Culture-First New Hire Orientation with Measurable ROI
St. Ann’s Community's Hybrid Orientation Launched in 8 Weeks
Vicky Bournival had a number in mind: $13,000. That’s what turnover costs St. Ann’s Community for a single employee, and it adds up fast in a senior care organization running 24 hours a day, seven days a week across four campuses. As Director of Organizational Development, Vicky knew that the quality of a new hire’s first experience directly connects to whether they stay. The problem? Her orientation process wasn’t built for the workforce she was actually serving. So, through Advantage HR Engage, she built something that was.
When In-Person Isn’t Working for Everyone
For years, St. Ann’s Community ran a traditional two-day, in-person orientation. Every new hire, regardless of their shift or campus, was expected to show up and sit through it. The materials varied by department, with variations in PowerPoint templates, formats, and quality. It didn’t feel consistent, and it didn’t feel professional. Beyond the content, the logistics were significant: Vicky’s entire HR team was on-site for both days, plus catering costs for every cohort.
When St. Ann’s tried to solve the problem by moving content into their HRIS system, it fell short. The experience was PC-only, not mobile-friendly, and the inconsistency followed them into the new format. It wasn’t the right tool for the job.
The Case for Change
When Vicky brought the idea of a purpose-built digital orientation to leadership, she came prepared. She started by listing exactly what wasn’t working and connecting each pain point to a tangible impact. The throughline was clear: when employees don’t feel connected to an organization from day one, they leave. In senior care, that revolving door affects both the bottom line and the people who stay.
The number that made it real was $13,000, the cost of a single employee turnover at St. Ann’s. Vicky put it to leadership simply: a 1% improvement in retention through better orientation more than covers the entire investment in Advantage HR Engage.
"If we can improve retention through better orientation by just 1%, that improvement more than pays for the cost of doing this right. It was sort of a no-brainer."
The financial case wasn’t the only one she made. Vicky was equally direct about the human cost. St. Ann’s employees work nights, have kids to get on the bus in the morning, and drive in from campuses spread across the region. The old model asked them to rearrange their lives just to start a job, and that mentality, she decided, had to change.
Culture Doesn’t Have to Get Lost
Going into the build, Vicky’s biggest concern wasn’t the technology. It was culture. St. Ann’s Community is an organization where culture is more than a checkbox. The idea of moving orientation to a digital experience raised a real question: could the warmth and humanity of St. Ann’s community actually travel through a screen?
For Vicky, the answer started with a decision to make the experience unmistakably theirs. Throughout their Advantage HR Engage orientation experience, she used photos and videos of real St. Ann’s Community staff taken in their actual campuses. She put herself on video alongside her Senior VP of HR, so that new hires would see their faces and learn their names before ever walking through the door.
The goal was for someone to finish this section and just feel like, okay, I know where I’m going. I know who these people are. I belong here.
The impact became clear almost immediately. New hires began arriving on day one already knowing who Vicky was. When they passed her in the hallway and said, “I saw you in orientation,” the connection was already there. That, she said, was exactly what she was going for.
Built in Eight Weeks, No IT Required
When Vicky started building her Advantage HR Engage experience, she had six hours of content in various formats: PowerPoints, videos, audio files of varying quality. She created a shared folder, dropped everything in, and handed it to the Advantage implementation team. What followed was an eight-week build with no IT involvement. The Advantage Design Group team converted and organized the content, and Vicky was able to go in herself to shape the experience, adjust the flow, and fill in what was missing. After piloting with her HR, leadership, and operations teams, launch day came down to one updated welcome email and a new link. In Vicky's words, "It was seamless... From the user standpoint, they don't know any different."
What Life Looks Like Now
The most immediate change was time. Before Advantage HR Engage, Vicky’s entire HR team was physically present for two full days of in-person orientation every time a new cohort came through. Now that time goes back to the team. Orientation runs without them in the room, and the hours they used to spend facilitating are available for the rest of the workforce.
The visibility shift has been equally significant. Previously, completion data lived with one person in the education department, who was constantly fielding requests for information. Now, the back-end administrative panel is available to Vicky’s entire team, so everyone can see who has completed orientation, who is still in progress, and who needs a nudge. Orientation completion is required before a new hire starts, and for the first time, St. Ann’s has the infrastructure to enforce that cleanly.
Leadership noticed. The orientation is being discussed in board committee meetings, shared with pride by the same people Vicky had to convince to say yes in the first place. New hires arrive on day one already knowing their place at St. Ann's Community, connected to the mission and part of the culture. A survey at the end of the orientation creates a feedback loop that keeps Vicky’s finger on the pulse of how the connection is landing.
Vicky’s take on where St. Ann’s Community stands now is simple and direct. Before, she says, they simply weren’t providing the best orientation. Now they are.
Discover Advantage HR Engage
If your organization is still relying on a process that wasn’t built for the workforce you’re actually serving, Vicky’s story is proof that a better experience is more achievable than it might seem. Request a live tour of Advantage HR Engage to discover how a purpose-built digital orientation can reach every new hire, reflect your culture, and give your HR team the visibility and time to focus on what matters most.