Orientation Handbook: Getting Employees Off to a Good Start

Learning objectives for participants include:

• Understand how important an orientation program is to an organization.
• Identify the role of the human resource department in the orientation program.
• 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 training.
• Establish the importance of having an employee handbook for new and long-term employees.

Course Overview

• You will spend the first part of the day getting to know participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.

Finding, Hiring, and Keeping Good People

• To begin, participants will discuss the organizational activities required to find, hire, and keep good people, and how those activities tie into an orientation process.

Building Employee Commitment

• Next, participants will learn about the four pillars of commitment: clarity, competence, influence, and appreciation.

Perception

• During this session, participants will explore how perceptions and appearances can affect orientation.

Fast-Track Orientation

• This session will discuss what kind of orientation is best for short term employees.

Designing a Successful Orientation Program

• Next, participants will think about their own experiences with orientation. They will combine this with a list of common orientation mistakes to develop a framework for designing a successful program.

Characteristics of a Successful Orientation Process

• During this session, participants will discuss the top ten characteristics of a successful orientation process and how they can incorporate those items into their organization.

The Commitment Curve

• Next, participants will learn about the employer/employee commitment curve, and how to make the orientation process work with it.

The Nine Orientation Habits of World-Class Employers

• During this session, participants will learn what world-class employers do to make their orientation program a success.

Obtaining Buy-In

• This session will give participants some ways to get buy-in from supervisors for the orientation program.

Employee Training

• Participants will spend this session learning how Kolb’s learning styles apply to employee orientation and training.

Adult Learning

• This session will introduce participants to the principles of adult learning. Participants will also discuss how to incorporate these principles into orientation and training.

Working with External Providers

• Next, participants will discuss what to consider when working with external providers during orientation.

Helping People Make Connections

• In this session, participants will learn how to help people establish good relationships. They will also consider the value of a workplace buddy.

Creating Employee Manuals

• During this session, participants will discuss what should be included in employee handbooks.

A Bridge to Onboarding

• To wrap up the day, participants will create a checklist of necessary items for their orientation. Then, they will work with a partner to brainstorm ways to improve their current orientation process.

Workshop Wrap-Up

• At the end of the course, students will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.