Workplace orientation is the process of introducing new employees to their jobs, colleagues, and workplace environment. It’s a program that gives new hires a chance to develop a level of comfort for their role, as well as for their new teams, departments, and the overall company. Effective workplace orientation provides answers to common initial questions and concerns and creates awareness of organizational policies and expectations. The goal is to ease new employees comfortably into their new roles and help to set them up for success.
To be effective, workplace orientation often provides:
Information regarding policies and operating procedures to allow new employees to function effectively in their new role
Guidance regarding safety and emergency procedures in the workplace
A tour of the facility, including the location of any supplies that the person may need to perform their work
Information regarding employee benefits
Demonstrations for operating equipment employees will need to use to perform their job duties
Information regarding workplace social activities and a welcome for the new employee to participate
The Importance of Effective Workplace Orientation
Workplace orientation is important for new hires as it can lay the foundation for their entire experience within your organizations. First impressions are critical as they can create the basis for everything that follows. Without orientation, new hires are likely to feel uncomfortable and perhaps even overwhelmed in their new position, thus making it more difficult for them to quickly achieve their full potential.
An effective workplace orientation program can:
Provide new hires with the information they need to be comfortable in their new role
Build employee confidence to help them adapt faster to the job
Contribute to a more productive workforce
Enhance employee retention
Promote effective communication between the supervisor and the new employee
eLearning for Workplace Orientation
As online technologies have continued to evolve, online learning or ‘eLearning’ has emerged as an effective piece of workplace orientation and new employee training. Onboarding new employees can be time-consuming, particularly for companies that are in a growth mode. To make the process easier and more cost-effective, it makes sense to move part of the orientation program online. You can, for example, offer an online welcome course for new hires to speed their adaptation, lessen senior managers’ workload, and decrease your new employee training costs.
Some of the topics that can easily be addressed through eLearning often include:
The company's history
The company mission and vision
An overview of the corporate culture
An introduction to corporate policy
A review of the organizational structure and an introduction to the leadership team
An overview of the company’s products and services and their benefits
A list of the company’s key partners and clients
Basic information technology training
eLearning components of workplace orientation will often include an assessment. This provides you with a means of assuring that employees have understood your training content by measuring their results.
LMS Portals for Workplace Orientation
LMS Portals provides a cloud-based platform to launch and manage corporate learning programs, including workplace orientation. The LMS Portals technology allows you to quickly and easily develop and deliver corporate training content and includes supporting tools for online communication, program analysis, feedback, and more.
LMS Portals offers a powerful cloud-based platform that allows you to run your workplace orientation program on your own branded eLearning portal.
Contact us today to get started for free!