Back to school
As I was walking to the bus stop this morning, I passed an elementary school near my apartment that has been silent all summer. Today, though, Chicago Public Schools are back in session, and kids in freshly-pressed school uniforms were buzzing all over the place. It made me nostalgic, really, for that unsullied feeling of a new school year. There’s something about the first day of school that’s like a reset button—new classmates, new teachers, and a clean locker give you a shot at leaving last year’s mistakes behind and starting over.
I guess the closest thing we have in the adult world to Back to School time is starting a new job. New colleagues, a new office, new responsibilities…and hopefully enough training to at least get you going. We create a lot of on-boarding training programs, and I’m often surprised/shocked/dismayed to hear about the on-boarding that exists prior to the introduction of the solution we create. Some new hires have to wait months to attend orientation; some simply get a few hours with an admin before being thrown into the deep end. While there’s much to be said for learning as you go, I’ve come up with my list of the top 5 elements every on-boarding program should offer, whether it’s online learning or good old-fashioned in-person sessions.
1. Occur in a timely manner. No one wants to wait three months before getting trained to do their job, and, let’s face it—by that point most enterprising employees will figure out other ways of doing things anyway. If orientation isn’t occurring up front, it’s probably going to seem like a waste of time.
2. Provide consistent messaging. Best practices exist for a reason, but they’re not always communicated. There will inevitably be individuals who go their own way, but a plan should be in place for consistency among the majority of employees. McDonald’s is a famous example of this. What if the fries varied from restaurant to restaurant? Disaster.
3. Give the company a friendly face. Most employees at large organizations will never see the CEO in the flesh, let alone meet him or her. But it doesn’t hurt to have the CEO (or another high-ranking executive) provide a video or audio welcome. Also helps a new employee avoid embarrassing herself should she find herself in the elevator with an important executive. Not that that ever happened to me. Ahem.
4. Establish a culture of continuous learning. Regardless of the job duties, everyone from a line cook to a scientist to a managing editor will need to continue learning to be effective at their jobs. A good on-boarding package shows new employees that the company values continuous learning, not to mention sets expectations for training to come.
5. Provide ongoing reference. Have you ever not been overwhelmed when starting a new job? Regardless of how closely you pay attention during orientation, you’re bound to forget something. Printable references and indexed content that lives on a company intranet site not only provide review, but keep the new girl from having to bug her boss for help connecting to the printer after six months on the job. Face = saved.
What’s on your on-boarding wish list? Have you had a particularly good on-boarding experience? Let us know in the comments.
Sara Jensen
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Account Representative
NogginLabs, Inc.
