Good employee orientation training class for new employees

The Elements of a Good New Employee Orientation Training Class

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Jan Kantor in Business Management, General Interest, Human Resources, Management & Leadership Skills, Reducing Turnover with no comments

New employees are full of excitement at the prospects of getting a new start with your company. They are also full of hesitation because they know nothing about how your company operates or what will really be expected of them. That is where a well-designed new employee orientation program comes into play. Your orientation program should help your new employees to feel confident in their roles within the company and their individual departments.

When it comes to putting together a good orientation program, there are several elements that should be included. Your new employee orientation program will evolve over time. But to get it off to a good start, these are the essential elements that you need to have.

An Employee Handbook

When the orientation program is over, your new employees are going to have questions and need the information you gave them to be accessible at all times. The employee handbook is something that all employees should have and it will be the textbook you use to run your orientation program.

It helps your employees if you run the course in conjunction with the handbook, because that makes it easier for the new employees to find the information they need when they start in with their new jobs. The handbook covers everything from frequently asked questions to all of the company policies and procedures.

Executive Orientation

If you want your new hires to feel welcome on their first day, then get a company executive to do the new employee greeting to open the orientation class. It may not seem significant to employees that have been with the company for a while, but it will be something that the new hires talk about when they get home that night. It is a good way to get the orientation class off to a positive and productive start.

Question Periods

You will never get through your orientation program if you allow new hires to ask questions at any point throughout the program. Make it very clear that there will be time for questions at the end of each training section and encourage new hires to write their questions down and ask those questions at the appropriate time.

Company Overview

Every new hire should be given an overview of the history of the company and a comprehensive outline of the company’s executive team. By review the company’s major accomplishments throughout its history, you will be giving the new hires a chance to start to feel some pride in their new company.

Departmental Days

One of the biggest mistakes that some companies make in their new hire orientation programs is they run the programs and then send the employees off to their respective departments. The proper way to do it is to set aside one day during the orientation program where each employee can get introduced to their new co-workers and see their new desk. Then you should send the new hires back to orientation so they can ask questions.

New hires will have plenty of time for on-the-job training when they start their jobs. The new orientation program is a time for becoming familiar with the company at a gradual pace. When an employee is able to go back into training after a short time in his department, then he can ask questions that will help him to better understand his new job.