How Should Someone Convey Information in a New Employee Orientation Program?
New employee orientation is like welcoming someone to your home, and assists employees with adapting to their new work environment. Employers can administer orientations in a one-on-one or group setting, depending on how many employees you are adding. Human Resources or the managerial staff may head the orientation program or it can be a combination of both teams; in some cases, orientation may be computerized.
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Significance
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No matter who provides the orientation -- Human Resources, the employee's manager or a computer program -- the information conveyed must be consistent. The orientation provides a core foundation about the company and what it expects from its employees. A solid understanding of the company's mission and vision statements, and its policies are key components of the orientation. Helping employees understand how their jobs fit into the bigger scheme of the corporate structure is also an important component of orientation.
Features
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New employee orientation familiarizes the employee with the company benefits and policies, and will generally require the new employee to fill out any paperwork for benefits. Part of the process, which may take an hour or more, should include a review of the company safety policies, the company handbook and information about key policies -- such as the company's drug testing policy or no harassment policy. When a senior manager can reinforce the corporate values by an introductory video, it can heighten its importance and increase the quality of the orientation for the new employee. The individual managers should help the employee learn about his specific duties at the work station level.
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Effectiveness
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Effective orientations convey information through an interactive process. You will want to thoroughly discuss key policies in simple terms so the employee can apply the information to his actual duties. If he asks a question you don't have an immediate answer to, you should follow-up with him within a day or two with the answer after consulting your managing team. Due to the volume of exchanging information, you should utilize a manager's check list to prevent omissions. When you take your new employee to his work station, you will want to introduce him to his immediate managers and co-workers you who can reinforce the information you initially provided. You may even assign a person that the new employee can shadow to complete the orientation process.
Expectations
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The direct supervisor completes the formal orientation by explaining the job duties and his expectations for the next few weeks and months. The employee and the manager establish measurable, objective and achievable short-term goals for review in 90 days. Setting goals reinforces corporate policies and values, and creates open positive communication channels preventing many work place problems. When managers explain the key policies and set goals with new employees during orientation, employee retention increases and improves the corporate bottom line.
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References
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