Editorial
An employee’s start date with a company and the type of welcome the employee experiences on their first day of employment — whether virtual or in person — sets the tone for their employment journey there. It is therefore important that the employee’s experience on the first day is welcoming, intentional and inclusive.
As human resources professionals, we are responsible for opening the door and introducing the employee to the company culture once the recruiting and hiring processes are complete. This is accomplished through employee orientation and onboarding.
The question is: should we provide employee orientation, onboarding or both? To answer this question, employee orientation and onboarding, though they are related, are not the same. The truth is that orientation and onboarding are both important to a new employee’s experience.
What Is Orientation?
The orientation process is the first step in the new hire’s entrance to the workspace and must start before the employee’s first day of employment. Orientation must be a planned process, ensuring that the new hire is provided with the required paperwork they need to complete, whether online or in-person, and all the equipment and tools they require to be productive and successful are provided and available.
I once had the experience of starting a new role and could not access the files and protocols I needed to work because the company laptop I required to access any work files was not provided for almost three weeks after my start date. Without this access, I also could not complete my payroll and benefit forms to be paid and access benefits.
I wish I could say that I was the only one in that situation — however, in discussion with other new employees who started around the same time and after a later experience with the same issues during my own employee’s hiring process — it is fair to say that this orientation process was a very challenging and devaluing process for new hires. The delayed response also sent a negative message.
It is also important to understand that every employee is different and has unique family and personal obligations that we cannot assume. Having an employee start a new role and experience a delay in pay and benefits while still being expected to work is not inclusive in any way.
Orientation should also include introducing the new employee to their colleagues, managers and general guidelines. Orientation should be planned and scheduled for the first few days to a week of the new hire’s employment.
What Is Onboarding?
The onboarding process also begins during recruitment. However, onboarding is a lengthier and planned process, and should be a minimum of 90 days to one year, to help the new employee understand the expectations of their role and how it aligns with, impacts and supports the company’s mission. Onboarding also helps employees learn about the company’s values and how these values are reflected in company culture. While orientation is always important for a new employee, onboarding requires the most attention and is the foundation of an employee’s employment journey with the company and is critical to employee engagement and retention. According to statistics, a great onboarding experience ensures 69% of employees stick with a company for three years.
Onboarding should also happen when an employee is promoted or transitions to another role. It helps them transition more effectively to the new role, setting them up for success while making the transition a positive and productive process for the employee and manager, and potentially minimizing a negative impact to the new team the employee is joining due to disruption of department or functional processes.
Related Article: There Are No More Excuses for a Lousy Onboarding Experience
What is the Leader’s Role in Onboarding?
An engaged, intentional and inclusive leader plays a critical role in supporting new employees throughout their onboarding experience and setting them up for long-term success through the employment journey. A leader-facilitated and well-defined onboarding process will help the new employee develop critical relationships and encourage them to engage in the team dynamics and company culture.
For the onboarding process to be successful, the new employee’s leader is their primary source of support and guidance — with appropriate support from Human Resources. Throughout this process, the leader should provide clear expectations of the role and the company and most importantly ensure the employee’s experience is welcoming and inclusive. This will go a long way to ensure the employee’s longer term commitment and retention with the company.
Best practices and survey data demonstrate leaders play a critical role in a new employee’s experience and success within the organization. According to Enboarder, 72% of employees report that 1:1 time with their direct manager is crucial to good onboarding.
Key to onboard process is to:
- Prepare and plan for the first 90 days.
- Ensure the new employee is familiar with company policies, processes, role expectations and the culture of the company.
- Ensure they feel welcomed, engaged, and included.
Inclusive Onboarding
Onboarding is a pivotal moment for making employees feel included. According to Gallup analytics, one in five employees either report that their most recent onboarding was poor — or that they received no onboarding at all. Creating an inclusive onboarding experience requires:
- Letting new hires know inclusion matters and is important within the company — providing all safe space to bring their best self to work.
- Timing it right. If the new employee’s leader is not available or out of office on the employee’s first day or the team is on planned offsite meetings for the week – this is not the time for the employee to start their employment. Arriving at an empty office or an office without the leader is devaluing.
- Giving space for settling in. Everyone learns and absorbs new information in their own way. It is important to give the employee reasonable time to review documents and familiarize themselves with department and company processes.
- Being open to constructive feedback. Onboarding is an opportunity for all to learn, engage and improve processes.
- Celebrating small wins. Recognition and positive acknowledgement is key.
- Most of all let them know they are valued.
Human Resources, Orientation, Onboarding and AI
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to impact the world, HR professionals also acknowledge the impact of AI on the HR function and people-centric programs and practices. As human resources moves innovation and data informed decisions forward, AI is used more and more to enhance the recruiting, retention and development practices and programs within companies. However, as HR professionals, it is important to remember that we are supporting people and as such, the human touch is still required to ensure inclusivity and cultural awareness. While AI can be used and is being used by HR to automate administrative tasks, there are other functions and processes, such as onboarding, that still needs a people-centric, inclusive and human approach, whether virtually or in person. There needs to be a balance.
AI can be used to automate some of the administrative processes that often cross over with onboarding and orientation, such as:
- Confirming the completeness of new employee documentation.
- Providing email addresses and employee IDs.
- Filling out forms.
- Providing responses to frequently asked questions by the employee.
- Prompting the new employee through the process and providing them with the link and access to upload and provide required documentation for the new hire process.
- Managing initial training requirement for compliance purposes.
This allows HR the time to work with the leaders to build a more inclusive and people-centric onboarding experience that allows uniqueness for each new employee based on their skills, experiences, and preferences to allow them to bring their best self to the workplace and the company. This is even more important when employees are being onboarded remotely.
However, companies who use AI and technology in the onboarding process need to ensure human interactions are personalized and present, so every new employee feels welcomed and valued by the new company.
Related: Balancing the Tech and the Human When Onboarding
Why are Orientation and Onboarding Important?
Successful orientation and onboarding programs give a new employee what they need to start their new role on a positive note and succeed long term:
- Onboarding helps with building a strong sense of belonging and engagement from the beginning of the employee’s hire.
- Helps new employees fully contribute more quickly.
- Improves overall role satisfaction.
- Builds a more cohesive team of employees.
- Helps increase new employee retention and reduce employee turnover.
- Attracts talent.
- Fosters a safe environment for communications and constructive feedback.
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If the employee is more engaged, they are less likely to leave the company. Job and role satisfaction starts with a positive onboarding experience.
Well-planned, intentional and inclusive programs signal to new, current, and potential employees that the company is building a welcoming and people-centric company culture.
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