Lately, I have been wondering why I’m such an ambassador for quality and relevant new hire orientations, experiences, and why it is one conversation that continually comes up during consulting conversations?
I’m often called upon for my onboarding expertise and to support new hire programs in various fields. So, what’s the problem, why should it matter to me? Once more, I took to reflection to search for a justifiable reason.
Early in my career, I was fortunate to have several job opportunities in which I observed inspiring and poor onboarding experiences.
During my career, I held positions to develop new hire orientation programs from the ground up or enhance existing ones. It didn’t matter if we were designing for 4, 40 or 400 new hires and if they were in specialty fields, manufacturing, sales, call centers, or if they were employees or regional front line managers.
As I honed my career skills and direction, I was often charged with leading and supporting training teams that delivered new hire orientation programs. It was a logical progression, but still doesn’t answer why an influential advocate?
I dug even deeper to find that my passion and drive directly correlates with the learning experience. Believe it or not, I was not a big fan of education all the way up to obtaining my undergrad degree. To me, most of it was slow, unchallenging, and boring. I couldn’t connect what we were learning to real-world situations. Witnessing poorly developed onboarding programs felt like Déjà vu. It was a repeat of what I disliked in school.
I was once told many years ago, “… you either have to be part of the solution, or you’re going to be part of the problem.” (Eldridge Cleaver) Everything I create and deliver is passionately thought out, with experience in mind, to be the undisputed answer. Good experiences become second nature to repeat. A bad experience is one you don’t forget.
New Hire Orientation is a natural fundamental part of life and is most definitely not a one-size fit all process. What makes creating an onboarding experience special, relevant, measurable and memorable? I rely on my experiences as well as the experiences of others. Some of the things I pay extra special attention to include the onboarding purpose, the audience, the supporting teams, and most importantly, the experience.
Talk about a rewarding experience in reflection.
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