How to Make Time for Employee Orientation

This week the question is "How do we make time for employee orientation?" 

I promise to give you some practical tips to help with this, but let me start by saying that you don't have time NOT to provide an effective orientation for your new team members. If you really think about this honestly, you are probably trading time somewhere else because you aren't delivering an effective red carpet experience.

Are you suffering from lots of turnover within the first week or 30-90 days? Are you spending a lot of time dealing with issues that could have been prevented if your team members were set up for success in the beginning?

Then you do have time. You're just choosing to spend them on those problems instead of spending time on getting your team prepared to succeed.

Watch the video to hear about two customers we worked with whose retention went up significantly because of a better employee orientation. 

In essence, your employee orientation should introduce your culture to your team members in a way that makes them fall in love with your company - and helps them make connections right away. If all you have time for is compliance activities, then it won't be the best experience. 

With all that said, I understand that leaders are feeling overwhelmed without adding more to it. So, here are some questions you can ask yourselves to make room for an orientation that best rolls out the red carpet for your new team. 

1. What could be done in advance of orientation day?

2. What could be done online?

3. What are some self-service options? 

4. What could be cut out of our current orientation?

5. What segments could be combined so they take less time - and you ake room for more culture and connection?

6. How could you take the orientation you already have and kick it up a few notches? 

• Could you add powerful storytelling?
• Could you take people out of the room and introduce them to department heads in their own spaces?
• Could you make it more interactive?
• Could you add props, music, or costumes to make it more fun?
• Could you only use the best speakers in your organization to deliver it?
• Could you make the text more visual?
• Could you gamify some of the more boring parts?
• Could you put people into discussion pairs or groups?

The bottom line is that employee orientation isn't an "extra" - it's a necessity if you want to retain and engage team members and give them the treatment you want them to give your customers.