:
- Lowering anxiety and tension: This is most likely the main advantage of orientation for new hires. Regardless of how well you’ve prepped them throughout the hiring process, prospects will still experience anxiety on their first day.
- A well-planned orientation eases people’s anxiety and makes it clear what’s planned for both the first day and subsequent ones.
- Increased loyalty to the company: New personnel will feel wanted, valued, and welcomed from the outset with the proper orientation. Their commitment will only improve as a result.
- Boost output while reducing errors: When properly executed, orientation for new hires will facilitate a quicker onboarding process. Also, it will assist in preventing (unnecessary) errors.
- Cut down on employee turnover: The three mentioned benefits should reduce employee turnover; employee orientation gives workers the tools they need to perform their jobs well and demonstrates the company’s concern for them.
- Fostering goodwill and open communication between the management, the new hire, and their coworkers.
Best practices for onboarding new employees
Let’s examine some modern best practices for new employee orientation. Wanous and Reicher contend that the primary goal of new employee orientation should be to provide coping mechanisms for the most significant stressors that recently hired staff members are likely to encounter. This results in the best procedures listed below:
- Give accurate information
Once more, this is to control expectations and prevent disappointment. Ideally, in order to prevent incorrect expectations in the first place, you have already given candidates an accurate job preview during the recruitment process. Provide details about your expectations for the new employee, such as a 90-day plan.
- Offer assurance and general help
For most of us, starting a new job may be extremely stressful. The aim of orientation for new employees is to reduce anxiety and provide comfort to new employees.
According to research, having social support is one of the greatest methods to deal with stress (Fisher 1985, Nelson et al. 1991). A buddy or peer mentor can be assigned to each new recruit as a means of fostering this kind of support. They can assist newcomers in navigating the organization in addition to having a significant socializing role. However, new employee orientation involves more than just teaching stress management and expectation management skills.
- Don’t forget to mention the corporate culture.
Even if some practices (such calling coworkers by their first name and eating lunch together) may seem obvious to company veterans, new hires are unlikely to find them that way. Ensure that your employee onboarding covers this “organizational socialization.”
- Get ready for the orientation’s first day.
This applies to the manager, the new employee, and the company. Make sure the manager is there on D-day and that the new hire’s workspace is fully prepared (i.e., hardware and software) before orientation begins.
Concerning the new recruit, check that they are allowed to enter the office, have all the information they require to get there, and can park if necessary. This already reduces some of the uncertainty and worry.
- Friends, entertainment, and games.
During orientation, make sure the new hire’s prospective coworkers are aware of his or her arrival and schedule some quality time together. This may occur during lunch, when the newcomer arrives early in the morning, or during an office tour. Try to incorporate some enjoyable things into the mix because a person’s first day is one of those occasions they usually remember.
There are many other games you could create, but Photo Hunt is one that comes to mind. The plan is to provide the new hire with a list of names and an image of other staff members that they must match.
- Describe the software/tech
New hires should receive information on the software and tools they will use during employee orientation. This will undoubtedly require providing a description of the company’s tools, which include email, expense reports, internal chat systems, and other kinds of communication. The level of software training will vary based on the role-specific software that an individual will be using.
- Make use of checklists. Checklists are an excellent tool for establishing structure and ensuring that all necessary steps are completed.
- Maintain consistency. Establishing structure is great, but it is meaningless if individuals don’t regularly use the offered checklists. Put differently, make sure supervisors use your most recent checklists for each new employee orientation.
- Assess and improve. Get input from recent hires, make adjustments to your workflow, and continue to optimize your orientation for new hires.
Ideas for new employee orientation
- The first day
When the new hire gets to work, about nine in the morning, they are greeted with cake, donuts, and/or champagne. You might start the day with cake, donuts, or a couple bottles of champagne to ensure it is as festive as possible. It’s a terrific informal way to get to know the entire staff, so the plan is to share these delicious treats with everyone in the office. The new employee is also given an overview of the corporate culture and is made to feel like a member of their new work family.
After, talk about the day’s schedule. The new hire sits down with their manager to go over the day’s schedule once the initial pressure has subsided and they are more comfortable. The intention is to provide the worker structure so they would know what to anticipate.
Be sure to give a tour of the office. This is an essential component of orientation for new hires because it makes them feel more at ease right away to know their way around the company. It is therefore advisable to complete the office tour in the first hour. Show new hires where the bathrooms are, the kitchen/canteen, the printers, the offices, and how to close the office in case they are the last ones to leave the building one day.
Reintroduce the new hire to their team and to everyone else during the office tour, when you show them the actual office or offices. There are always people who are unable to attend, even if they have already met a lot of their coworkers at the cake and champagne party in the morning.
It is a good idea to schedule a one-on-one meeting with each team member during the first week of orientation, since they will be collaborating closely with their teammates.
After the new hire has received their 90-day plan, each component should be explained in detail to them. This gives them structure and aids with managing their expectations.
Now, give yourself a breather. Give individuals time to sit down and consider the facts and first impressions they have so far gathered during the rest of the morning until noon.
Enjoy a lunch as a team. To add even more significance to people’s first day, provide a team lunch. This gives the new hire and their coworkers an opportunity to socialize and get to know one another a little better.
A company presentation is a great way to start the afternoon off with both fun and information. This should be done with a primary focus on the organization’s culture and how teams and roles function. It is also time to discuss the company’s objective, mission, and vision.
At this point, the manager and the new hire have another meeting. The plan is to provide them an overview of the weekly and monthly schedule for the organization.
This might include the daily and weekly standup meetings, the weekly surprise lunch, and monthly drinks and company update.
Invite the new employee to the holiday calendar and team calendar activities. The new recruit should receive a link to company holiday calendar and be added to the schedule for the mentioned events during this “structure sitdown.”
Make the employee resources folder accessible. These are less interesting but still relevant actions that can be “ticked off” in the same meeting.
The first day of the new employee orientation if officially done. Give new employees the option to stay in the office and begin working on a project or chatting with coworkers, or they can go home early to celebrate.
- During the first week
Ideas for the first week of the new employee onboarding could be:
Allow the new employee to choose their own lunch spot. This may be a restaurant you visit or, if you’d rather eat lunch together in the workplace, takeout.
One-on-one meetings with teammates can also be incorporated into your initial day orientation; however, if the calendar becomes overly packed, or if some team members aren’t available, arrange a brief meeting for the first week.
In addition to having a daily meeting with the new hire, the hiring manager ought also schedule one to discuss the first week of work as well.
Have the new employee prepare a pitch for your business. Every new hire gains a deeper knowledge of the purpose and nature of the organization by being asked to make a presentation to the rest of the team.
Update the company page with the new hire. They will feel more a member of the family if they are added to the team’s “About us” page. The same holds true for introducing new colleagues to you on LinkedIn. This also encourages a stronger relationship with customers.
During the first week of orientation, organize monthly meetings to evaluate the 90-day plan that you outlined with the new hire.
In sum
New employee orientation for new hires is an exciting moment for the company and the new hire. A thoughtful, well-organized approach that respects the human and emotional aspects of beginning a new job goes a long way toward creating a long-lasting relationship with your employees.
