A new employee can never be “just one more thing”

Before you read further, you should consider checking out the two part case study about revitalizing new hire orientations: An New Employee Orientation Overhaul and The Exciting Conclusion: What Happens When A New Hire Orientation Becomes a Game.

You’re busy. Deadlines are coming up. Your Outlook calendar is packed. Reports are due. And yet one more thing is coming up next week: you have a new employee starting.

Except, a new employee isn’t “just one more thing.”

Even though you’ve walked the halls of your office for years, and even though you’ve seen plenty of employees come and go during your tenure, it’ll be the first time your new employee will have experienced your office. When that new employee begins next week, his life will have changed. He stopped doing something else – whether he left a job or he just graduated college – in order to begin working for you. He prepared for a series of interviews. He stayed up nights wondering if he was going to get the offer. He’s talked with his wife and children about the excitement he’s feeling for a new beginning. His excitement for the new challenge and new co-workers and new health plan and new boss will keep him up late the night before he begins.

His orientation may seem like a hassle to you, but it’s a big deal for him.

While the onboarding of a new employee is a process that can span weeks and months, the new hire orientation featuring an introduction to the organization and some HR stuff and forms and policies and procedures should be an experience worthy of all the excitement and anticipation and life-changing expectations that your new hire is expecting.

Earlier I wrote about the idea of giving a new employee a Professional Development Plan (PDP) from day 1 of employment. Perhaps that idea won’t fly in every organization. Following is a link to another idea you may find helpful:

Click here to download a sample new hire orientation note-taking packet.

The intent behind this sample document is to give your new hire a clue as to what he (or she) should be paying attention to during his meetings with people across the organization.

What are you doing to make sure the life-changing first day of a new hire with your organization is a welcoming and productive experience?

Brian Washburn

Brian has over 25 years of experience in Learning & Development including the last 7 as CEO of Endurance Learning.

Brian is always available to chat about learning & development and to talk about whether Endurance Learning can be your training team’s “extra set of hands”.

See author's posts

Articles Similar to A new employee can never be “just one more thing”

Have FOMO after seeing everyone’s posts about ATD ICE last week?

In this week’s podcast, I talk a little about why we should constantly be looking to improve our L&D skillset, and I offer some specific suggestions for how we can do that, especially if we don’t have the time or budget to make it to a big industry event.

Know something? Say something!

I’m pretty sure you have something worthwhile to share with the rest of the industry. In today’s podcast I talk a bit about why you might want to share your knowledge even if you don’t think you have something of value to say.

5 Reasons L&D People Should Be Listening To Industry-specific Podcasts

Yes, we should know a lot about presentation skills and adult learning if we’re in the L&D field. We should also know something about the industry we’re developing training for.

Why it’s good to have L&D friends outside of your own organization

Is there someone you can turn to, outside of your organization, with whom you can bounce training ideas or debate the best way to engage your learners? I’d say having “training friends” outside of your organization isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. Give this week’s podcast a listen to hear more.

How can everyone on your team learn from one person’s professional development experience?

Perhaps you just returned from ATD ICE. Perhaps you or someone on your team recently attended a virtual conference or a webinar. Today’s podcast goes into detail on how you can spread the learning and new insights beyond just the person who attended a conference, webinar or other professional development session.

A Magical Learning Experience

Whether you recently attended ATD’s International Conference and Expo or one of the many virtual conferences taking place, there can be magic to be found when you share your key learnings with your colleagues.