Orientation-Start with the End in Mind
Non-profits often don’t prioritize training due to a lack of funds and time. However, employees that don’t know how to do their job, get what they need or understand the organizational culture can lead to frustration and, in the end, take more of the supervisor’s time than the original orientation would have. I have never regretted spending time teaching new hires our culture, etc. I have missed opportunities to get employees off to a good start by not spending enough time with them. This can be aleviatated by making orientation a team effort.
Ask a Manager has a post up about You Have to Train People on Day One. She recommends setting a good example of clear communications by providing the outline of the orientation process to the new hire. Some of her recommendations to be included are
“- what they do and don’t have the authority to do on their own
- types of emails and phone calls they’re likely to receive and how to handle them
- common problems they’ll encounter and how to handle them
- what to do if deadlines can’t be met
- what to do if they need help
- expenditure authority and approval”
The Happy Burro has a similar post. I love his idea of having a “buddy” to give them someone to go to on their team with questions. New hires often don’t want to bother the boss and it gives them an avenue to get answers. It also gives the “buddy” experience as a mentor and reinforces the notion that leadership is everyone’s jobThe section on what should be done before the hire is important too. The whole article is worth reading.
The University of British Columbia has put a high tech spin on this here. While I think this is a valuable addition, I would suggest that this is used as to augment a face to face orientation, particularly in the relationship focused non-profit field.
What does your organization do to make new staff feel welcome and enabled to hit the ground running?
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