ORIENTATION
  

OUR APPROACH

We have tapped the extraordinary power that an effective orientation can deliver--to assimilate, align, acculturate, and energize new employees.

During the first days at a new job, employees are remarkably receptive. They are poised eagerly and ready to be wonderstruck. Employees join an organization intent to succeed, and are itching to find the resources to help them.

ORIENTATIONS HAPPEN!

An orientation demonstrates to new employees how the organization operates and how employees will be treated.

Orientations happen whether you provide them or not.

They are either carefully delivered by the organization itself, as it conveys a first impression of mutual trust and opportunity...

Or they are informally volunteered by vocal, and sometimes not-so-encouraging coworkers, who swoop in to tell new employees "the way things are around here." The portrait is usually neither accurate nor very positive.

The first impression, positive or negative, creates the backdrop against which new employees judge everything they see or experience.

You need to decide who delivers it.

THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS

Often organizations will jam-pack the first day orientation with as much information as they can.

But there is only so a much a glass can hold, especially if today happens to be the glass's first day in a new cupboard and it obviously has other things on its mind.

Some organizations misuse Day One as an administrative convenience for itself, a brain dump and form-filling session to get a lot of the paperwork and must-do's out of the way.

A first phase of orientation should contain the right amount of information so it will be retained and assimilated. The content should take advantage of a new employee's clean slate.

On the first days of work, new employees are attentively listening for the answer to a few fundamental questions, the most important being, "Have I made the right choice?"

We have moved clients away from programs that appear to new hires as an administrative and benefits-show-and-tell session. Instead, our model emphasizes an organization's Mission, Values, and Vision. We enrapture new hires by:
• Communicating the culture, not just what the organization does, but what it stands for
• Providing the the tools to succeed
• Stressing the most important policies that affect their jobs, safety, and security
• Showing how to get answers if they are not provided here

But don't worry, the most important factual information including key policies, compliance issues, and benefits, will be accommodated, but streamlined and packaged in a way that is interesting and is more likely to be retained.

ENERGIZE AS WELL AS INFORM

An orientation is an opportunity--- to excite a new employees, to get them see possibilities.. An new employee should leave enthusiastic and confident, with the feeling that this will indeed be a great place to work.

Even the most mundane information can be presented in a way that is interesting and relevant.

A PROCESS. NOT AN EVENT

Much of the "too much" of an orientation that bludgeons a new employee is information that is really not all-that-necessary on the first day. Not only does this become contribute to overload likely to be forgotten, it will detract from the information that IS vital on the first day.

We can show how to to structure content to deliver it at the best time, in the best place, with the best delivery conveyance.

Orientation should not be seen as a one-day welcoming event. Rather, it should begin a process that starts on Day One and continues to influences new employees as they assimilate, form impressions, shape attitudes.

Twenty years of experience has taught us that return-on-investment of an employees time and attention can be measured in loyalty, productivity, and length of employment.

THE TOOLS TO SUCCEEED

New hire programs should provide the tools for success right off the dock.

But they should also be the first immersion in career long education and improvement.

Orientation should inspire new employees to pursue tools for growth on their own.

ANCILLARY USES

Program elements we create are designed for applications beyond origination.

Some components of the orientation can be adapted for use a job fairs and recruitment.

Other components can be used as corporate image or marketing presentations by management.

Finally, and perhaps the most valuable ancillary use is with existing employees.

We urge our clients to use some of these materials to re-invigorate existing employee, to get them excited and re-committed, to re-align them with the mission, values, and vision, and to re-affirm their value within the organization.


LET’S DO A PHONE MEETING. ON ME

Let’s chat. No obligation. Let’s share some ideas. Email us and we’ll set up a brief telephone meeting where we can talk about your current orientation and ways it can be transformed into a powerful business tool. Pick up your phone and smack 617-738-8889 or email us at info@chuckgoldstone.com

We can chat about:
• Your current orientation
• Ways to enhance/ improve it
• Immediate benefits of a comprehensive orientation
• Calculation of your own turnover costs
• Ways to make delivery more cost-effective
• Ways to leverage HR staff time more efficiently
• Criteria for selecting the most appropriate delivery
• Aligning front line managers in the orientation process
• Ancillary uses of modules
• Strategies to foster buy-in within the organization
• Calculating return-on-investment