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New Employee Departmental Orientation

1. Introduction

2. Objectives 

3. Checklist

New Employee Departmental Orientation

Objectives

Each of the objectives listed must be addressed for your orientation to be effective. Prioritize them in order of importance to your department.

Welcome new employees, relieve their anxieties, make them feel comfortable. What special things can you do to make new employees feel comfortable, welcome and secure? How can you encourage a spirit of inquiry in new employees?

• Place a "welcome" card in the new employee's desk Make yourself available most of the first day Plan to have lunch with the new employee and other staff Put a name marker at work space (even if just a paper one)
• Have workplace cleaned and stocked with supplies

Inspire new employees with a good attitude toward IU and the new job. What impressions do you want a new employee to have? How can you instill the desired work attitudes?

• Fellow employees play a key role in developing work attitudes. Have the new employee work with a "mentor" or "buddy". Be certain the mentor demonstrates the behaviors you appreciate and the performance you expect. Choose mentors who are patient with beginners, positive, personable, and clear communicators.
• Arrange for the employee to attend an HR orientation, if available on your campus, to become more acquainted with the IU community.

Confirm the employee's decision to join IU and your department. Have you ever taken a job where you knew from the very start that you'd made a good decision? Or that the job wasn't going to work out? What factors influenced your impressions? How can you confirm a new employee's decision?

• Clearly communicate job responsibilities and office culture during the interview. Describe a "typical day" for the position during the interview. Give the employee a sense of accomplishment and importance on day one:
  • give an assignment that can be completed on the first day spend time discussing how this position is critical to the success of the department
  • have a "welcome" party
• Recognize that an employee's decision to stay in or leave a new job is largely influenced by family impressions; send a note to the family, if applicable, welcoming them to the area.

Acquaint new employees with departmental goals, policies, and unwritten rules or customs. What key policies and unwritten rules must a new employee know so as not to make embarrassing mistakes on days 1-5? Examples include:

• dress "code" use of titles or first names arrival and departure times scheduling of lunch time standard phone greeting introduction to supervisors, managers or administrators use of equipment, phone, e-mail for personal use location of restrooms, break room, vending machines, coffee pot practice of eating or drinking at the desk custom regarding open or shut door
• appropriate office decorations

Communicate expectations and responsibilities to new employees. Write out your responses to the following questions:

• What specific expectations do you have for new employees? How can you communicate your expectations during the recruiting and hiring process?
• How can you communicate your expectations the first day? first week?

Ensure new employees are familiar with the following:

• Emergency Action Plan, and other building safety information such as evacuation routes and locations of fire exits, extinguishers, and alarm stations.
• Policy Against Sexual Harassment
• Policy on Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Rights

Supervisors are responsible for applying campus-specific procedures for reporting sexual harassment and for requesting an accommodation.

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Part 3: Orientation Checklist