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Modern management has now come of age with the tightening of belts and gleaning the chaff from the wheat. Waste has been cut to a minimum and unnecessary employees, not keeping up with the new trimmed down economy, suddenly have found themselves seeking new employment. Everywhere, in every department, management looks for greater cost effectiveness.
One area in business which cuts deeply into profits is employee turnover and new employee orientation. The cost of orientation has been looked at in the past with indifference. Now the one thing a company cannot afford is a failed orientation. A failed orientation is one which either takes more time and effort than necessary to accomplish or which totally fails to assist the employee to adapt to the new environment. Failed orientations are not only costly for the company, but are also costly and time consuming for the employee who may have to begin his job search again. Fortunately, most employees acclimate to the job in spite of a faulty orientation, but, again, this process is not cost effective.
When an institution hires a new employee, it has a responsibility to assist him to adapt to the new situation and feel comfortable as soon as possible.
If you are responsible for orienting new people, take the following into consideration.
The orientation should be mapped out ahead of time. Plan what you want the new employee to learn. Write it down and organize it. Plan the logical sequences. Be specific and concrete. The new person doesn't know how you want the work done. Some procedures are universal while others have institutional idiosyncrasies. If applicable, give the purpose of what you're teaching. This will make learning easier.
Planning ahead will not only make the orientation go smoother and faster but will give the message you expect the same type of organization from the new employee.
It's not uncommon in the work world for the new employee to show up for work and be greeted by, "Oh, yeah. I forgot about you. I don't have time today to orient you. Here's a policy book. Go somewhere and read it."
No one is impressed by being overlooked as a result of someone's hectic schedule. This shouts rudeness...