Preparing your school district’s employees for a successful school year begins with an effective employee-orientation program. You probably review your orientation materials every year in order to update the information and add new policies, but how much time are you putting into keeping your school orientation up to date in terms of technology and user-friendliness? During your review of existing materials, you might also want to take some time to explore new ways of hosting school orientation that would make your life (and the lives of all your new employees) simpler.

In a day and age when nearly every aspect of our lives is technology-based, why are so many school districts still presenting school employee orientation in a big room in front of hundreds of new employees? Reviewing your current orientation materials and incorporating some modern tactics is the best way to ensure that you set your staff up for success and set the stage for a stellar school year. If you’re not sure where to get new ideas, here are some suggestions.

Call on other school districts.
One of the most valuable resources you have at your disposal as an orientation administrator is other school districts. You probably know your counterparts in at least a few other school districts, so go ahead and reach out to them to discuss what methods they’re using or thinking about using. An open dialogue about what does and does not work and possible new approaches will benefit both of you. Let’s say for example that one of you has considered putting your school orientation online, but isn’t sure if this is even an option—teaming up to do some research will decrease some of the burden and be helpful in the long run.
Do your research.
There are a plethora of online resources available regarding employee orientation. Before you finalize your materials and decide how to present them to your employees, research innovative and successful techniques used by other school districts and organizations. Even if you don’t implement a whole new approach, you’ll probably learn a trick or two that you can apply to your employee orientation.
In addition to online resources, there are numerous professional associations for school employees, and most host annual conferences for people in your position to get together and share ideas. Industry-specific publications are another excellent source of new ideas for effectively engaging employees in orientation materials to maximize their learning potential. Remember, the goal of a school employee orientation is not simply to give your new employees information and make sure they fully understand it, it’s also to create excitement for the school year and instill a sense of pride in your employees.
Think outside the box.
You don’t necessarily have to confine your research to school-related forums. Consider doing some homework on other types of successful organizations—big corporations or even major universities if you want to stay within the realm of education. For example, companies like Google have frequently been cited for their progressive and innovative teaching techniques as they pertain to employee-training programs. Take a look at what they’re doing and figure out if any of their techniques can be customized to meet your school district’s employee orientation needs. Case studies from tech-savvy giants will also provide helpful hints and tips about how to use technology to increase employee engagement throughout the orientation process.
Don’t forget your most readily available assets—your friends and family. Talking to them about employee orientation at their job will give you even more insight into different techniques that are being used, as well as what they liked and didn’t like. By talking to people in different fields and researching new employee orientation processes, you’ll gather a variety of information and ideas that can help you modernize how you present this important material to your school district’s new employees. Then you can draw upon your experiences, as well as what your research yields, when you prepare for future delivery of your school employee orientation program.
Remember, no two districts are exactly the same. Each one comes with its own strengths, weaknesses, and challenges, many of which can change from year to year. Take time to think about your school district’s goals and the challenges that could stand in the way of achieving those goals. Then incorporate all of that, plus a few new innovative techniques, into your orientation program to create a well-organized, engaging, and modern school employee-orientation program.

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