How Does A New Hire Orientation Differ From A New Hire Onboarding?

Saying goodbye to exceptional employees who leave for new opportunities is part of every manager's daily life. This implies the necessity of having well-planned and robust strategies for recruiting, onboarding, and training fresh, new employees. However, the post-pandemic era has witnessed a record number of resignations. As reported by Zippia, the total cost of voluntary employee turnover will exceed $1 trillion by 2022. In a separate report by BuildRemote, around 395 CEOs left their current jobs in the first quarter of 2022, marking the largest quarterly total since Q1 2020, when 441 CEOs left their positions. These figures show that millions of employees are quitting at an alarming rate now that restrictions are being lifted and offices are reopening. What can companies do to prevent these mass exodus and retain their best employees? The reality is that since the pandemic outbreak, employee attitudes have shifted. A job is no longer only about money or allowances. Employees expect more from their employers and jobs. It’s all about seamless experience, the right support, flexible work culture, and personalized employee wellness. Thus, the organization must provide more to improve employee retention. Investing in effective employee orientation and onboarding process is the first –step!

There is no doubt that during their first few days on the job, new employees may sense a range of feelings, including excitement about the opportunities, nervousness about meeting new teammates and even dread about their ability to handle the duties that come with their new role. It is the responsibility of managers to make their employees feel comfortable in the workplace. In most cases, managers usually push new hires into the deep end, leaving them with unanswered questions and a negative first impression of their new organization. This fails to make new employees feel welcome in the new office circumstance, and hurts employee engagement, experience and productivity. Creating a successful orientation and onboarding experience that lays the groundwork for long-term employee engagement necessitates a blend of critical, compliance-driven processes and more strategic orientation and onboarding activities that connect, inform, and empower new hires.  

But, how well do you execute employee orientation and onboarding processes at your workplace? Do you know the difference between new hire orientation and new hire onboarding? Having an understanding of onboarding versus orientation will help ensure both best practices are implemented. If you are confused about how new hire orientation differs from onboarding, this article is a must-read for you.  

Let’s start with the new hire orientation!  

What Is New Hire Orientation?

Welcoming a new team is indeed an exciting indicator for every organization, regardless of size. It implies that your organization is doing well and attracting new people. Of course, recruiting involves the requirement to train new employees and assist them in adapting to your corporate culture. Efficient new hire orientation and onboarding profoundly influence your new employees' loyalty and boost engagement and productivity. A new hire orientation is often conducted when an employee is hired.  

Insperity defines new hire orientation as a one-time event in which new employees are welcomed to the company. On the other hand, new hire onboarding is multiple training and events put together to transform new hires into successful employees.  

At Rezolve.ai, we believe that the new hire orientation is the stepping stone to a smooth and robust employer-employee relationship. The new hire orientation process is critical for a seamless transfer into the new workplace and for making the new employee feel valued. Orientation should also enlighten new hires about everything they need to know to succeed in their role and provide them with a clear path for advancement. Your orientation program should also emphasize the workplace culture, allowing the new employee to embrace it from the start. According to Indeed, employee orientations usually take place on the first day or week of joining, where all newly hired employees in the company from all departments are brought together to attend the orientation program in a seminar hall. They will be provided with all the necessary information is needed. But in this hybrid era, orientation programs will be held via video conferences via collaboration channels like MS Teams, Slack, Zoom or Google Meet etc.  

An orientation program aims to help newly hired employees understand the company’s expectations, encourage communication, remove anxiety, and increase commitment. In short, a new hire orientation is just a small part of the whole onboarding process. Many businesses get it wrong when it comes to new employee orientation. A well-designed orientation program can contribute to your organization's overall success in various ways.

When a new employee attends an orientation, it will help them to:  

• Complete the mandatory new-hire paperwork
  
  
• Tours the workplace and meets new coworkers
  
  
• Receives information about the company’s value, mission, and vision
  
  
• Reviews policies and procedure
  
  
• Receives company material (badge, parking tag)
  
  
• Takes the mandatory workplace training
  
  

Even though an orientation program has an important role in the commitment of the new employee to the business, it doesn’t really help the new hire succeed in their position. When new employees join the onboarding process, they receive the training they need to be able to improve their skills in order to have long-term success.

Benefits Of Employee Orientation

• When employees are provided with specific information to help them feel more prepared and ready for the job
  
  
• During the orientation new employees are explained how they benefit the business in both cultural and practical aspects
  
  
• When employees are aware of the company's objective and its methods of working and operating, it enhances the possibility of having a more productive, educated, and efficient team.
  
  
• Help employees adapt to the now work environment and boost their confidence
  
  
• Enhance communication and collaboration between new hires, team managers and teammates 
  
  

Quick Checklist For New Hire Orientation

Undoubtedly, selecting and recruiting the right candidate is a time-consuming and difficult task. Make the mistake of thinking that your job is finished after the new hire's contract is signed. A good orientation practice should prepare the new employee to contribute to the long-term success of your organization.  

Below are some excellent practices for ensuring effective newly joined employee orientation.  

• General Introduction about the company - the company’s mission, values, and vision
  
  
• Job or department specific orientation
  
  
• Review the company’s standards and policies
  
  
• Review the company’s procedures regarding safety, emergencies, and security
  
  
• Complete the new hire paperwork
  
  
• Explain company expectations
  
  
• Introducing workplace technology
  
  
• Provide the right training related to safety protocol
  
  

Now that you’ve a better understanding of employee orientation, let’s look at the employee onboarding process.

What Is Employee Onboarding?

Employee onboarding is more of a strategic approach to help new hires grasp their day-to-day job responsibilities and work processes through meetings, starting projects and job-specific training, which can help to discover development opportunities. This is when they can quickly adapt to the work culture and start to live out the mission, vision and values they were introduced to in orientation.  

They become familiar with their teammates and managers and learn whom to contact for specific questions and work approvals. During this time, managers must schedule regular check-ins with new hires so that they can connect face to face and provide feedback. In addition to building rapport at work or through other activities, team members must also strengthen their relationships. During the onboarding period, the new employee understands what is expected from them in perspective of their skills, abilities, communication, and attitude. Employee onboarding is crucial considering that 50% of new employees leave the company within the first 18 months. Onboarding can reduce a company’s turnover and improve employee engagement. Employee orientations are valuable as well.  

A robust employee onboarding program dives deeper than an employee orientation program into job role responsibilities, expectations and criteria. Professional onboarding is used to welcome new employees to their roles and to monitor their long-term growth. Effective onboarding is critical to ensuring that new joiners are invested in not only achieving their job description but also enhancing long-term productivity and organizational success.  

Fostering solid connections and involvement is more difficult in virtual or mixed work situations. Below are a few methods for efficient onboarding of new remote employees, so they feel included and part of a team:  

• An introduction video from each team member that is displayed in the mailbox of a new employee on their first day.
  
  
• Videoconference team-wide welcoming meeting
  
  
• A typical occurrence of virtual team building
  
  
• Happy hours or virtual lunches
  
  
• Regular videoconference check-ins between supervisors and new staff for virtual coaching, feedback sharing, and getting to know each other and building rapport.
  
  

These tactics help communicate the company’s brand and values, set expectations, describe the professional culture, and provide a description of the target audience needed to be focused on. The purpose of onboarding is to increase the commitment, performance, and satisfaction level of new employees.

Benefits Of Employee Onboarding Program

• Increase employee engagement, which means more productivity and profitability, and less turnover. Onboarding will ensure that the employees are more connected to the company’s mission, value, and vision.
  
  
• Build a strong company culture to retain and attract the right talent. Reports state that more than 69% of companies that have incorporated employee onboarding have reported that employees had an easier time integrated into the company’s work culture.
  
  
• Onboarding helps new hires adapt to the new company and build relationships with other employees, and with the help of goal settings, employee development, and manager check-ins the employees know what is being expected from them.
  
  
• Provides continuing assistance to new employees as they integrate into the company.
  
  
• Encourages prospective hiring and current employees to form early relationships.
  
  
• Enhances the candidate's experience, which might assist your firm in retaining top employees.
  
  
• Regular feedback and support boosts new hire confidence.
  
  
• Gives a clear grasp of job responsibilities and expectations.
  
  
• Reduces the possibility of misinterpretation and confusion. 
  
  

Quick Checklist For New Hire Onboarding

• Streamlined paperwork for new hire
  
  
• Set up the necessary accounts and create the logins
  
  
• Request a couple days in advance all the necessary devices and equipment needed
  
  
• Set up a clean work space for the new hires
  
  
• Welcome email along with important details of what the new hires should expect when they arrive at the company
  
  
• Assign a mentor - Introduce the new hire to a buddy/peer who is a part of the same department so they can be a mentor for them during the first couple weeks of starting the job
  
  
• Collect feedback from the new hires if they have any input regarding the onboarding plan
  
  
• Follow up with the new hires at regular intervals 
  
  

Conclusion

Employee onboarding and orientation are both important components in introducing employees to a brand-new workplace. A new hire orientation and a new hire onboarding differ as well as complement each other. They both have a goal of making new employees feel confident and ready to work and increasing employee engagement and commitment. While employee orientation has a more general focus on welcoming new hires, employee onboarding is more about training the new hires to become successful employees. A successful orientation program and an effective onboarding process can make a significant difference in the work satisfaction of employees and the commitment of new employees to the organization.