Most companies have some type of new employee orientation (NEO). This orientation can range between very easy to complex, depending on how much money and importance a business place on NEO. Closely linked with orientation is training of new employees. Many people think that those two words are interchangeable they aren't. Work center orientation requires learning information on your unique job and company orientation is studying a company's goals/vision and general knowledge that each employee should know (Wallace, 2009). This newspaper will explore both ideas. One of them paper is a detailed explanation of an proposed two-week orientation program for new employees. Furthermore, there's a discussion on carrying on education training and performance appraisals.
Goals and Benefits of a NEO Program
A successful NEO program has three elements or goals a company wants to achieve with a NEO program (Wallace, 2009). Those goals are an organization wants an employee to feel just like they made the right choice in applying for the work; new employees are clear on their tasks and expectations, also to make a worker feel like a business team members (Wallace, 2009). In case a company can achieves these goals, they'll reap many benefits.
Benefits of re-affirming an employee's choice to utilize your business includes increased motivation, commitment, and employees are less likely to stop their job (Hacker, 2004). When a worker understands their prospects, it lessens the "learning curve" and they're less inclined to violate company guidelines and procedures. Last but not least, benefits of making a worker feel like company team members includes greater degrees of self-assurance, they feel convenient approaching a supervisor when they have a problem, and it can help lower stress and nervousness to be the "new guy" (Hacker, 2004).
NEO Program
Purpose
The purpose of this program is three-fold. First collapse is to familiarize (e. g. company quest & an organization tour) new employees with the company. Second collapse is to provide information on the benefits and company polices (e. g. leave and EO coverage). The very last fold is providing job specific orientation (e. g. policies, process, and types of procedures of the job).
Program design
The program is ten responsibility days long. This program is made for all employees (i. e. range staff to management). It'll start at 0800 to 1600, Monday thru Fri (one-hour lunchtime). School room will contain four to six circular desks with five to six employees are each stand. Ideally, each stand will consist of employees that work in various areas.
Each stand of employees makes up one team. Inter-mixed between orientations is various team problems designed to increase team dynamics and cohesiveness. Teams consist of five to six employees because research shows this is the best amount to build a cohesive group (Al-Rawi, 2008). I chosen five to six employees for every single team also because my own experience has educated me that a lot of employees on a day-to-day continuous basis interact with five to six co-workers.
Quality of facilitators/briefers
Facilitators/briefers (F/B) will be subject matter experts in this issue these are briefing. All F/B will have got excellent speaking and writing potential. All F/Bs will have at least 30 hours of group powerful/team building training. Associated with simple. This program at its primary is team-based.
NEO week one
Day one
One day all new employees will maintain their car seats by 0800. At exactly 0800 an F/B will walk in tell everyone that those individuals sitting at their desk are their new team members. F/B will than tell them they have to two minutes to come with a team name. Once each team has a name, F/B explains to everyone to operate and follow him.
F/B will lead them to their first team obstacle, an obstacle course. The goal of this concern is to provide new employees an event that they can get together and share as a group. Each part of the course will require every team member to participate. Many things are going on in this challenge. Groups are bringing out themselves to each other; they are conversing and socializing with each other. This challenge starts the organizational socialization (OS) process. Operating-system happens when an employee begin to comprehend core values of the company and get started to feel like they may be part of the company (Yang, 2008). Operating-system is very important to the success of new employees. Socialized employees can better adapt to new methods and norms than employees who aren't as socialized (McLaurin, 2008).
After they complete the challenge, they go back to class and watch a welcome video from the company president. It is at this time F/Bs will make introductions and discuss the course format.
Day two thru four
Days two through four will be a mix of school room education on benefits, company polices, etcand team challenges. Day two's problem is a scavenger hunt. At this time, they don't know their way around the business. They have a map and set of items they have to acquire. Groups have to decipher a set of signs to find each item. Each team member brings a certain set of skills with their team. Hints are unique to each team depending on the team's composition and skill set. Nobody person can find out all the hints on his / her own. This will likely force these to work together and get to know one another. Again, the goal is to increase Operating-system with this obstacle.
Through solving hints, they will find out about different careers that other people do in the business. This allows them to visit a bigger picture of the business's mission and purpose. Another advantage is setting up a social network. After they enter their jobs, they'll know people in other areas that they can ask for assistance with a problem. This might not be possible if they be seated through orientation training and don't interact with each other.
The last advantage is they learn where everything is positioned in the company. Often times new employees hang out looking for places because they don't know where anything is and often times won't even try to find, for example a fitness room, out of annoyance. Utilizing a team dynamic strategy can make it a fun way to learn the business layout and still learn everything they have to know about the company.
Day 5
On day five, clubs will obtain an all day briefing on organizational culture (OC). Schein (2004) defines OC as a "design of distributed basic assumptions that was learned by an organization as it solved its problems of external adaptation and inside integration, that spent some time working well enough be looked at valid and, therefore to be trained to new people as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel with regards to those problems. "
Once a fresh employee learns what is socially acceptable in a firm they integrated quicker into that company (Akdere & Schmidt, 2007). For instance, you have a corporation that is hierarchical and desires employees to utilize formal channels to talk to management. New employees that quickly adjust to that culture is going to be more lucrative than those that do not change. Research shows that employees that do not learn a company's OC will leave, their job performance suffers, and they're much more likely to be terminated (Akdere & Schmidt, 2007).
NEO week two
Week one centered on company orientation. Week two targets work center orientation. The course is split into teams based on where they will be working. They'll come up with a new team name and team issues will continue as they did in week one.
Day 6
Each team should go to different classrooms and obtain job specific briefing over such matters as basic safety, environmental conservation, and work middle policies. They have a tour with their work middle and meet their co-workers. Lunch is at their work centre and it is with all work centre employees. This is another part of socializing a fresh employee.
Day 7 & 8
Day seven and eight are hands-on days and nights. New employees will understand how to work with their work middle equipment and tools, if they're line workers. They will be able to practice and they'll tell you various work cases to better familiarize them using what an average day-to-day workload.
Staff employee (i. e. supervisors and professionals) will learn about specific supervisory and managerial duties because of their work centers. They'll go through some role-played situations of common supervisor/manger issues. Stars will be F/Bs and employees will be assessed about how well they manage each situation. However, this can be a non-threatening process. Reviews is crucial and designed to make new supervisors/managers better at their job and point out any areas that require to be improved.
Day 9
As on day five, day nine will focus on OC. However, it'll be over work center specific OC. An integral aspect to coaching OC will be to stress that company OC, as a whole, may be different from the OC of your projects center. These can be different because each work center has a different purpose and way of doing things which effects is OC. Making employees aware of variations in company OC and work center OC will lessen any misunderstandings or disappointment (Akdere & Schimdt, 2007).
Day 10
On day ten, the entire class should come together, to discuss what they have learned over the last two-weeks. Following a facilitated discourse, employees receive a certificate of conclusion and the F/B will show a training video from the leader congratulating new employees on concluding the program and welcoming them on-board. From then on, they will be present at a company-wide picnic where everyone attends (new employees and their supervisors/co-workers) to mingle and reflect on their experience with the NEO program.
Assessment of the NEO Program
Pre-NEO program assessment
Before an employee starts, they'll take a Team-KSA evaluation test created by Stevens and Campion (1994). Their test (Stevens & Campion, 1994) measures essential knowledge, skills, and skills that are predictive of working effectively in clubs. It is 35- multiple-choice question test. It takes 30 to 40 minutes to complete. This test offers a baseline for each and every new employee. The target is to see an improvement in their over team-KSA score at the end of the NEO program.
Active analysis of NEO program
I will use direct observation during contests and over the rest of the orientation training. I'll place one of F/B to shadow each team nevertheless they cannot connect to them. They'll be watching that they interact and talk to each other. After the competition, we'd sit down, compare notes, and observe how what performed and what didn't work.
In addition, F/B will receive constant feedback from other F/Bs on the quality of their briefings. The purpose is never to criticize or inform the F/B what they are doing incorrect. Its goal is to enhance the quality of each briefing. In my own personal experience, a supplementary set of eye is actually helpful.
Post NEO assessment
There are two parts to create assessment. In part one, employees fill out a course survey. The first survey has each new employee rating the entire experience and any recommendation to boost orientation. They'll also rate each briefing and team problem. I am going to use these surveys to evaluate the program and make alterations as need based off employee reviews.
In part two, employees complete a team-KSA analysis test. They'll also take this test at three, six, nine and twelve month period. The purpose is to see if their team-KSA score stays frequent or improves over time. This will be a true test of this program if employees retain what they were taught over an extended period.
Continuing Education
While a good NEO program gets employees off too good start, research has shown that overtime employees forget or commence to dismiss NEO briefings, this particularly true concerning OC (Akdere & Schimdt, 2007). Much of the continuing education will package with general company training (i. e. EO, suicide awareness, workplace violence, etc). However, training is within four-hour blocks for five times. To accommodate switch works you will see an a. m and p. m. classes.
As with the NEO program, they will be destroyed out into clubs. Throughout training, groups will be given challenges they have to complete. Some will be mental as well as others will be physical issues of varying levels of difficulty. Again, the purpose is to promote socialization and networking among employees through these team issues. Essentially, as before, teams will be made of people who've never worked together before.
Performance appraisals
The one important difference between carrying on education training and the NEO program is that carrying on education training is part of the annual appraisal. Carrying on education evaluators will be looking at a number of different factors.
The first factor is - does an employee show good teamwork or not. We will be taking a look at followership as well. Each team will have an associate of older management onto it. However, that worker will not be a team innovator. Preferably, the team head will be a worker that is in mind for a supervisor or management position. This will serve two purposes in the analysis process. First is can a older manager screen good followership.
It is my notion that the more you follow the more you lead.
The second purpose is assessing a team leader's potential leadership ability. Often employees have authority ability but are never afforded a chance to use it. Furthermore, to teamwork and leadership ability we would be evaluating how well they communicate with associates.
I call this method "performance appraisal in motion". I believe carefully designed team obstacles will bring out the best or worst in a person. It really is my view that only once one is getting together with others can we see their true personality and potential.
Conclusion
Training new employees is essential to a company's success. The purpose of the NEO program format above I believe has the necessary elements to ensure that success. New employees will learn through team difficulties and discussion with others the worthiness of teamwork. Carrying on education will strengthen lessons and prices taught in the NEO program. Finally, adding teamwork to performance appraisals gives employees' added incentive to espouse the ideas teamwork, command, and followership.
