If you’re running a company, you probably have at least a few employees working for you. And if you have employees working for you, you need an employee orientation program. It’s just that simple.

An effective employee orientation program is one of the most important things you can do to put your company on the road to success (and keep it there). Employee orientation is your chance to welcome your new hires and speed up the time it takes them to become productive members of the organization, while at the same time increasing their comfort level and reinforcing their decision to join your team. Beyond that, a well-thought-out and streamlined employee-orientation program leads to employee retention and reduces turnover so the orientation program you develop now will serve you for years to come.

For all these reasons and more, it’s crucial that you take the time to properly develop your orientation training program.

The Purpose of New-Employee Orientation Training

As we’ve already covered, employee orientation is a stepping stone to organizational success. It’s when you introduce your new hires to your company, their new work environment, and their new co-workers. It’s when you review workplace policies, explain company goals, and outline your expectations. In essence, it’s when your new employees first start to feel invested in their new jobs

The Benefits of New-Employee Orientation Training

An effective new-employee orientation program can provide many benefits—to your new hires and to your company’s overall success. Consider this: think back to the last time you started a new job. Did you walk in on day one filled with questions (and perhaps some nerves) about what the day would bring and how your new position would unfold?

Simply answering all those first-day questions and putting your new employees at ease is one of the biggest benefits of hosting an employee-orientation program, regardless of the size of your company. You can answer most, if not all, of your new hires’ questions right off the bat.

Here are some of the other benefits you’ll reap as a result of presenting a comprehensive employee orientation training program:

The work you put into preparing the orientation program will also help you streamline organizational processes and procedures.
New employees will feel welcome from day one.
New hires will know exactly what you expect from them.
Your new employees will get acclimated to their new positions faster, which reduces the costs associated with learning the job.
New employees will feel more confident.
You can promote communication between the new employees and their supervisors from day one.

Making a Good First Impression

Now that you know how important employee orientation is, and why it’s so important, here are some tips for making that crucial first impression.

Remember that employee orientation can begin before the new hire starts work. You can send a welcome letter with an agenda so everyone knows what to expect of the orientation program. Or, if your employee orientation is offered online, encourage new hires to complete it before their first day of work.
Start with the basics. People will get comfortable in their new jobs and will become productive sooner if they are given the basic knowledge they need to understand their job. Tell them why, when, where, and how before you expect them to take on big assignments or projects. Equally important: don’t overwhelm them with too much information.
Ask for feedback. At the end of your new-employee orientation program, ask the new hires how helpful the information you gave them was. You can even ask employees who’ve been with you a while what they thought of the orientation program—what they liked and didn’t like—and consider making changes based on the feedback you receive.

An effective employee orientation program will make a significant difference in how quickly your new employees become productive. On the other hand, if you choose not to provide employee orientation, your new hires are far more likely to feel uncomfortable in their new positions and take longer to reach their full potential.

If You Have Employees, You Need Orientation Training