We have what we call a new hire mentor, but it can be somewhere between a buddy and a mentor depending on the skillset of the mentor who is with the new hire for at least the first 90 days.  We've also set up what we've called "culture connects." Just 30 minute chats with someone outside of your day to day and provide some starter questions.  We started having once a month "pep talks."  A senior leader will so a 5-10 minute state of the business then one of the business units will share what they do then there will be a fun game to end it.  We've revamped our committee work too.  We used to have a wellness committee, a morale committee, etc and participation had fizzled out.  We're trying a new plan of putting a calendar together for the year and allowing people or teams to come together on passion projects so it doesn't feel like you're committing yourself to a year long project.  You can come in for a couple weeks or a month on a topic you are really passionate about to work on a cross functional team.  Oh and early last year we included a piece in the onboarding process about how to be intentional about building connections and relationships in a remote environment.  Eventually I'll have to update that to hybrid.  We do have a training planned on that for March, but it will be something that we'll want everyone to go through as they start.  Establishing those norms is so important.  I can't tell you how many people have said they won't ping someone because they thought they were bothering them, but then I explain that's normal in our culture to ping whenever and the person will respond when they are available to respond.  So defining those norms can be so helpful.

Hello,

We are receiving feedback from onboarding surveys that employees are not feeling connected when hired regardless if they are onsite or remote. Wondering what others are doing or how have your onboarding and new hire orientations shifted?  What does onboarding (long term) and new hire orientation (one day to a week) look like for you?  Do you use an onboarding software?  If so, what is it and what are the pros/cons you have experienced?  Do you use a buddy program?  How does it work?

If it's easier to chat, I am happy to set up a Teams call.  Thanks in advance for your assistance.