Course Overview

Making a candidate an offer and having him or her accept is only the first step to launching an effective employer/employee relationship. A thoughtful orientation and a robust onboarding process are essential elements in integrating new talent into an organization’s way of life. This hands-on workshop introduces best practices in developing orientation processes and onboarding procedures. During the program, we will start with the organization’s existing way of conducting business and craft a roadmap for achieving the company’s goals and objectives for welcoming new employees and integrating them into the organization.

Program Objectives

At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Explain the importance of an orientation program to an organization.
  • Identify the stakeholders in the onboarding and orientation process.
  • Recognize how the commitment curve affects both new employees and their managers.
  • Know what companies can do to deliver their promise to new employees.
  • Determine the critical elements of effective employee onboarding.
  • Sell the idea of onboarding throughout their organization.

The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).

Workshop Outline

Why Orient and Onboard: The Benefits of Starting Strong

If you love your people, they’ll love your customers, and they’ll probably enjoy their work – at least most of the time. This program begins with a discussion about the goals of orientation and onboarding programs. Working in teams, participants will define their organization’s onboarding and orientation goals for use during the remainder of the workshop.
 

Understanding the Four Pillars: Building Employee Commitment

Next, participants will learn about the four pillars of employee engagement: clarity, competence, influence, and appreciation and how to set the stage for a positive employee-employer relationship. Specifically, we’ll discuss what needs to happen the first day, the first week, the first month, the first year, and beyond in order for employees to thrive in an environment where they are encouraged to do their best.
 

On-Brand: Perception Counts

During this segment, we’ll talk specifically about what orientation and onboarding should look and feel like. We’ll discuss the idea of branding and how every interaction in the onboarding experience influences how an employee ultimately engages with the organization.
 

The Eight Habits of Success: World-Class Lessons

During this portion of the program, participants will learn what exceptional employers do to make their orientation programs successful. We’ll then discuss lessons learned and how best-in-class ideas can be adapted.
 

Obtaining Buy-In: Getting Commitment

Great onboarding and effective orientation programs work only when there is a commitment at all levels of an organization. This part of the program addresses organizational buy-in and strategies for making onboarding part of a culture and not something that is solely a function of human resources.
 

Communicating the Message: Mapping the Onboarding Process

In this workshop segment, we’ll begin “chunking” activities associated with onboarding and orientation and determining a plan for implementing each. 
 

Heading in the Right Direction: A Checklist for Success

To wrap up the day, participants will create a checklist to evaluate their success and craft an evaluation schedule by which the group can measure its progress.
 
By the conclusion of this program, participants should have a clear understanding of what a successful orientation program looks like.  If required, we can also consult for multiple days with your organization to fully develop your program.