Virtual Seminar: Successfully Welcoming New Hires

Recruiting new employees is a great thing for a company, so it's important to know how to make a good impression on newcomers. To achieve this, new hire training and orientations are the best solution. But as more and more events are taking place virtually, what’s happening to new hire training and orientations integration seminars? Moreover, how can you be sure to make an impression on the minds of your new employees? Eventdrive provides you with tips for an online new hire orientation that won't leave your newbies indifferent.

What is the purpose of new hire training and orientations?

Orientations and training are organized by companies that want to welcome their new recruits properly. It is a crucial event to ensure a successful onboarding. The objective is to help employees feel comfortable in their new company and to help them meet other employees.

By organizing an orientation, a company can speed up this process and help new recruits familiarize themselves with their new environment. This is a key moment between the company and the employee, which can be done remotely if the conditions for a physical event do not allow for it.

Even if it is held remotely, an orientation is the ideal event to help newcomers bond with their new team and discover each person's personality to foster teamwork afterwards.

How to make your online training and orientation a success?

To ensure the success of your online orientation, it is important to take the time to prepare and to focus on the small details that are important.

1. Choose the date carefully

In larger companies, there are often waves of recruitment. You can therefore organize your new hire orientation and training a few weeks after the newcomers have come on board. 

On the other hand, if your company has not hired many new employees at once, we recommend that you try to group the latest arrivals in the same slot when possible. The goal is not to organize an orientation every week. A good schedule to follow would be to hold an orientation every 3 months, to allow you to gather as many people together at the same time.

Remember to send out a "Save the date" so that your new recruits can book their calendars!

2. Take the time to prepare the content

Choosing to organize a new hire orientation is great. Now you need to be able to provide your employees with the right content. Keep in mind that this onboarding will set the tone for the next few months and is a perfect moment to motivate your newbies. So it is all about making a good impression!

In general, it is recommended to divide the orientation into two parts: a first part about the company and a second part about practical information.

Your company’s storytelling

The new hire orientation and training is the first opportunity to present your company in detail. Use the power of storytelling to talk about the different steps that have brought your company to where it is now, from it’s creation, through important milestones and to the present day.

If it is a large company, you can also present the group as a whole and its subsidiaries. Don't forget to communicate the company's values. Your new employees must understand what your brand is and how you are promoting it. 

Finally, you can talk about the existing team by presenting the company's organizational chart. The goal is not to introduce each employee in detail, but to give newcomers an idea of the hierarchy in place.

Practical information

In the second part, it is important to spend some time on company processes and communicate important information to the employees, such as who to contact in case of a technical emergency or if they lose their badge, for example.

If you haven't already done so, also remember to remind employees of the location of emergency exits and what to do in the event of a problem.

3. Know how to welcome the new hires

When organizing a remote orientation and training, it is important to communicate positively from the very start. Show your new employees that they have joined a dynamic team!

You can also take the opportunity to broadcast a corporate video that presents the offices or past events within the company. It is important to focus on what makes working at your company so much fun!

Finally, to break the ice and promote interactivity, you can use a word cloud or launch a survey to find out how your participants are doing. For more fluidity (and simplicity), we recommend using a tool that encourages exchanges. With Eventdrive's integrated solution, you can easily do this in just a few clicks.

4. Discussing with new coworkers

An orientation and training is the best time to start getting to know your new employees. To achieve this, you can use fun activities. For example, ask them what their superpower is? Maybe they are good listeners, organization masters or unbeatable at multitasking! You could learn important points that will be very useful in future projects. Thanks to a virtual event platform with interactive features, they can easily speak up during your orientation.

To stimulate their listening skills and encourage them to participate, you can also give out a mini quiz at the end of each training session and end the orientation with an overall quiz. This is a great way to see if they have understood key messages and to address any remaining misunderstandings. You can ask them things about your brand values, the founding date or last year’s turnover. In essence, information related to your company and its missions.

To motivate them even more and stimulate their competitive spirit, you can rank the top newbies with a virtual podium with the top 3 most attentive new recruits!

As you have learned, for a successful orientation and training, it is important to keep a common thread throughout the event. If your event takes place online with a large audience, think about adding a touch of interactivity and use the tools at your disposal to capture your new employees’ attention all while conveying your company's values and missions.