Article:
New Employee Orientation and Training:
Bore or Score?
By Marla Rosner, Principal Marla
Rosner & Associates
New employee orientations seem a bit
"ho-hum"? If so, you're not alone in your
thinking. Reviewing personnel policies and procedures is
a bore for both employer and employee. So let's
reconsider what the goals of effective orientation
should be so that they have greater meaning to both
parties.
It's essential to accomplish two things with a new
employee and fast: 1) Develop their competence in the
assigned tasks and 2) Facilitate their assimilation into
the team.
If either or both of these objectives are not met, the
new employee will fall short of competency, commitment
or both.
A survey I conducted for a national chain showed that
most of the turnover in the units occurred within the
first three to six months of a new employee's tenure.
Why? Employees who came on board might bail for two key
reasons. First, if existing cliques did not welcome the
newcomer, s/he felt like an outsider. Second, if the
newbie didn't get the proper orientation to the
company's approach to technical procedures essential for
serving the customer they were perceived by others as
less than competent and in fact, did not feel
successful. I don't know about you, but if I felt like a
social reject or that I couldn't do my job well, I
wouldn't want to show up at work anymore. Low confidence
leads to low commitment, which leads to turnover.
If this sounds like the type of thing that would
likely occur in a retail unit but not in a corporate
environment, think again. Human resource specialists
concur that this is a typical problem. In 50% of (mostly
high-tech) businesses studied by Integral Training
Systems, a California based company specializing in
employee retention, turnover occurs mostly in the first
year of employment.
Examples abound. A colleague of mine recently
relocated for a new job he began. Nobody but his boss
spoke to him for two weeks! So much for integrating him
into the team. He was thinking of firing up (his still
warm) resume and longed to return to familiar territory.
Not a great mindset for contributing productively to the
new company!
When she began a position in a new company, my friend
Amy was assumed to have competence in a database program
that had been customized for that company. Database
programs she knew; just not this one. As a new employee
Amy was uncomfortable revealing her lack of knowledge
and as a result, she wasn't able to work at the expected
pace on the system.
Just short of quitting her job in frustration and
humiliation, I suggested she ask her boss for training.
Voila! She got the training and has gone on to be a
valued (and happy) contributor there. Close call. Her
boss almost lost a great employee because she didn't
take the initiative to identify and provide the right
orientation and training.
Moral of the story: Orientation does not start or end
with a review of policies and procedures though these
are also essential to impart. On the unit level,
managers should be provided with checklists that include
introductions to co-workers, assignment of a
buddy/mentor and specific training activities to quickly
build competencies. Provide the same checklist to the
new employee and encourage him or her to be proactive
about getting all boxes checked in the appropriate time
frame.
At the home office, HR or department managers should
develop checklists including introduction to co-workers
and other department personnel and discussion of
corporate culture along with training for company
specific or job specific tasks. Again, give a copy to
the employee. Checklists insure that the job gets done
and prevent having to re-invent the orientation process
over and over again.
Don't stop with checklists though. Whether at the
unit level or at the home office, an essential part of
making new employees feel part of the team is grooming
the team in advance. The more the team has been involved
in the selection of the new person, the more likely
they'll be receptive to them. Remind the team of their
own first days on the job and encourage them to make
friendly overtures to the new employee, show them the
ropes, and fill them in on "how things work around
here".
Finally, as a manager, touch bases early and often
with someone new to ask what support and direction they
need. If you know their needs and meet them, they'll
succeed and you'll be their hero.
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