The first few days of an employee’s life at a business represent a rare, untapped window of time where the new hire enters a fresh environment shining, inspired and ready to make a difference. The organization gets a shot in the arm; an instant infusion of talent and energy.

Properly channeled and leveraged, this new-hire vitality and vigor can permeate the culture and positively impact people at all levels of your organization. This period of welcome and orientation is an incredible opportunity to revive your team.

It’s a one-time chance to roll out the red carpet for that new employee—to show your team that this promising, thoughtfully selected person matters. It should remind others of their first day, and if it was memorable (as it should be), then everyone will have something to share that revives them.

The process of orienting a new hire is formally called onboarding. When done effectively, 0nboarding will:
<ul>
<li>Set the tone for the new employee’s role</li>
<li>Efficiently orient the person to the job and culture</li>
<li>Cement the existing team</li>
<li>Improve the overall productivity of your operations</li>
</ul>

Many organizations implement a watered-down version of onboarding that runs the risk of leaving their new blood feeling jilted at the altar. This is it? This is what I've been waiting for? Does anyone know I was hired? Clearly, this is not the impression any leader wants a new hire to gather on the first days, or any day for that matter.

Effective onboarding accelerates productivity and generates energy. An employee hits the ground running the first day because he or she connected with the company’s mindset at the first interview. The training/onboarding process began during Recruiting. Their first day was actually that initial interview, as they got to know your company better and began to learn about its culture.

In fact, onboarding is a continuation—albeit a more formal start—of the orientation that began when you opened the door to first speak with the candidate. Doesn't this mindset change the talent acquisition focus completely? Doesn't it underscore the value of a rigorous recruiting and selection process leading up to onboarding? And, doesn't it make sense that doing so changes the onboarding experience completely, because candidates are in the game before they ever start the job?

<em>This is an excerpt from "Talent Mindset", available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0990866408/" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, and what you just read is merely the tip of the iceberg.</em>

<em>I would love for you to visit me at <a href="http://www.stacyfeiner.com/" target="_blank">stacyfeiner.com</a> or connect on Twitter via <a href="https://twitter.com/stacyfeiner" target="_blank">@stacyfeiner</a> so that we can continue this conversation.</em>