Companies searching for low-cost, highly effective retention tools should look first to their new employee orientation programs (NEOs). If one is in place, dust it off and see if it is in need of revision or updating. If one does not exist, consider the payoff associated with a program that is reasonably easy to assemble and is a win-win for the organization.

NEOs are a great marketing tool in that they prove to potential employees that the company wants to help them acclimate and succeed. Secondly and more simply, they provide excellent information to new employees who are chronically starved to learn about their new workplace. The NEO is also the perfect setting for new employees to network with other new staff members. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, a NEO expresses your organizational culture, otherwise known as "the information between the lines." A discussion of company history, structure, and mission can all be part of this communication process, and you can be sure this information will prove invaluable to new staff as they make their way through their first days in your organization.

Here are ten steps to ensure a successful new employee orientation program:

1. Articulate your rationale

Why are you thinking of implementing a new employee orientation program? It's good to put your reasons in writing before you actually expend many hours on the project. You will need this for any oral presentations or written proposal that you may put forth and it will help to focus you as you move through each phase.

2. Determine if it is the right time

If you don't already have one, is now the time to roll out a new employee orientation program? If your company is cash-strapped and you have more turnover than you'd prefer, it's the perfect time. Turnover represents lost investment and new employee orientations are one of the easiest, least expensive ways of improving morale, improving turnover, and making an early investment - financially and motivationally - in your new staff members. A good way to determine whether it is the right time politically is to get yourself placed on your company's senior staff agenda. Present your rationale as well as any turnover stats or hiring costs you can get your hands on. They'll likely be receptive to anything thoroughly researched which will help to improve the bottom line. Remember to keep it high level with this group. You are really only seeking the green light, not getting into specifics.

3. Conduct a non-scientific needs analysis

Also known as "talk to people." At this point, function as an information collector. Compile a list of your employees and their years of service. Choose a comprehensive cross-section of employees, from those with long service to those hired in the last year. Prepare a short questionnaire for each group (no more than 5 questions to get the conversation started). Focus less on results than on what people are saying. Get the gist: are they happy with the status quo? Are there orientation activities that used to be done that should be brought back? Are there past practices to definitely avoid? Are there best practices from their former employers? Be sure to take good notes, talk to a large sample size, and include people with organizational clout. This will give your data two essentials: weight and depth.

4. Convert the anecdotal information into data your leaders will listen to

These days, metrics rule the day. The careful notes you took during your interviews should now be translated into numbers: percentage of the population interviewed who felt they would have been more productive if given an orientation, etc. This is powerful evidence and will go a long way toward convincing your organization that you are on the right track with your program recommendations. Also, it will give you and your department practice with quantitative measurement, the key to successful HR departments.

5. Form a focus group to test your assumptions and product

Now that you have gathered data and prepared yourself to make your pitch to whichever stakeholders you will need to convince, go one step further and form a focus group. This does not have to be as scary as it sounds. Choose a small group - no more than 10 - and again obtain good, strong representation from all functional groups and management levels. These are the folks with whom you'll do your dry run. Once they've agreed to participate and give you feedback, meet with the group to provide them with background (your rationale and metrics), clarify their role, and spell out meeting times and time commitment.

6. Give the focus group a product to review

Give the focus group your orientation materials to review. Whatever your program is comprised of - policy binder, PowerPoint presentation, organizational charts and case studies, or something completely different - this is your chance to get fine tuning from those most able to provide it: existing staff members. Provide specific question sheets telling them what kind of feedback you are looking for. Hint: Don't invite them to reinvent the wheel. Your draft orientation is based on data already collected. Their role is clear: to comment and provide additional details on what you've already put together.

7. Present to your senior staff

Depending on your organization, this may be a necessary step to do before taking step #3. Chances are, if you are like many organizations, at some point it is important (or required) to present any new far-reaching program to your senior staff members. This not only is essential for the ever-elusive buy-in any new program needs, but it is the ultimate opportunity to show your ability to meet the needs of your client base. Here's where that rationale and those metrics come in handy. Be sure to remind them why orientation is so important and back it up with your numbers and research!

8. Market, market, market

Once you make it through the senior staff presentation (presumably with flying colors because your methodology was sound), it's time to begin the rollout. STOP! Do not start to implement your NEO program until you have personally attended each and every staff meeting. They will probably agree to put you on the agenda for 10 minutes. Talk up your program, your focus group, your plan, and bring a small sample, be it a slide or binder or pencil, to whet appetites sufficiently. I can almost guarantee that you'll hear mutterings of "... wish they'd had that when I started here." This is exactly what you want to hear.

9. Roll it out!

Begin implementing your program. Figure out the logistics in advance, including who is attending and how you will invite them, reserving any necessary space, obtaining refreshments, inviting any special guests, and, most importantly, using your HR team and/or focus group as guinea pigs. Do a run-through to make sure your timing is as it should be. This will also help you deal with any technical glitches and become more comfortable with the material you are presenting.

10. Establish a NEO update timeline

After you've been delivering your NEO for awhile, say 6-12 months, begin planning the second iteration. This may seem like a bit much after having just implemented such a massive program, but information changes. Also, you will want to work in any feedback you've received on the NEO program to date.

Mary Lucal is an HR Officer at Harvard University and a member of NEHRA. She can be reached at mary_lucal@harvard.edu.