Getting People on the Bus - by AJ Hyland, CEO -

Over the past several years, Hyland Software has been hiring at a rapid pace.  Even though the hiring is spread across all departments within Hyland, there is still a single challenge: how do we get people assimilated and productive in the least amount of time?

Not an easy challenge for sure.  We want new employees to understand a great deal before they "hit their desks."  They need to understand corporate values, corporate strategies, industry structure, product benefits, product features, as well as a host of policies and information systems.  I turned to our internal training department (as well as our HR team) and they developed a tremendous orientation program to accomplish all of this. 

On day one, the first presentation a new employee sees is from a C-Level executive.  This presentation is the "5,000 foot" view of the company with a little history, strategy and a discussion of our core values.  Employees then go through several days where they are educated on the various departments and how they inter-relate.  Corporate policies are also covered in this period of time.  Then we start to get more granular.  New hires are required to study and pass an industry certification and quickly move into product training.

Product training also starts at a high level and gradually moves into significant detail.  Employees are required to take and pass two different levels of certification on our product.  Not only do we want people knowing product features, they have to know how these products translate into business solutions for our customers.  To that end, new employees have to read and discuss customer case studies as well.  Our team has also made learning this information fun at times by incorporating game show type exercises and funny videos. 

The entire orientation process takes about eight weeks and employees are then "released" to their respective departments.  But the assimilation doesn't stop there.  New employees are matched up with a mentor in order to help them navigate their first months on the job.  They also participate in a corporate passport program that requires them to have meetings (and get their passports stamped) with various members of the management team, including all vice presidents.  Just one more way to get everyone on the same page and knowledgeable about where the company is going and how we are getting there.

Hyland's investment in this orientation program is paying dividends.  New employees are more engaged and managers state that these employees are hitting the ground running when they enter their departments.  A true win-win!