New employee orientation is a critical time for the employer and the new employee. It allows the employer to let the new employee know how the company likes to have things done, and it also allows the new employee some time to get acquainted with her new company before she starts her job tasks.
Benefits
An organized and efficient new employee orientation has benefits beyond bringing your new employees up to speed on the way your company does business and how they will be expected to do their job. An employee who is put into an organized new employee orientation program on his first day with the company will have a more positive feeling about his new company, and this will make the new employee more excited to start his new tasks. An employee who shows up on the first day to no organized employee orientation and is treated as though the company is not ready for her arrival may have misgivings about the company from the start. This can affect productivity by forming a negative first impression about the company.
An organized new employee orientation program also allows the company to get all new employees into the same procedures, as opposed to picking up the bad habits of any existing employees who may not be following procedure. New employee orientation allows the company to establish a good work ethic, and a positive employment experience, right from the very start.
A Welcome Feeling
New employee orientations can either be stiff and procedural, or they can include small tokens of the company's appreciation that will make the new employees feel as though they are truly part of the team. A personal address by the president of the company on the first day of training helps new employees to see who runs the company, and ask questions if time permits. A welcome email sent to each new employee by the president of the company and the employee's direct manager help to make the employee feel welcome.
There are many little things that can be done to enhance the team feeling for new employees during orientation. Allow some time at the beginning of orientation for new employees to get to know each other, and allow new employees to form a bond based on their mutual participation in the orientation class. On the first day of orientation circulate a new company telephone directory with the new employees names on it. These small gestures go a long way to making the new employees feel welcome, and they make the new employees more receptive to the idea of becoming part of the team.
It is also a good idea to let new employees know about the corporate climate in the company, and which of the rules in the employee handbook are most important to adhere to. Let new employees understand what is expected of them as far as behavior goes from the very start, and this eliminates problems down the road.
Staging
New employee orientation is not something that needs to happen all at once. It is important to let new employees know what is expected of them, the corporate rules, and function within the company on their first few days. But it is a good idea to allow direct managers to have some time with their new employees as soon as possible, and get the employees familiar with the jobs they will be doing. New employee orientation can be a process spread out over the first couple of months of employment, which will help to avoid the feeling of information overload in the new employee's first week with the company.
