Orientation day can be a deal-breaker for your new employees. How this day goes can tell them if they made the right decision accepting a job in your organization. A positive orientation experience makes new hires feel enthusiastic about their role, comfortable in the workplace, and associated with the company’s values.
However, many companies approach orientation completely wrong. And we get it. People think the purpose of this day is to give new employees all the information they need to start working. But this often leads to information-heavy presentations and lengthy handbooks no one wants to read. You risk overwhelming people with facts and information and boring them to death with long lectures and outdated videos.
Overwhelming orientation days leave new employees feeling distant from the company and hesitant about their decision to work there. This approach doesn’t allow them to solidify their relationship with the organization or develop strong ties with other workers. What makes 69% of employees more likely to stay at a company for over three years? A great experience with onboarding.
Sure, an orientation day should be informative. But it should mainly be focused on integrating the new employees into the company and making them feel at home. Luckily, Strayboots has a way to make the orientation day fun, exciting, and informative all at the same time. Using our popular team building scavenger hunts. These can turn a boring orientation day into a memorable adventure for everyone!
Welcome Your New Hires and Help Them Discover the Office
Orientation day should feel like a celebration, not a lecture hall. Make sure your new employees really feel welcome. This can include a welcome letter from the boss, complimentary food and snacks, or branded freebies such as t-shirts to hand out.
One of the best ways to make employees feel welcome is to show them around your office or facility. Some companies even provide maps of the local area, pointing out popular restaurants nearby. Strayboots’ scavenger hunts add another level to your typical office tour by immersing new employees in the company as they discover their workspace on their own.
These hunts are guided by an app on each employee’s smartphone. From this, they’ll be prompted to solve riddles, complete challenges, and take fun pictures with each other while discovering their new place of work. Strayboots staff can work with you to customize the scavenger hunt for your specific workplace, whether it’s a corporate office, an education center, or even a zoo.
You can also use our scavenger hunts to show your new hires locally. This is a great way to orient employees unfamiliar with the city. Or, if your company has recently relocated, give all your employees a chance to explore their new location. Our scavenger hunts can tour people around and show off cool spots to eat or nearby parks they can visit on their breaks.
Facilitate the Creation of Long-Lasting Employee Relationships
Our scavenger hunts require people to break up into teams. These teams then work together to complete the challenges involved, competing against other teams to win. This helps new employees learn to collaborate with their new co-workers. Through this teamwork, they’ll develop relationships that they can bring with them into the workplace. They’ll be comfortable communicating with others in the company since they will have already broken the ice during orientation.
Communication is one of the most important things for increasing word efficiency and productivity. And, these kinds of activities encourage people’s skills and strengths to be revealed naturally. For example, team members will discover who makes good leaders or who takes directions well. Individual employees can find the roles they fit into best.
Smaller organizations may want to make orientation day a celebration for all employees, including existing employees as well. This will help integrate new hires with the existing staff and encourage the creation of valuable mentorships.
Teach New Employees About Your Company’s Culture and Values
Use the scavenger hunts to teach new employees about the history of your company and the culture around your brand. During the scavenger hunts, your employees will be required to answer questions and solve riddles. Working with Strayboots, you can customize these challenges so participants can learn about your company. Test your new employees with fun questions about your company’s vision. Integrate the values of your business into the photo challenges so that new employees can develop an awareness of your brand.
This is a perfect way to weave information into the orientation day activities. This kind of interactive learning will help key information resonate more deeply with your new employees, compared to simply providing information to them in a typical handbook or presentation.
Create a Fun and Engaging Orientation Day
Employee turnover is expensive. In fact, 20% of employee turnover occurs within the first 45 days of their employment. Instead of losing new employees to a negative onboarding experience, solidify their expectations about your company and show them that they made the right decision to work with you.
Strayboots’ scavenger hunts can boost your orientation day and make it less like a lecture and more like a celebration. Employees will see that your company truly values them and cares enough to welcome them warmly. They can feel excited and enthusiastic about their future work as a result. And as we all know, happier employees work harder and produce better results.
But don’t just take our word for it. Consider the many successful organizations that have used our scavenger hunts to solidify company values and treat their employees to a team-building day. We’ve helped coordinate scavenger hunts for eBay, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and many others. And we all know how fun it looks to work for companies like Google.
Give your new employees the orientation they need to feel good about your company and start working with excitement. Contact us at Strayboots so we can plan your fun day!
