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 Business INK
It Pays to Help New Staff Start Right
Managers should invest wisely in well-designed staff orientation programs. Effectively orientating your new employees can pay back big dividends in staff retention, employee commitment and customer satisfaction. Staff members who are properly trained and welcomed at the beginning of their careers feel good about their choice of employer, fit in quickly with peers and colleagues and readily contribute new ideas. They also speak well about your firm to friends and family. And they represent you more confidently to customers, business partners and suppliers. Poor orientation of new employees can cost you dearly. Those who don't start right don't tend to stick around long, either. High staff turnover means you must recruit, train and orientate new staff all over again. Staff turnover also takes a high toll on the morale of those who do stay behind. When people leave your organization, those who remain begin to wonder... should we be looking for new employment, too? But while many managers will agree that new staff orientation is important, very few invest the time and attention necessary to make sure it's done consistently, and done right. Now is the time to review your staff orientation program. Apply the following ideas to be sure your staff "start right"! Think long term. Effective orientation is a gradual process, and does not end after the second day on the job. The initial induction of employees during the first few days is important. But it is even more important to make sure new employees fit in and feel comfortable over the longer term. This can mean six weeks for a factory worker, or up to six months for new members of a senior management team. A time for everything. Everything in it's time. New employees arrive with basic questions that must be answered quickly: What is the dress code? Where are the tools for my job? How does the telephone system work? When do people eat, meet and get paid? After the initial induction period, your employee's questions will change and mature: "How am I being appraised? Why is the system set up this way? How can I (safely) suggest changes ? Who can I see for guidance, approval and support?" Don't try to answer all possible questions in the least possible time. Stretch out the process to cover the first weeks or even months on the job. This lets new staff absorb essential information more gradually and completely. An extended orientation program also reassures new employees. Newcomers are always under great pressure to perform and adapt. Your extended program shows you understand their situation, you care about their adjustment, and you will continue to show interest and attention over time. Involve everyone in the process. New employees are not the only ones affected by the quality of your orientation program. Other groups are influenced during this important period as well, including peers, bosses, subordinates, senior managers, customers, suppliers and even the new hire's family back home. Each group has different questions and concerns about the new employee. Address those concerns by giving each group an active role in your overall orientation program. Buddy systems, lunch meetings, panel discussions, site visits, family days - these and other methods can be used to involve diverse groups and individuals in the process. The reputation of your Human Resource Department is also at stake. If orientation is well planned and conducted, the HR department will be seen by new employees as a valuable resource for addressing their future concerns. On the other hand, poor staff orientation sends an early message that the HR department is ineffective or out of touch. Your orientation program should accomplish seven major objectives: Create comfort and rapport. Diversify the time and nature of these meetings. For informal conversation, tea-times, meal-times and after hours get togethers are a good choice. Include new hires in customer visits, focus groups and occasional management meetings. Send new employees on short attachments to visit other company divisions and departments. Spending a week, a day or even an afternoon in a different part of the business will do wonders to build rapport and understanding throughout your organization.
Understanding company culture only happens over time, through formal presentations, informal dialogue and lots of personal experience. What gets said "officially" is compared with what gets said "confidentially" over lunch, after hours and even amongst colleagues in the washroom. Extend your positive influence beyond the formal presentations. Create a buddy system or mentor scheme to match your most sincere and enthusiastic staff with your incoming employees. But don't expect your enthusiastic staff to stay that way if their mentor role becomes a burden. Give the mentor relationship real support: pay for a few lunches, allow time in the weekly schedule for mentor-mentee conversations, include mentor services in annual staff appraisal and show appreciation to the mentors with tokens of recognition, appreciation and respect.
"Where has this company been? Where is it today? Where are we heading to? Who are our customers? What do they say about us? Who are our major competitors? What is our market position?" "What is our current focus: are we expanding operations, going regional and launching new technologies? Or are we trimming costs, rationalizing product lines and streamlining operations?" You can orient new staff to these "Big Picture" issues with a well-designed presentation. With slides, OHP, video or multi-media, highlight your history, and present status, your future goals and directions. Share "humble beginnings". Detail "greatest achievements". Show excitement for future directions. But be candid about company weaknesses, too. Talk openly about difficulties and challenges in the market. Keep your "Big Picture" presentation upbeat and lively, and keep it up to date. In large organizations, very senior managers are often the best authorities to share insight on the future of the business. But these same managers may frequently be out of town or involved in handling current events. They are not always available when you want them to participate in an orientation program. You can solve this problem by capturing them on videotape as they discuss the opportunities and challenges facing your organization. Then use the video in your program, and bring the managers back "live" at a later date for panel discussions, question and answer sessions, or informal "meet the manager" conversations.
One large regional firm developed an extensive orientation program along the theme: "You will know more about the problems of this organization than people who have worked here for years!" This novel approach produces new staff who understand realities and are ready to work hard to help make them better.
Most of all, gain full participation from the new employees themselves. Resist the temptation to project all information in a one-way stream from the company towards the new staff. Have new staff explore the company, research the competition, meet the customers, and then generate their own questions for you to receive and reply. Finally, get your new employees fully involved in welcoming the next batch of incoming staff. This will ensure your orientation program stays fresh and relevant to staff needs, and can be a watershed towards making "new staff" feel like "veterans" at the company; experienced, involved and able to contribute. The time, money and human resources you dedicate to new employee orientation can be one of your best long-term corporate investments. Make sure your program is thoughtfully designed, carefully delivered, continuously upgraded and improved. Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online. Ron Kaufman is a leading author, trainer and keynote speaker in the fields of improving Service Quality and implementing Customer Focus. Based in Singapore, Ron's clients include many of the Fortune 100 companies, plus government agencies and associations around the world. More ideas, techniques, articles and information are available, FREE, on the website: http://www.ronkaufman.com RON KAUFMAN - Active Learning! Copyright, MCMXCVII, Ron Kaufman.
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