Orientation...Does Yours Kick It Up or Kick 'Em Out?
By Lynda Ford

New employee orientation...the much maligned stepchild of the employee assimilation process. What is commonly viewed as a little piece of drudgery that every new hire must go through amounts to lost opportunity for the organization. Why? Because this important first view of the organization is filled with possibilities. It sets the tone for future employee success (or lack thereof).

Let me give you an example of one recent new hire. Day One. It's Monday morning, 8:00 am, and she has just settled into orientation. At the orientation, all the usual things happen...fill out paperwork, hear about the organization, policies, procedures, sign-off's, benefits, and a manager or two stop in to add their two cents. By 4:30 pm, when orientation is letting out, her head is swimming, but she's is eager to get started in her job.

Day Two. It's 8:00 am and our new hire shows up in her department, eager to get started. Her supervisor is handling a problem, so he can't see her right away. A fellow employee shows her where she'll be sitting. As she looks around her work area, she notices that it's bare, with not even a pencil. After 30 minutes or so, the supervisor comes over and welcomes her, explains that she's "not in the computer yet", so she won't be able to access information via the company Intranet, and tells her just to observe the others. And, since she's not in the computer, her security card isn't ready. "Just don't go outside by yourself", she's cautioned by the supervisor. "You won't be able to get back in the building." She does this for the rest of the day, scrounging for a pad and pencil to take a few notes.

Day Three. She's still not "in the computer", but she's becoming one heckuva good observer. Her supervisor stops to say hello in the morning, dumps a pile of three-ringed binders to review, and then rushes off to a meeting. The rest of her week is much the same. Thankfully, now it's Friday (TGIF), and she has the weekend to recharge.

And we wonder where all the motivated employees have gone? Here's a quick look at what a few best practice companies are doing to capitalize on all the possibilities a great orientation has to offer

At Cornell University's Division of Public Affairs, orientation occurs in two parts. Part One is a week-long, and introduces new hires to the Division and the University. Part Two is led by the supervisor, and involves assimilating the employee into the department and job. Detailed guidelines, coordinated by human resources, are given to supervisors so they know exactly the types of activities that should occur.

Corning takes it a step further, spreading the orientation process over a 15 month period. Employees attend a series of eight seminars and complete a workbook. Some of the topics covered are vision, values, products and services, benefits, diversity...just to name a few.

Metropolitan Property and Casualty's program, called 20/20 Vision: Focus From the Start allows each field office to customize program delivery. Orientation is viewed as a process, and the responsibility is shared among the supervisor, co-workers, mentors and the new employee.

Orientation is our first and best opportunity to set the tone for future employee success. So let's make everyone active participants, and kick it up a notch (thanks Emeril), instead of setting the tone that kicks 'em out.

Lynda Ford, author of this article, is president of The Ford Group, a consulting firm dedicated to improving organizations through their greatest potential resource...people. Her first book, FAST52: Building an Exceptional Workplace Environment has just been published. She can be contacted by e-mail at lynda@fordgroup.com, or by phone at (315) 339-6398.