Orientation: Laying Out the Welcome Mat (or Not) for New Employees

A strategic focus and goal for many libraries is to provide welcoming environments for each of their customers. Just as libraries focus strategically on welcoming their customers, it is important that they focus on the goal of providing welcoming environments for each of their employees. One of the first opportunities to “lay out the welcome mat” for staff is with the organization’s orientation. The employee orientation is a one-time event that welcomes new employees and provides a general overview of the organization. The employee onboarding process is a series of events and trainings that allows the new hires to acquire the knowledge, skills, tools and resources to be successful employees in the organization. The orientation is an important part of the overall onboarding process. Research and advisory services firm Brandon Hall Group found that organizations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82 percent and new hire productivity by over 70 percent.1 According to Dewar, a scarcity of talent and high turnover are two of the biggest challenges facing organizations today.2 That is why it is important to ensure that organizations design and implement an efficient and effective onboarding process that includes a strong orientation. Thriving and proficient orientation programs are always evolving to accommodate the growth of the organization and the changing times. The way two Virginia libraries redesigned their orientation programs to better serve their new hires and enhance their onboarding process are highlighted in this article. Additionally, strategies to develop a library orientation event that fosters an inclusive environment and supports the mission and work of the library and promotes employee productivity, engagement and satisfaction are presented.