The purposes of organizational orientation:
Effective programs of organizational orientation:
• Provide new employees with an overview of the organization's history, products and services
• Provide knowledge of the factors that differentiate the company from its competitors
• Provide clear knowledge of organizational hierarchy
• Provide knowledge of the company's philosophy, mission, vision and goals
• Explain the vital role the employee plays in the chain of operations
• Discuss organizational culture including commitment to work/life balance or social initiatives
• Provide knowledge of career development opportunities, training opportunities, mentoring programs, promotional opportunities and other ways of skill acquisition
• Describe employee benefits and facilities offered to employees according to eligibility
• Clearly review the workflow and interrelationships between various departments
• Outline safety and security practices
• Outline termination and general disciplinary procedures
Specific knowledge that needs to be provided during employee orientation programs
To properly function in his/her job role, the new employee needs to know and understand ‘Departmental responsibilities,' ‘job responsibilities,' the interrelationship between the employee's job role and other job roles within the same department. The interrelations and interactivity between the employee's department and other departments within the organization also needs to be clarified and also the structure of the department and department culture if any.
It is extremely important during the orientation of new hires to provide a thorough overview and provide specifics of job duties and responsibilities. To do that specifically, the person in charge needs to sit down with the employee, discuss specific areas of responsibility and how these tasks are required, scheduled and delivered for the department to function effectively. It is also required that the employee clearly understand performance expectations and the nature of scheduled performance evaluations and salary reviews.
Among other small but essential things whose specifics must be communicated to a new employee are hours of work, meal and break periods, payroll schedules, policies on personal telephone calls and personal use of computers, etc.
The last, but most important part is that of making sure the employee understands reporting relationships. Both direct and indirect reporting relationships need to be clarified, as well as identifying people who are in charge when key personnel are not in the office.
It is better to pace out information overload, and break it into a few sessions with small gaps of actual work, rather than holding a two day seminar for orientation. During stints of actual work, the employee will come up with questions that need to be answered before it is decided that the primary orientation of the new employee is over with.
