FAQs Regarding New Hire Orientation

Aligning with university values, the Division of People, Culture and Belonging strives for continuous improvement. The decision to revamp the new hire orientation program comes from researching market best practices and gathering feedback from employees and supervisors.

Based on that data, orientation has been revised with these goals:

• Improve the overall experience and retention of new hires.
• Accommodate a variety of titles and schedules.
• Make the format more engaging and present the information in a clearer, more digestible way rather than one large session full of information.

We have worked to ensure that both in-person and virtual sessions are engaging and valuable, and this hybrid model allows us to make a return to in-person sessions. This increases the likelihood of understanding and retaining the information covered. This also provides more opportunities for attendees to ask questions and turn in the necessary paperwork.

We will still be holding virtual sessions so that we can accommodate those employees who may not be able to attend an in-person session (regional campuses, out-of-state employees, etc.) This also allows for more flexibility for those attendees who may work shifts outside of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or have hybrid work arrangements.

The orientation schedule is now available on the HR Training & Development webpage: https://www.kent.edu/hr/training/new-hire-orientation-schedule

For ease of planning, all orientation sessions are detailed on the HR Training & Development webpage: https://www.kent.edu/hr/training/new-hire-orientation-schedule

1. Notifications to supervisors: As has been done in the past, HR Talent Acquisition will work with hiring managers to ensure they know when their employees will be attending orientation. In addition, supervisors will now receive the details of orientation when their new hires receive their invitations.

2. New Hire Orientation Schedule: All sessions are detailed on the HR Training & Development webpage: https://www.kent.edu/hr/training/new-hire-orientation-schedule

As has been done in the past, if your new hire cannot attend their assigned session, they will be registered for the next available orientation.

(If your new hire’s shift falls outside of the normally scheduled orientation schedule, please contact Training and Development at 2-0898 or Employee Relations at 2-4636 to make arrangements for your new hire to attend or to get the information.)

Please bear in mind that most benefits must be selected within 31 days of their hire date, so if your new hire can’t attend the orientation closest to their hire date, make sure they know to watch for an email from Benefits. The Benefits team sends new hires their benefits information around the time of the orientation they’re scheduled for.