Employee "On-boarding" and "Orientation" Services.

 

Employee "On-boarding" versus "Orientation"

 

Why you need both and how CTFM can assist.

​

“We have an on-boarding process, so we don’t need to put new employees through an orientation.”

 

Is this your philosophy for new hires? If so, you’re not alone.

​

Many businesses:

​

Think that having an on-boarding process means they don’t need a formal orientation.

​

Other businesses think because they have an orientation program they do not need to onboard.

​

A greater percentage of businesses do not provide “continued on-boarding” to employees once the employees have completed their probation period.

​

But once you understand how on-boarding and orientation are different, you begin to see the value in both.

 

For new hires,

​

“Orientation” is a one-time event welcoming them to your company.

 

“On boarding” is a series of events (including orientation) that helps them understand how to be successful in their day-to-day job and how their work contributes to the overall business.

 

“Continued On boarding” is a series of refresher events that helps them to be informed of process and department/corporate alignment changes that have occurred within the past 3-6 months.

 

What’s new employee orientation?

​

At orientation, new hires are formally introduced to your organization and its culture, mission, vision and values. Ideally, new employee orientation should be conducted on the first day or weeks of employment. It’s usually a conference-style event that brings together new hires from different departments across an organization.

 

Typically, information is delivered through presentations and question-and-answer sessions. Many times, companies schedule time for each of their leaders to come in and greet new employees, introduce themselves and explain their roles within the business

​

What’s new employee on-boarding?

​

While an orientation agenda can be boiled down to a checklist, on-boarding is a more strategic plan.

During the on-boarding process, employees are thoroughly introduced to their department. They learn the culture and business objectives by participating in meetings and starter projects with co-workers. Managers should schedule regular check-in meetings with new employees so that they get comfortable talking to one another.

 

Gradually, they’ll learn the specifics of their role and responsibilities, such as how to properly complete key tasks, who to go to with questions, how to get approval for their work and how to make suggestions.

​

An on-boarding plan should focus on what matters most to each department with the goal of helping new employees make connections between company-wide goals and their day-to-day tasks.

 

A comparison of orientation and on-boarding

​

When you compare the focus, duration, setup, content and outcome of orientation and onboarding, you can see how different and necessary both are to your new hires.

​

Orientation

• Focus: Role in company

• Duration: One-time event

• Setup: Classroom

• Content: Big picture

• Outcome: Ready for training

​

On-boarding

• Focus: Role in department

• Duration: Sequence of events

• Setup: On-the-job

• Content: Individualized

• Outcome: Ready to contribute

​

As you can see, orientation and on-boarding are not interchangeable. You need an orientation to get new employees immediately familiar with the company’s mission and culture. You need an on-boarding process to get them invested in their day-to-day roles and how it helps your business meet its goals.

​

When used together, orientation and on-boarding help establish role clarity, job satisfaction and organizational commitment, which can help lower employee stress and turnover.

​

A well-executed orientation and on-boarding process is the first step in fostering high employee engagement, retention, satisfaction and competency thus leading to a better workplace and cost savings.

 

How can CTFM assist your business?

 

Although an employee may have experience in your industry, they still need training to learn how your company, specifically, operates within the industry.

​

Arriving fresh-faced to a company isn't always a comforting situation for employees, and many times, they seek an informal mentor to help guide them through their first couple of weeks with the company.

 

Too many companies believe that a basic HR and Safety orientation carried out on the first few days of employment is sufficient. The expectation of existing department employees to continue with orientation and on-boarding is not realistic. How many times do you here that “the day time job gets in the way” of providing support to new hires.

​

This is where CTFM can assist:

​

CTFM can provide a senior experience total facilities management resource to provide orientation and on-boarding in order to integrate new and existing hires.

 

CTFM provides tailored materials to new hires in order to meet each departments/business requirements.

 

CTFM will work using an integrated model to maximise the positive outcome of having new and existing hires exposed to the requirements of their roles.

 

CTFM provide professional tailored orientation and on-boarding utilizing a combination of classroom and on-site environments.  

​