Employee Orientation

Presented ByKriti VermaKumar GauravKumud SigdelKunal Kishore

OverviewOrientation - Definition and Meaning

Purpose of Orientation

Typical Orientation Programme

Requisites of an Orientation

Evaluation of Orientation

Problems of orientation

Promotion

Transfer

Separation

OrientationDefinition: Orientation is a systematic and planned introduction of employees to their jobs, their co-workers and the organization.

It is also called as Induction.

Orientation is designed to provide a new employee with the information he/she needs to function comfortably and effectively in the organization.

Should be a process, not an event.

Purpose of OrientationInduction serves the following purposes-

REMOVES FEARS.

ACTS AS A VALUABLE SORURCE OF INFORMATION.

CREATES A GOOD IMPRESSION.

ENCOURAGE POSITIVE ATTITUDE.

Typical Orientation Programme

•Formal or Informal

•Individual or Collective

•Serial or Disjunctive

•Investiture or Divestiture

Formal or Informal

In informal orientation, new hires are directly put on the job and they are expected to acclimatize themselves with the work and the organization.

In formal orientation the management has a structured program which is executed when new employees join the organization.

The choice between informal and formal orientation will depend on the management’s goal.

Individual or Collective: The individual approach

a.Develops far less homogeneous views.

b. Preserves individual differences and perspectives. c. It is an expensive and time consuming process.

d. It denies the new hire the opportunity of sharing the anxieties with fellow appointees.

Most large organizations tend to have the collective orientation approach. But small firms, which have fewer new appointees to socialize, frequently use the individual approach. Individual socialization is popular even with large firms when they hire executives whose number is small.

Serial or Disjunctive

Orientation becomes serial when an experienced employee inducts a new hire. The experienced employee acts as a tutor and model for the new hire.

When new hires do not have predecessors available to guide them or to model their behaviour upon, the orientation becomes disjunctive.

Disjunctive orientation produces more inventive and creative employees. The disadvantage of the approach is individuals fail due to an in adequate role model to understand how their job is to be done

Investiture or Divestiture:

Investiture orientation seeks to ratify the usefulness of the characteristics that the person brings to the new job. Most high level appointments follow this approach, because a person is appointed as an executive on the basis of what one can bring to the organization.

Divestiture orientation, seeks to make minor modifications in the characteristics of the new hire, albeit, one was selected based on one’s potential for performance. This is done to seek a better fit between a new member and the organization.

Typically orientation conveys three types of info:

(i)General information about the daily work routine;

(ii)A review of organization’s history, founding fathers, objectives, operations and product or services, as well as how the employee’s job contributes to the organization's needs; and

(iii)A detailed presentation,perhaps,in a brochure, of the organization policies, work rules and employee benefits.

Requisites of orientation

Requisites of an effective

programmeEducate the attendees about the history of the company, the financial performance of the company and the marketing initiatives of the company.

Brief history and operations of the company.

Products and services of the company.

The company’s organization structure.

Location of department and employee facilities.

Rules, regulations and daily work routines.

Grievance procedures.

Safety measures.

Standing orders and disciplinary procedures.

Requisites of an effective

programme

Terms and conditions of service including wages, working hours, overtime, holidays etc.

Suggestion schemes.

Benefits and services for employees.

Opportunities for training, promotions, transfers etc.

Requisites of an effective programme

Too much paperwork

Information overload

Information irrelevance

Scare tactics

Problems of Orientation

Too much “selling” of the organization

Too much one-way communication

One-shot mentality

No evaluation of program

Lack of follow-up

Problems of Orientation

The program was not planned

The employee was unaware of the job requirements

The employee does not feel welcome

Problems of Orientation

Preparation for First Day

First –Day

Second – Day

First week

Within the first month

90-days and ongoing

Orientation Checklist

Employee has to fill in a questionnaire evaluating the programme

Group discussion sessions with new employees who have settled into their jobs

Verbal feedback from the employees

Evaluation of Orientation

Allocation of employee to their right jobs.

It includes initial assignment of new employees, and promotion, transfer, or demotion of present employees.

Employee Placement

Collect details about the employees

Construct their profile

Which subgroup profile does the individuals profile best fit?

Employee Placement

Compare the subgroup profile to job family profiles

Which job family profile does subgroup profile best fit?

Assign the individual to job family

Assign the individual to specific job after further counseling and assessment

Employee Placement

Role Play

Situation 1

Situation 2

Differences in the two orientations

How will the employee be after a month of work?

Should orientation be spread out to avoid information overload?

Buddy +ve and -ve

Group Discussion

Good Orientation Bad Orientation

1. HR welcomes new employee Has to search for HR department

2. Orientation kit ready Takes and hour to get in place

3. Colleagues know Colleagues don’t know

4. Colleagues are not prejudiced Colleagues are prejudiced

5. Lunch with Senior manager No introduction

6. Orientation over a week One day orientation

7. Formal and informal No interaction

Role Play Differences

2002