Orientation Versus Onboarding

Last week, we looked at the,

17 powerful Benefits of Effective Onboarding!

If you missed it, here is a link:

http://drgiasblog.com/?p=307

This week, I thought I’d address a frequently asked question.

“What is the difference between New Hire Orientation and Onboarding?“

Here’s are some high-level distinctions below.

New employee orientation  addresses:

• General policies and procedures
• Job descriptions, tasks, and expectations
• Organizational culture and values
• General policies and procedures (1)

Clearly, each of these are necessary for new employees to get started on the right foot at their new companies. Notice however, the tactics employed to deliver new hire orientation are content mastery tactics or information dissemination. (2)

This is necessary, but often not comprehensive.

Onboarding is an extension of orientation, occurring three to six months following the new hire process. It is a bridge between the promise of a new employee and the fulfillment of their potential. (3)

Onboarding accomplishes the following:

• Integrating new employees into their company’s culture
• Socializing new employees as a part of their team
• Informing new employees of “who” they need to know (orientation often covers the “what”)
• Expediting the learning curve to full productivity (4)

FREE Orientation Checklist Coming soon.

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1.  Truesdell, W. (1998). New employee orientation: Starting off on the right foot. The Management Advantage, Inc. retrieved August 6, 2010, from http://www.management advantage. com/products/free-ee2.htm.
2. Adelsberg , D., & Trolley, E. (1999). Running training like a business: Delivering unmistakable value. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
3. Rollag, K., Parise, S., & Cross, R., (2005). Getting new hires up to speed quickly. MIT Sloan Management Review, 46(2), 35-41.
4. Suggs, G., (2014). Maximize the Success of New Employees, Onboarding: A Flightplan for Taking Your Workforce to New Heights, Charleston: BFP Books.