Introduction
How to Use This Book
What’s in This Chapter
• Why new employee orientation training matters
• What you need to know about onboarding and orientation
• A broad view of what the book includes
Why Does New Employee Orientation Matter?
Think about your own experience as a new employee. What was it like? Did you attend a formal orientation session? To what degree did the orientation (or lack thereof) affect the way you viewed the organization, your boss, and your co-workers? There is no shortage of stories from employees who arrive at work the first day and are immediately disillusioned. Many new employees find that onboarding and orientation are only afterthoughts for their new organizations. And those who join organizations that do have structured orientation programs often walk away from the session dazed, anxious, and overwhelmed. Why?
For starters, the typical new employee orientation program is boring. Like many training programs, it is presenter centered and lecture driven with little or no opportunity for participant interaction. This traditional approach is characterized by too many facts, figures, and faces packed into too few hours. Then, when new employees finally get to their work sites, far too often no one is prepared for their arrival.
But what can be done? Research has shown that as many as 4 percent of new employees leave their jobs after a disastrous first day and that they decide within the first 30 days on the job whether or not they feel welcome in the organization. Moreover, some 40 percent of senior managers hired from the outside fail within 18 months of hire (Wells 2005). Given these statistics, what can you and your organization do to ensure that new employees feel welcome, informed, prepared, and supported? How can you help them acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors that will ensure their success?
The answer is clear: develop a structured, integrated employee onboarding program with new employee orientation at its core.
Keep in mind that onboarding is more than just new employee orientation. Onboarding is a process, and the orientation program is an event, one of the first steps in the onboarding process. Because the orientation program is the employee’s first significant exposure to the organization, it must be an enjoyable experience. A thoughtfully planned and delivered program sets the tone and ignites employees’ excitement and enthusiasm for the organization and their new role. From the beginning, organizations need to focus on helping new employees integrate into the organization and begin to build relationships. Employees who feel welcome and valued from day one will experience greater job satisfaction, better job performance, and decreased stress. As a result, organizations will benefit from increased employee engagement and retention. From the organization’s perspective, this is the perfect opportunity to communicate and help employees embrace and internalize the organization’s philosophy, values, norms, and culture.
An effective new employee orientation program takes time and effort but is well worth the investment, which is borne out in the research. According to a benchmark report by the Aberdeen Group, organizations with a standard onboarding process experienced 54 percent greater new hire productivity; 50 percent greater retention among new hires; and twice the level of new hire engagement (Lombardi 2011). Other studies show that a well-planned, comprehensive orientation program greatly benefits both the organization and the employees. Researchers at Ohio State University “found that new employees who completed a three-hour orientation program showed a higher level of commitment than did those who skipped the program” (Grabmeier 2000).
Overview of Onboarding and New Employee Orientation
Onboarding, which is also known as organizational socialization, is the process through which new hires acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors that will ensure their success in an organization. An effective onboarding program begins before the new hires’ start date and continues through their first days, weeks, and months on the job. This process helps employees to feel welcomed and prepared through orientation sessions, training programs, informal interactions, printed materials, videos, and the use of technology. Organizations with successful onboarding programs create a comprehensive onboarding plan, establish clear roles for the key stakeholders, and develop robust orientation training sessions (see box for more important elements of successful onboarding).
| Checklist for a Successful Onboarding Program |
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The Onboarding Plan
Effective onboarding programs start with a written plan that outlines specific components, actions, timelines, goals, responsibilities, and available support. This road map is shared with everyone in the organization and provides a way to measure the success of the program. Breaking down timelines into segments can help give structure to the plan:
• Prior to employee’s first day
• First day
• First week
• Within first month
• Within 60 days
• During the first 90 days
• Ongoing follow-up.
The onboarding plan would include preparation for the employee’s arrival; the organizational orientation session (which the workshop agendas in Chapters 1–3 provide); follow-up activities such as check-ins, webinars, mentoring, training, and evaluation (Chapter 10); and the departmental orientation session (Chapter 11).
The Key Players
The onboarding road map also identifies those with primary responsibility for the onboarding activities. Of course, the most obvious people involved are the new employees and the facilitator/trainer who designs and delivers the orientation program. However, many more people need to be part of the onboarding process, including organizational leaders, the human resources (HR) department, the training department, and the employees’ supervisors.
Support from organizational leaders is essential to successful onboarding. Before you begin to design your program, spend time up front getting their support, buy-in, and participation so that you can be clear about what they want to accomplish in the new employee orientation program. They should participate not only in the design of the program but also in its implementation, as guest speakers and participants (preferably in person, or through video conferencing, video recording, or Skype).
HR professionals will take primary ownership of the orientation and onboarding program. In addition to designing and delivering the orientation session, they are responsible for initiating the onboarding process by sending a welcoming letter, appropriate forms, and organization information to the new employees. They will also ensure that new employees are set up in the payroll system and receive identification badges and other necessary information—everything they need to feel part of the organization from day one. In addition, HR personnel will serve as coaches for the employees’ supervisors and as facilitators and coaches for the new employees, providing tools, training, and feedback from selection throughout the entire transition. Although HR staff will be the primary drivers of the process, they must involve others in the organization as presenters, panelists, and advisors.
The employees’ direct supervisors are pivotal in assimilating and integrating new employees into the organization in general and into the work unit in particular. They are responsible for making the employees feel welcome, setting clear expectations, and ensuring the employees receive the proper training and resources they need to perform well in their new jobs. Chapter 11 gives tips and tools for supervisors to use in the orientation process.
And, finally, the new employee also has a role to play in the process: completing the required employment forms and pre-arrival assignments, attending the orientation session, participating in any online discussions and activities, and taking the initiative in seeking information from others.
The New Employee Orientation Training Sessions
Once the plan and roles are established, one of the most important aspects of onboarding is new employee orientation training. These vital sessions
• Provide employees with information to help them integrate smoothly and quickly into the organization
• Introduce employees to the organization as a whole—its structure, culture, purpose, and values
• Help new employees identify the importance of their roles within the organization and how what they do affects others
• Introduce employees to their departmental goals and their roles in helping to meet those goals
• Promote communication between new employees and management
• Communicate expectations regarding policies, procedures, and performance
• Make new employees feel welcome and assure them that they made the right decision to join the team
• Reduce employee anxiety associated with entering into an unknown environment with new people, expectations, and situations
• Get employees excited about being a part of the organization and motivated to do the best job possible
• Help employees get up to speed more quickly, thus reducing start-up costs associated with on-the-job training.
The agendas in this volume have been designed with these key goals in mind. Whether you choose the half-day, full-day, or two-day program, you will find all the resources and tools you need to create engaging, interactive orientation sessions that will enable your new employees to integrate smoothly and effectively into your organization and its mission.
Providing your new employees with a deeper, more nuanced understanding of your organization and their role in it will give them a solid foundation upon which to build strong skills and relationships in the workplace. As one research report puts it: “The bottom line is that the faster new hires feel welcome and prepared for their jobs, the faster they will be able to successfully contribute to the firm’s mission” (Bauer 2010). The agendas, activities, and tools offered in this volume will help you start this critical learning immediately.
What Do I Need to Know About Training?
The ATD Workshop Series is designed to be adaptable for many levels of both training facilitation and topic expertise. Circle the answers in this quick assessment that most closely align with your state of expertise.
Two-fold novice: Your best bet is to stick closely to the materials as they are designed. Spend extra time with the content to learn as much as possible about it. Read the examples and sample stories, and plan examples of your own to share. Also, closely read Chapter 8 on training delivery, and consider practicing with a colleague before delivering the program. Take comfort in the tested materials you are holding and confidence in your ability to apply them!
Developing your expertise in one or both areas: Logical choices for you may include using the outline and materials, and then including material you have developed that is relevant to the topic and your participants’ workplace needs. Or, take the core content of the materials and revise the learning techniques into interactive approaches you have used with success in the past. Play to your strengths and develop your growth areas using the resources in this volume that complement your existing skills.
Authority twice over: Feel free to adapt the agendas and materials as you see fit and use any materials that you have already developed, or simply incorporate training activities, handouts, and so forth from this volume into your own agenda. Enjoy the benefits of ready-to-use processes and support tools and have fun tailoring them to your preferences and organizational needs.
How Much Time Will Preparation Take?
Putting together and facilitating a training workshop, even when the agendas, activities, tools, and assessments are created for you, can be time consuming. For planning purposes, estimate about four days of preparation time for a two-day course.
What Are the Important Features of the Book?
Section I includes the various workshop designs (from half-day to two days) with agendas and thumbnails from presentation slides as well as a chapter on customizing the workshop for your circumstances. The chapters included are
• Chapter 1. Two-Day Workshop (16 hours program time) + Agenda + PPT (thumbnails)
• Chapter 2. One-Day Workshop (8 hours program time) + Agenda + PPT (thumbnails)
• Chapter 3. Half-Day Workshop (4 hours program time) + Agenda + PPT (thumbnails)
• Chapter 4. Customizing the New Employee Orientation Workshop.
The workshop chapters include advice, instructions, workshop at-a-glance tables, as well as full program agendas.
Section II is standard from book to book in the ATD Workshop Series as a way to provide a consistent foundation of training principles. This section’s chapters follow the ADDIE model—the classic instructional design model named after its steps (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation). The chapters are based on best practices and crafted with input from experienced training practitioners. They are meant to help you get up to speed as quickly as possible. Each chapter includes several additional recurring features to help you understand the concepts and ideas presented. The Bare Minimum gives you the bare bones of what you need to know about the topic. Key Points summarize the most important points of each chapter. What to Do Next guides you to your next action steps. And, finally, the Additional Resources section at the end of each chapter gives you options for further reading to broaden your understanding of training design and delivery. Section II chapters include
• Chapter 5. Identifying Needs for New Employee Orientation Training
• Chapter 6. Understanding the Foundations of Training Design
• Chapter 7. Leveraging Technology to Maximize and Support Design and Delivery
• Chapter 8. Delivering Your New Employee Orientation Workshop: Be a Great Facilitator
• Chapter 9. Evaluating Workshop Results.
Section III covers information about post-workshop learning:
• Chapter 10. The Follow-Up Coach
• Chapter 11. The Supervisor’s Toolkit.
Section IV includes all the supporting documents and online guidance:
• Chapter 12. Learning Activities
• Chapter 13. Assessments
• Chapter 14. Handouts
• Chapter 15. Tools
• Chapter 16. Online Supporting Documents and Downloads.
The book includes everything you need to prepare for and deliver your workshop:
• Agendas, the heart of the series, are laid out in three columns for ease of delivery. The first column shows the timing, the second gives the presentation slide number and image for quick reference, and the third gives instructions and facilitation notes. These are designed to be straightforward, simple agendas that you can take into the training room and use to stay on track. They include cues on the learning activities, notes about tools or handouts to include, and other important delivery tips. You can download the agendas from the website (see Chapter 16) and print them out for easy use.
• Learning activities, which are more detailed than the agendas, cover the objectives of the activity, the time and materials required, the steps involved, variations on the activity in some cases, and wrap-up or debriefing questions or comments.
• Assessments, handouts, and tools are the training materials you will provide to learners to support the training program. These can include scorecards for games, instructions, reference materials, samples, self-assessments, and so forth.
• Presentation media (PowerPoint slides) are deliberately designed to be simple so that you can customize them for your company and context. They are provided for your convenience. Chapter 7 discusses different forms of technology that you can incorporate into your program, including different types of presentation media.
All the program materials are available for download, customization, and duplication. See Chapter 16 for instructions on how to access the materials.
How Are the Agendas Laid Out?
The following agenda is a sample from the two-day workshop.
| Day One: (8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) | ||
| TIMING | SLIDES | ACTIVITIES/NOTES/CONSIDERATIONS |
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8:00 a.m. (10 min) |
Slide 1
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Welcome and Introductions Begin your session on time by getting the participants’ attention in a fun way (whistle, gong, or horn). Display the title slide. Introduce yourself (and other facilitators as appropriate) and welcome the participants. Note the usual housekeeping items such as restroom locations and breaks. |
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8:10 a.m. (15 min) |
Slide 2
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Program Objectives and Format • New Employee binder (or online equivalent) Use these next three slides to review the agenda and learning objectives with the participants by presenting them as the benefits of attending the workshop. (Slide 1 of 3) |
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Slide 3
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In reviewing the benefits on this slide, take a minute or two to distribute and note the contents of their New Employee binders (which will include the Employee Handbook, policies and procedures, benefits information, and other resources specific to your organization). If this resource is made available electronically, let the participants know that you will ask them to access that information at various points throughout the program. Explain that they will receive handouts to add to their folders or binders as part of the activities they will experience. (Slide 2 of 3) |
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Slide 4
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Wrap up your review of the benefits by asking, by a show of hands, how many participants have attended other orientation or onboarding programs during which presenters just talked at them accompanied by PowerPoint slides. Explain that this program is going to be different because they will be participating in interactive, engaging activities throughout the workshop. Encourage them to have fun with it! (Slide 3 of 3) |
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How Do I Use This Book?
If you’ve ever read a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, you will recognize that this book follows a similar principle. Think back to the self-assessment at the beginning of this introduction:
• If you chose authority, you can get right to work preparing one of the workshops in Section I. Use Section II as a reference. Each of the chapters in Section II features a sidebar or other information written by the author who has much experience in the topic under consideration. This advice can help guide your preparation, delivery, and evaluation of training.
• If you chose developing expertise, read Section II in depth and skim the topic content.
• If you chose novice at training and the topic, then spend some serious time familiarizing yourself with both Sections I and II of this volume as well as the topic content.
Once you have a general sense of the material, assemble your workshop. Select the appropriate agenda and then modify the times and training activities as needed and desired. Assemble the materials and familiarize yourself with the topic, the activities, and the presentation media.
Key Points
• The workshops in this book are designed to be effective at all levels of trainer expertise.
• Good training requires an investment of time.
• The book contains everything you need to create a workshop, including agendas, learning activities, presentation media, assessments, handouts, and tools.
What to Do Next
• Review the agendas presented in Section I and select the best fit for your requirements, time constraints, and budget.
• Based on your level of expertise, skim or read in-depth the chapters in Section II.
• Consider what kind of follow-up learning activities you will want to include with the workshop by reviewing Section III.
Additional Resources
Bauer, T.N. (2010). “Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success.” SHRM Foundation’s Effective Practice Guidelines Series. Alexandria, VA: SHRM.
Biech, E. (2008). 10 Steps to Successful Training. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Biech, E., ed. (2014). ASTD Handbook: The Definitive Reference for Training & Development, 2nd edition. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Emerson, T., and M. Stewart. (2011). The Learning and Development Book. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Friedman, I. (2006). “Are You Losing Potential New Hires at Hello?” T+D (November).
Grabmeier, J. (2000). “Employee Orientation Programs Help Build Commitment, Study Finds.” Research News (March 28). Available online at http://www.osu.edu/units/research/archive/oriprgrm.htm.
Lombardi, M. (2011). “Onboarding 2011: The Path to Productivity.” Boston: Aberdeen Group.
McCain, D.V., and D.D. Tobey. (2004). Facilitation Basics. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Moscato, D. (2005). “Using Technology to Get Employees on Board.” HR Magazine (June/July), 107-109.
Piskurich, G. (2003). Trainer Basics. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Stolovitch, H.D., and E.J. Keeps. (2011). Telling Ain’t Training, 2nd edition. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Wells, S.J. (2005). “Diving In.” HR Magazine (March), 55-59.