The first few months settling into a new job can be an overwhelming experience. It typically involves the new staff member’s calendar being filled with orientation meetings with colleagues across a variety of departments. Depending on the role and the structure of the organization, these meetings may only happen once, and the information presented may not be used right away. Inevitably, many new staff might avoid asking probing questions of someone they’ve just met or shy away from re-engaging if they forget how to complete a certain process or task.


The role of human capital management (HCM) professionals is unique, as their work typically impacts all staff. Whether directly or indirectly, staff rely on these professionals to serve as the backbone of any organization. With that in mind, there are ways to treat orientation of new staff members as an opportunity to not only introduce them to your role and department, but to also set up the relationship for success from the start.

Here's a checklist of approaches to enhance the orientation process for any new colleagues:

  • Opt for a face-to-face meeting: Whether you’re working in person or remotely, your first touchpoint with a new staff member should ideally happen face-to-face. It might be easier to schedule a quick phone call or send information over email, but in doing so, you’ve missed a critical opportunity to create a personalized relationship. Equally important, new staff members can sometimes feel isolated from their colleagues and really appreciate this type of interaction as they acclimate themselves to your organization.
  • Learn about their past work experience: If you find yourself in orientation meetings on a fairly regular basis, it’s easy to fall into the trap of simply going through the motions. That’s not to say it isn’t valuable to have a consistent approach to onboarding new staff, but it’s important to make sure that this isn’t a one-way conversation. Before you begin with an explanation of your role and department, try to learn a little bit more about the person sitting across from you. By asking questions about their previous work experience, you’ll gather more insight into how they’ve interacted with HCM professionals in the past. For example, staff coming from smaller organizations might have had a single contact responsible for a variety of functions, as opposed to a larger organization where the finance department alone could include hundreds of staff working across multiple locations.
  • Consider staff who are new to the workforce: If you’re meeting someone who is relatively new to the workforce, or starting their first full-time role, there may be general information to share that they wouldn’t have been exposed to before. By asking if they want you to walk them through their pay stub to explain certain deductions, or explain how vacation and sick time are accrued, you’re demonstrating upfront that you are available and willing to take the time to make sure they are fully informed about all aspects of their employment with the organization.
  • Understand their role and how it interacts with yours: It’s always helpful to customize the information you share based on their role within your organization. If you’re a payroll associate meeting with a manager who’s responsible for part-time staff, you’ll want to share your process for filling out and submitting time sheets. If you’re meeting with an individual who travels often in their role, you’ll need to spend time helping them understand how expense reimbursement works at your organization and what type of documentation is required. While there may be a “canned” element to your orientation, there should always be some customization to make it relevant to the individual’s role.
  • Follow up and offer yourself as a resource: As a personal practice, I always schedule a quick follow-up meeting about a month after orientation. Recognizing that new staff are bombarded with information, this follow-up meeting creates space to make sure that the information you shared has resonated with them and allows you to answer questions that may have come up in that first month. You can also use this meeting as an opportunity to reinforce that you’re available to them as a resource if they run into any challenges. Whether you’re following up with that manager who has struggled with the process to complete timesheets, or that new staff who has forgotten where to check online for their T4 slip, you’re creating a relationship where staff are comfortable asking you questions rather than making mistakes because they don’t want to look like they weren’t paying attention the first time you met.

There are times when orienting new staff to your organization may feel like a chore, but it’s really a matter of perspective. By taking time upfront to focus on building a relationship and learning a little bit more about each new team member, you’re going to start each interaction off on the right foot, not only for yourself, but for your entire department.





Enter some text...

Did you find this article useful?