Onboarding, Onboarding, blah, blah...

So whatever happened to Orientation?

When I reference my work in Manufacturing, I think of the very specific programs and processes that the best run manufacturing plants had in place to welcome new employees. The best performing plants had empowered, high-performing, inclusive cultures that you could feel when you walked through the front door. And this culture was expressed through a relentless focus on Orientation and Onboarding of new employees. In the most productive plants, Orientation was a week-long process of welcoming, inspiring, guiding, and grounding that helped new employees feel appreciated and part of something special. Orientation answered the important questions that every new employee has:

• where am I?
• Is this place what I thought it would be?
• why am I here?
• how do I fit in?
• do I matter?
• WIIFM?
• how do I get where I'm going?

I see relevance in applying a focus on Orientation as we craft/fine-tune our customer onboarding programs. Think of Orientation as a distinct first stage where you put a lot of effort into welcoming a new customer, reminding them of why they are here, showing them what is special about this place, and demonstrating that they are in good company. Maybe even quick welcome videos from key leaders - CEO, CS, Product. And how powerful would it be to have a 90 second video from an existing customer welcoming them to the community...