Consider adding pride stories in various sections of your on-boarding program. One of the most important messages is to communicate “Pride Stories” (implicitly and explicitly) that will attract and retain employees so they can be proud to work at your organization.

Implicitly: by conducting a well-designed, well-organized, effective on-boarding program so new hires can see the organization does things right. It shows “I’m part of a great organization,” and respect for management “The organization knows what they’re doing here.”

Explicitly: by sharing stories that communicate “You can be proud to work here” by sharing stories that demonstrate why your organization is worthy of pride. Consider stories new hires can share with their families.

Key themes your stories may include:

1. What makes your product or service great.
2. How your product or service has made a difference in the lives or businesses of your customers.
3. The good things your organization does in your local community, or for the world community.
4. Examples of employees or contract workers performing at elite levels, such as providing over-the-top customer service that blows your customers away.
5. How your organization is run with integrity, respect for its people, and competence.

How do you obtain pride stories?

  • Collect them from employees at all levels, about Moments of Truth that illustrate why they are proud to work in your organization.
  • Collect and cataloged them in a database. (Note what they communicate and what value they personify.)

Once you have collected the stories, you can: 1) include them in the on-boarding program, 2) include them on your recruiting site and/or 3) have recruiters share them at job fairs and in hiring interviews.

Sharing stories that inspire pride as part of your new hire on-boarding program not only will make your program more inspiring, it will also help to “confirm the decision” in your new hire’s minds that they made the right choice. So be sure to add pride stories that communicate “You can be proud to work here” in your on-boarding program.