New Employee Orientation Programs Key to Starting Employees Off Right

Effective orientation programs — where new employees are introduced to a company's mission and begin to feel they are a vital part of the team — are key to sparking early productivity and improving employee retention.

A study at Corning Glass found that new employees who went through a positive employee orientation program were 69 percentmore likely to be with the company three years later than those who did not. A similar, two-year study at Texas Instruments concluded that employees who had been carefully oriented to the company and their jobs reached full productivity two months sooner than those who hadn't.

"In today's labor market, new employees know they can quit and start somewhere else tomorrow," says Mel Kleiman, author of Hire Tough, Manage Easy — How To Find And Hire The Best Hourly Employees. "Orientation should be geared toward reinforcing new employees' 'buying decisions.' The focus must be on convincing them they made the right choice when they signed on."

Employees will never be more enthusiastic, hopeful and energetic than during the first few days on the job. Those days will either spark a fire of enthusiasm or fan the flames of doubt about the commitment the new worker has made. A dismal orientation, or the lack of one, can turn a new recruit into a cynical slacker or, even worse, into someone not bad enough to fire, but not good enough to add value either.

Kleiman believes that employers have to address what's foremost on employees' minds. "These are the same issues that worry kids on their first day of school each year: 'Will they like me?' 'Will I be safe here?' 'How hard is the work?' 'How will I be graded?'"

The best new employee orientation programs:

• Make a good first impression.
  
• Make new employees feel welcome and valued as key players on the team.
  
• Explain the mission/purpose of the company and the job so employees can see the big picture.
  
• Assure them they will be carefully and patiently trained — not thrown in to "sink or swim."
  
• Familiarize employees with rules, policies and procedures.
  
• Help employees adapt to their new surroundings, as well as learn who all the players are and how they work together.
  
• Establish friendly relationships among co-workers and managers.
  
• Ensure new employees have all the information and tools they need to do their jobs.
  
• Motivate employees to succeed as an integral part of the team.
  
• Develop the long-term commitment you want from every member of your workforce.
  
• Tell them what's in it for them — in sum, reinforce their "buying decision."

Without a well-planned orientation, new employees end up confused. The employer's lack of direction and disorganized approach rapidly diminishes the employee's commitment to the company.

Just a little effort on the employer's part will make that employer seem significantly better than any organization the employee has worked for before. "Employers are laying a foundation for failure when new employees are thrown into the fray without orientation," Kleiman said. "First impressions are lasting and, when you have a good orientation program, the effort invested will keep people motivated and loyal in spite of the inevitable frustrations that come up on any job."

- Ron Ameln. Republished with permission of the St. Louis Small Business Monthly. August 2001.