This month, on the ATD-OC Home Page, we asked our community to share their orientation experiences with us.  You can see the poll results to the right. Or, if you haven't taken the poll, you'll see that instead. Why not share your answer now? The results were not surprising, with most respondents indicating: "What orientation?" followed by "Gave me a little insight into the company."   This highlights a peculiar gap between an organization's hiring practices and their onboarding practices.   Corporations are increasingly hiring people who they believe will fit within their culture.  Highlighted as far back as 2001 in Jim Collins' Good to Great as the practice of "getting the right people on the bus," recruiters often seek out potential candidates who espouse the same values as the hiring organization.  And yet, once that hiring process is over, so is the focus on the employee's "fit" within the organization.  With 18% of talent professionals in our survey indicating that their orientation clearly explained their role, one wonders why that ball is dropped.

You can also share your Orientation stories in a separate survey, available here: Share A Story

Perhaps the gap comes from the push to reduce the time impact of orientation.  The talent development team may face pressure from managers who state that a new hire doesn't have time for any new hire training that extends beyond the first day.  Or the talent development team may be a "department of one," a taught shoestring able to get to orientation when a quorum exists for the class.  A big component of Taco Bell's new hire orientation success story, as shared in our April 2015 Learning Event, was the reduction of new hire orientation from 30 hours to six with the implementation of just-in-time eLearning combined with on-the-job observation.  With an employee turn-over of over 140%, this reduction of time was absolutely necessary for the rapid induction of their front line.

Most orientations dive into the compliance rules.  Because those are important.  They explore the company benefits. Because the new employee needs to plan and prepare.  They might provide an introduction to the other employees and facilities.  Because we've all got to know where the facilities are.  But that should be the tip of the orientation iceberg.

"Understanding and being successful in the culture of an organization is the leading indicator of new hire’s speed to performance and retention," says Amy Hirsh Robinson in her whitepaper: "From Orientation to Acculturation -- What Really Belongs In Your New Employee Orientation."

She continues to share that a successful onboarding program should focus on:

• corporate history and culture,
• organizational values,
• and "helping your newbies establish bonds with their peers and others in the organization"

You can hear more from Amy Hirsh Robinson and Angela Chang Tran, Learning Strategy Manager at Southern California Edison, this September 23rd as they share a case study of how Southern California Edison re-created New Employee Orientation to focus on employee ownership and connection.  True to their model of new employee orientation, they're planning an interactive event, so book your seats today!