Easy New Employee Orientation Tips

Most of us have been there before ... The dreaded "newbie" position in the office, struggling to find everything from the nearest washroom to the coffee machine. Onboarding to a new company doesn't have to be a struggle. Here are some tips in making the employee orientation process easy for both the new hire and the company.

First, the new employee should be assigned a "mentor." The "mentor" doesn't have to be (and actually probably shouldn't be) the most senior person in the organization. Rather, the mentor is someone who can be a guide for the new hire, a person that is available to answer any question that the new hire may have during the employee orientation process. If this person doesn't know the answer to the question, then he or she should be able to find out the answer. Although the new hire's manager can answer some of these questions, the new hire may be more comfortable asking questions to someone out of their chain of command.

Next, the new employee should have a clear training schedule, with dates, times and other information pertaining to the employee orientation process. It should be easy for the new hire to see what is expected from him or her during employee orientation. Training is a great time to introduce the new employee to the entire office, so try to include as many employees as possible in the training process. The new employee's manager should be in contact with the worker daily, checking on his or her progress, and answering questions as they arise. A large part of employee orientation often consists of being setup with internal accounts, so a list outlining what is necessary in this regard is another key.

Make sure to extend simple common courtesies to the new hire. For example, ensure that the person has someone to eat lunch with on the first day of work - an ideal situation would be the new employee's manager and mentor would join the new hire for lunch. Be especially gracious if the new employee is also new to the area and may not know anyone. These small gestures will go a long way in making for a successful employee onboarding.

As you can see, the employee orientation process does not have to be expensive or difficult to organization. Following these few simple steps will make for an easy and successful onboarding for the new employee.