The Comprehensive

Guide to Next
Generation
Onboarding :
How to make the most
out of your New Hire
Orientation every step of
the way

Copyright 2013 - www.mindtickle.com

About
MindTickle

MindTickle enables businesses, trainers and individuals to

transform their existing online content (PPTs, Videos, documents)
into an interactive learning experience.
MindTickle engages the learner and makes learning efficient,
effective and delightful through a unique combination of game
mechanics (points, medals, badges and leaderboard) and social
tools (profiles, comments, chat and walls).
The platform has been globally adopted by several Fortune
500 customers, and over 55,000 users have benefited from
MindTickle products.
MindTickle has global sales presence with headquarters in the
United States, and development / operations team in India.

Learn More!

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Tell me and I forget.

Teach me and I remember.
Involve me and I learn.
Benjamin Franklin

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Author
Mohit has a diverse work experience spanning across 14
years and four continents.
Prior to co-founding MindTickle, he was a Director in
PwCs management consulting practice at New York, and
has been a senior member of product teams.
He was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year by Startup
Leadership Program (SLP) in 2012. Mohit holds an MBA
degree from ISB and MSEE from Stanford University.

Mohit Garg
MindTickle Co-Founder
@mindtickle
mindtickle.com

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Table of Contents
Highlight Your Culture
and Values /16

About MindTickle /2
About the Author /4

Customized training for

specific types of people
/17

Introduction /6

The Importance of PreOnboarding Programs

/7
Sustaining the
Excitement /8

Creating a Social Classroom

/18
Get Involved in the Training
Process/20

Managing
Uncertainty /9

The Value of Shadowing/21

Let the Orientation

Begin! /11

Reap What You Have

Sown/22

Setting Expectations /12

Thinking Beyond the

First Few Days /23

Use Storytelling to Make

Your New Employee
Orientation Amazing! /13

Stay Aware of Staffing

Shifts and Transitions /24

The only thing we have

to fear is the fear of
failure! /15

Assessing Success /25

Free MindTickle Demo /29

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Introduction
Its that time again. So you selected your new employees, excellent, this means youve
gotten through the hard part. Now they are about to go through the orientation program
you have planned for them, but what about training?
You may be asking yourself, What should I do? How can I make this experience
worthwhile for both the new employees and myself? As a human resource professional
or manager, you need to know what to do and how to do it from before the new
employee comes onboard to the weeks and months after training has concluded.

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The Importance of Pre- Onboarding

Programs
Do you remember the moment when you received the
final offer letter from your first job? Chances are that you
are reliving the moment as you read this. A brand new job
also generates similar excitement. It is this excitement
that is omnipresent during the new hire orientation
program.
The pre-onboarding phase is the phase between the
new hires offer acceptance and their joining. Smart
organizations can leverage this feel-good atmosphere to
their HR advantage by setting the tone for the upcoming
new hire orientation program.
Next well explore some of the actions you can take to
create an advantageous pre-onboarding phase.

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Sustaining the Excitement

Pre-Onboarding is a golden opportunity to sustain the euphoria of a new job. By simply

engaging with the new hire periodically during the pre-onboarding phase, employers
can sustain the enthusiasm and eagerness of the new hires. Three things you can do to
effectively engage new hires during the pre-onboarding phase are:

1. Help them Search New hires often search for information about their employers on
the Internet. Be proactive and help them look at the right places.

2. Bring them In Access to the organizations enterprise social network could do

wonders. If your organization does not have one, create a group on public social networks
like LinkedIn as a means to introduce the new hire to the rest of the team.

3. I Belong Here Socialize early by inviting them to team building activities. If the
location of the new hire is a constraint, arrange for online participation.

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Managing Uncertainty

From a new hires perspective, in addition to the excitement, the pre-onboarding phase of
new hire orientation program also brings about a sense of anxiety.
Constant communication between the organization and the new hire can help contain this
anxiety. By initiating a few simple actions, a new hire onboarding manager can not only
counsel the new hire but also deduce with confidence if they are at risk of losing the new
hire.

1. Schedule Interactions Structured calls to discuss the new hires job and role will
help orient the new hire early, towards the organizations business objectives.

2. Paperwork The Aberdeen 2013 research suggests that getting the new hire to
complete forms and tasks in a timely manner helps him contribute to business driven
projects at the earliest. This step may be boring, but initiating and completing it brings in a
formal sense of belonging.

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Pre-Onboarding in Action

To demonstrate how pre-onboarding can help engage new hires, here is an example of HCL
used the MindTickle platform to improve their pre-onboarding process. HCL decreased
the drop-out rates of millennial pre-joiners by 90% by leveraging the MindTickle platform
to engage new joiners between the day of offer and the day of joining. HCL was able to
leverage the platform to its advantage through two major ways:

1. Social and Gamified Learning HCL used the learning platform to create an online
learning community of new joiners, and in process deliver pre-boarding content to improve
employer branding, engagement and day 1 readiness. The MindTickle cloud based platform
enabled candidates to explore different aspects of HCL Technologies in a visually rich and
self-paced learning environment.

2. Individualized Tasks Each candidate was presented with a series of individualized

tasks tailored to a predetermined goal. After completing a task, the candidate was
rewarded with the ability to level-up and unlock the next level of content. The game
mechanics such as points, leaderboard and medals enhanced participation and interactive
quiz assessments followed each level of content.

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Let the Orientation Begin!

The time has come to train your
newbies. What are you going to do
to make the experience worthwhile?
While it may seem beneficial to cut
costs by reducing your investment
new employee training, you are
actually saving money in the future
by training them now.
Lets investigate the best practices
of new employee training and the
tactics you can employ to make the
most out of it.

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Setting Expectations
One of the first things you want to do for a new hire is
set their expectations by laying out what their job will
require of them.
It is of the utmost importance to identify their role
within the first few weeks. If you dont, the new
employee may feel scattered and confused.
To ease anxiety, consider setting up your employees
workstation before their arrival. This is a very wise
move since it makes the new employee more
comfortable on their first day of work.
You can provide them with all the materials they will
need such as a phone, pens, organizers, post-its, and a
list of phone numbers for the other office employees.

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Use Storytelling to Make Your New

Employee Orientation Amazing!
Sharing a compelling story is great way to help
new employees understand your companys
culture in more relatable, human ways.
Often starting with the founder(s) of your
company, you can create a rags to riches story
of how the company has grown from the start.
Make it a positive, inspiring story that all
employees will want to be a part of.
Be wary of making your New Employee
Orientation program all about you. Allow your
new hires to express themselves and their
stories too.

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Procter & Gamble, the Master

Storyteller
Showing how your business has evolved can bring more inspiration and purpose to your
employees work starting in new hire orientation. Storytelling is at the heart of Procter and
Gamble, the number one marketing company in the world.
Not only does the company promote its history through the museum contained in its
headquarters or with the book Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Years of Brand Building at
Procter and Gamble which is given free to its employees but storytelling is at the heart of
its culture.
One-pagers are designed to tell a story in a way that the leaders reading them are excited
to jump into action and ready to make a decision. The company promotes employees
sharing their learnings on the job. Those who are granted the promotions share their
experiences, good and bad with the campaigns they ran on the different brands they
worked on.
By sharing their learnings the company is able to continue to build billion dollar brands
that are sold around the world.

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Removing the Fear of Failure

New employees often come into a situation
nervous or afraid to try new things since they
are not sure what will happen if their idea
fails.
The best way to learn is by doing; so let the
new employees do something without the
fear of repercussions if they get it wrong.
Help them learn the ropes and point out their
mistakes so they can avoid them in the future.
Provide your employees with enough time to
learn. Give them time and even quiz them on
the important policies to remember.

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Highlight Your Culture

and Values
It is extremely important to help familiarize your new
hires with company culture and values. Your business
operates in a certain way with its own spoken and
unspoken rules. Help the new employees learn these
unspoken rules so that he or she doesnt stick out like
a sore thumb.
By aiding them in their efforts to learn this esoteric
culture, you will enable them to assimilate into the
business more effectively.
This will help them trust you and their fellow
employees on a deeper level. Dont make them learn
the rules through trial and error. Tell them whats
going on and regularly check in to see if they have
any questions.

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Customized Training for Specific

Types of People
Though it may sound easy enough, customizing
training can actually be quite complex. To do this,
you must analyze the personality and culture of each
current employee who fill specific positions or are a
part of a certain department; you will then take this
knowledge and apply it to the training program.
For example, if a specific position tends to attract
brilliant people who unfortunately have poor
social skills, create a training program that builds
their self-confidence and doesnt make them feel
uncomfortable. If this happens to be a position that
requires a lot of social interaction, help them build
proper and confident social skills.

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Creating a Social Classroom

It is a strong possibility that your new hires are Gen Y millennials. Even the Gen X are
omnipresent over social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Therefore,
bringing in a social learning element to the new hire orientation is only natural.
The social learning element would also bring in healthy competition, team spirit and
collaboration. Consider utilizing some of the Five Free Social Media Platforms (Facebook,
LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google Plus) for your New Hire Orientation.

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eBays Online Classroom

eBay, one of worlds largest e-commerce websites, is recognized as the best places to work
for recent grads. eBay had in place a comprehensive classroom training program integrating
technical knowledge, soft skills and orientation aspects, but was looking for a solution that
could trim down the duration of classroom training without compromising on the quality of
the program.

eBay leveraged MindTickles Learning

Platform to deliver:
1. New hire orientation and soft skills training online - New hires are better
acquainted with their colleagues because of the social features built into the platform that
encourage interaction. This has significantly reduced the onboarding time.

2. Online fundamentals of technologies such as UNIX and Java - The templates

allow eBay to quickly create training that is engaging, focused and effective. The knowledge
thresholds of new hires on start of classroom training have seen a significant improvement.

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Get Involved in the Training

Process
New employees want to feel important or at least
like they are being noticed on their first day of work.
Therefore, it is the boss duty during the orientation
period to make the new hire feel like they are being
accepted as an official co-worker.
It is important that the 1:1 time between the boss and
the new employee doesnt get interrupted. If there is a
new employee in your department or your team, its up
to you to help them!
Make an investment in the new employee so they can
make an investment in you. Get to know them on a
personal level. It doesnt have to be everyday or even
every week; it can be every 30 or 90 days, just as long
as it isnt once or twice a year!

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The Value of Shadowing

One of the most effective ways to learn is to engage in an intelligent conversation with an
expert on a subject. Mentoring and shadowing are an excellent supplement to research and
independent learning.
When considering integrating a shadowing program into your new hire training, you should
keep in mind three benefits of shadowing:
1. Job shadowing allows the new employees to see how the culture and values of the
business are applied in normal everyday settings.
2. After the new hire is taught a skill or job function, they can demonstrate what they have
learned to their mentor.
3. What better way to create friendships than to interact with people, right?

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Reap What You Have Sown

So you and your newbies have made it through

orientation. You have braved the tide and now you are
done right?
Think again Remember that the orientation should
not end on day one! In order for new hire onboarding
to be truly effective, you must have events or
interactions that occur over an extended period of
time.
Having interactive experiences over a longer period
of time are an effective way to help foster a sense of
unity in your workplace! Lets take a look at how you
can stay engaged with your new employees after
orientation.

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Thinking Beyond the First

Few Days
It is important to have orientation events that occur
throughout the first week to get your new hires
situated, and then check in with them as often as
possible to see how they are adjusting.
Have the manager and fellow team members check in
with the new employee(s) to see how they are doing,
how they fit the role, and if they seem happy to be in
the business.
CareerBuilder.com says, Take this opportunity to
address any issues of concern as well as note any
accomplishments so that all parties are confident that
the new hire is poised for success in his or her role.

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Stay Aware of Staffing

Shifts and Transitions
The manager must be aware that the first few relationships a new employee makes
are vitally important. This means that if a new employee is going to be moved to a new
department or group, do it early before they settle in. If they have good friends in their
group upon being moved, it may become an uncomfortable situation. Help them with their
transition, dont make it harder for them.

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Assessing Success
How are you evaluating the performance of your team? Usually managers know when a
person is underperforming within the first two months. However, it may take a while for
managers to let that person go. Online training programs are just another way for you to
stay on top of your teams progress.
Employees need and welcome regular accountability and feedback. Part of the reason why
online coaching has become so popular in recent years is because companies are stretched
thin by tight budgets and managers are not able to spend enough individual time with their
people so they seek outside reinforcement.
To determine the success of the new hire orientation, the organization needs to find out
how well the content has been consumed by the new hires. Real-time quizzes, puzzles and
activities are some of the assessment tools that help organizations appraise how new hires
are doing in the orientation program.
Feedback sessions are important for mid-course corrections, if needed. This may also be a
good opportunity to reiterate and evaluate the companys expectations from the new hire,
instead of waiting for the end of the probation period.

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Assessing the New Hires through

Online Platforms
Online platforms present another form to evaluate the success of the New Hires. Consider
these ideas when evaluating your New Hires:

1. Facebook - Secret Facebook groups allow you to create polls and multiple choice
questions. Though limited, this functionality can be used for assessments of new hires

2. LinkedIn - LinkedIn groups do not provide for publishing content, but they do provide
an option for polls.

3. Game Mechanics - Online games can spark healthy competition among the
participants. Paired with analytics and management tools you can effectively track and
manage the program.
With these platform analytics you have more data to start recognizing your top performers
in a public way!

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Getting the Metrics Right

Weve all heard how important it is to have data-driven analysis, track and measure ROI, and
monitor key performance indicators (KPIs). Its essential, however, to be sure you dont fall
into the trap of being data-rich and information-poor.
Thankfully there are two simple concepts to remember that will set you in the right
direction towards measuring performance.

1. Avoid vanity metrics! Vanity metrics appear good on the surface but dont reflect
underlying value. An example of a vanity metric is number of training courses delivered
to your employees. What real impact did it have on your organization? Is there something
deeper we can gain?
2. Ask Yourself (and team) these two questions:
i. What is the underlying business problem?
ii. What metric or KPI do we need to measure this?

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Conclusion
Staying competitive in todays market is not easy, and any organization that fails to
innovate and embrace new technologies and practices is bound to be left behind.
By creating a comprehensive online training program, you can make a great first
impression, reduce attrition and set your team up for success starting on Day 1.

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Get a Free Demo From

Request a demo of MindTickle's online training
software. See MindTickle's learning software in
action! We'll show you how to effectively engage
learners and measure ROI. With MindTickle's
learning software you can:
Boost Learner Engagement: Use social and
gamified learning mechanics to increase
engagement and retention.
Deliver Anytime, Anywhere: Use our
mobile-friendly platform to deploy to
learners anywhere.
Save Time and Money: Save classroom
time, and use our flexible subscription-based
pricing.

Get a Free Demo!

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