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A Quick Guide to Employee Orientation – Help for Managers & HR

Orientation isn’t a nicety! It is used for the following purposes:

1. To Reduce Startup-Costs

Proper orientation can help the employee get "up to speed" much more quickly, thereby reducing the costs associated with learning the job.

2. To Reduce Anxiety

Any employee, when put into a new, strange situation, will experience anxiety that can impede his or her ability to learn to do the job. Proper orientation helps to reduce anxiety that results from entering into an unknown situation, and helps provide guidelines for behavior and conduct, so the employee doesn’t have to experience the stress of guessing.

3. To Reduce Employee Turnover

Employee turnover increases as employees feel they are not valued, or are put in positions where they can’t possibly do their jobs. Orientation shows that the organization values the employee, and help provide tools necessary for succeeding in the job.

4. To Save Time For Supervisors & Co-Workers

Simply put, the better the initial orientation, the less likely supervisors and co-workers will have to spend time teaching the employee.

5. To Develop Realistic Job Expectations, Positive Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

It is important that employees learn early on what is expected of them, and what to expect from others, in addition to learning about the values and attitudes of the organization. While people can learn from experience, they will make many mistakes that are unnecessary and potentially damaging.

Some Tips

1. Orientation should begin with the most important information (basic job survival).
2. Orientation should emphasize people as well as procedures and things. Employees should have a chance to get to know people and their approaches and styles in both social and work settings.
3. Buddy an employee to a more experienced person, but make sure the more experienced person wants to buddy up, and has the inter-personal skills. This provides ongoing support.
4. Introduce employees to both information and people in a controlled way. A new employee can’t absorb everything at once, so don’t waste your time. Space out introductions.

Bacal & Associates

252 Cathcart Street

Winnipeg, Mb. Canada, R3R 0S2

(204) 888-9290

Email: rbacal@escape.ca