Five Onboarding Lessons Employers Can Learn from College Orientation
Each fall about 2 million students walk onto a campus or join a virtual campus for the first time in their post-secondary education. Small colleges, large universities. Private and public institutions. Academic and Technical degree programs. With short ramp up times between arrival and the start of classes, the organizations must quickly get everyone oriented for success.
They continually learn what works and what doesn’t and they adapt for results. Their clients – the students – need to engage quickly, begin performing, and thrive in a brand-new environment.
Being a new student is very similar to the experience of being a new hire.
This article will focus on five lessons employers can learn and leverage from higher education orientation programs. There will be adaptations you must apply, but the concepts and principles are rock solid.
Lesson 1: Communicate Before Onboarding
Once a student has finalized their college selection and committed, the school continues a steady series of communication throughout spring and summer. They address logistics about preparing for the upcoming year, but they also serve to reassure a student that they will be taken care of. Communication answers many of the typical questions before they are asked, reducing anxiety. It also demonstrates how they will be welcomed into the school community.
How do we apply this lesson with onboarding new hires?
The period between job offer acceptance and start date can generate some anxiety for the new hire. Experienced workers changing employers might second guess their decision as the reality of change sinks in. Workers might receive additional offers during this time when it is a longer notice period or delayed start date.
Am I ready to take on a new position and alter my routine? Is this new offer better than the accepted position?
Ongoing communication during this time will provide positive reinforcement of their decision. The connections will begin to form.
Send the onboarding welcome gift before Day 1. Share how excited the team is to welcome them. These are some examples of actions that help the new employee begin to feel more at ease.
Effective communication prevents many issues and solves many problems in any new situation. This lesson from our College Orientation playbook is fundamental.
Lesson 2: Create Connections throughout Onboarding
Connections with peers – coworkers, students, social groups – are vital to a positive experience.
For schools first-year student retention is a key indicator of the institution’s success. It is one of the metrics ratings organizations consider, and it demonstrates to potential students that current students enjoy and value the experience enough to stay.
The importance of connections in the workplace might be even higher. According to a Gallup survey, 44% of employees who feel connected to their employer would recommend a friend for a position. That’s connection and engagement demonstrated. Surveys and statistics also show that a lack of connections in a workplace drives engagement down and attrition up.
Colleges introduce potential students to peers in their incoming groups, current students in a dorm, faculty and staff. Then they put student ambassadors and buddies in place to support these developing connections. Employers can replicate this easily (and with low cost or investment) in their organizations.
Have a small group joining on the same date? Get them connected in advance with each other and their onboarding teams.
Bringing on one new hire this month? Follow up from more than one person will establish a network of support.
Want to share the excitement of some of your most positive employees? Empower them as new hire ambassadors and buddies.
Follow this lesson and connections will start during onboarding; then reinforce and nurture them ongoing.
Lesson 3: Make Onboarding Memorable in a Positive Way
Let’s face it. Colleges are the champs at designing and implementing specialized events and activities to welcome new students.
> The budget $ is bigger. (Parents – you know this!)
> The larger audience makes it easier to have events tailored to different interests, preferences, and groups
> Orientation staff members are dedicated specifically to this process.
How can I as an employer replicate anything like this for a handful of new hires?
You’re a leader in your company or maybe you’re the owner. Your organization has a culture. You have excited and devoted team members. Get creative and come up with a list of do-able activities that will stay in the new hires’ memories.
Set parameters such as budget or scale, and have an idea session with your current team members.
What made their onboarding memorable?
What would have made it more memorable?
What matters to the incoming new hires?
What introduces and reinforces your culture?
This starter set of questions gets the conversation going, and in an agile fashion you can continue to iterate ideas as you onboard additional new hires.
Make whatever activities you select MEMORABLE and MEANINGFUL.
Lesson 4: Confirm Expectations Early in Onboarding
Incoming students face a brand-new environment. The educational experience of 12+ years sets some groundwork, but college introduces new processes and more rigorous expectations.
It’s a whole new ballgame. The same can be said when you join a new employer.
Culture and organizational philosophy can differ. Your organization is a 5-person startup where each individual has lots of autonomy in how they get the work done. Your new hire is coming from a 200-person regional business with structured, yet collaborative, processes. If you’re not clearly setting expectations upfront, there will inevitably be some confusion, hesitation, and anxiety.
In the higher ed setting faculty advisors meet new students early in the orientation process, and likely more than once. Initially students will hear the general guidelines and expectations that apply to all new students.
In an employee scenario, new hires are likely to hear some of the organization’s philosophy and process in the interview cycle. But they will need more as they join.
Students learn – and commit to – the specifics of their major or program in the second step of advising. We can compare this to a dedicated conversation with your new hire, explaining what is expected, what’s required, and what defines success.
It’s understood that these will change as the employee becomes more experienced or more comfortable, but they need to know what the first 45 or 90 days of success looks like.
When everyone is on the same page with what’s expected, the probability of meeting and exceeding expectations skyrockets.
Lesson 5: Recognize and Celebrate Employees During Onboarding
Open your social media from mid-August to early September and you’ll see posts celebrating the excitement of move-in days. The arrival of the graduating class of 2028. The first week of classes.
If we applied all of these lessons to our new hires, it might be a bit of overkill.
New employees join their first conference call!
New hires delight in their first cup of coffee at the office Keurig!
Our new administrator leads her first staff meeting!
It’s also likely to make some new hires uncomfortable.
Find out what will resonate with them. In those communications between acceptance and start date, casually ask them about their preferences to recognition. Their likes and dislikes about social activities, etc. Gather this information early so you make the best impressions in Week 1.
And finally, pick the moments that matter throughout the first weeks and months – and celebrate them. Find the balance that genuinely and authentically works for your culture, your new hire, and you.
Final Exam on New Hire Onboarding
Onboarding sets the tone for a new hire’s journey through the new organization. Surveys and studies show that new joiners make critical decisions about staying or leaving during this period.
We’ve reviewed 5 key lessons that can improve your team’s onboarding processes and employee experience using college orientation as our method.
The core lessons of communication, connection, memories, expectation-setting, and celebration always apply.
Leverage these tools in the style and manner fitting your organization, and you will ace this Final Exam.