Feldman Management, University of Georgia Close. Read More. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Subscriber sign in You could not be signed in, please check and try again.
Username Please enter your Username. Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. See our User Agreement and Privacy Policy. See our Privacy Policy and User Agreement for details. The SlideShare family just got bigger. Home Explore Login Signup. Successfully reported this slideshow. We use your LinkedIn profile and activity data to personalize ads and to show you more relevant ads.
You can change your ad preferences anytime. Upcoming SlideShare. Like this document? Why not share! Embed Size px. Start on. Show related SlideShares at end. WordPress Shortcode. Next SlideShares. Download Now Download to read offline and view in fullscreen. Download Now Download Download to read offline. Sarah Durette Follow. The Caribbean House. What to Upload to SlideShare. A few thoughts on work life-balance.
Related Books Free with a 30 day trial from Scribd. Related Audiobooks Free with a 30 day trial from Scribd. Views Total views. Actions Shares. No notes for slide. Through this process many strategies are implemented in order to mold all-around employees. The question our group has been assigned is how orientation and socialization impact employee productivity and company profits.
Over time, employee orientations have seen a great increase in quality, importance, and relevance; thus, providing a much warmer and comforting welcome into a possibly hectic and overwhelming work place. The first step in thoughtfully answering the question presented is to clearly define orientation and socialization. From these definitions, it is evident that orientation is a worldwide tool used to restore the quality of human resources as well as assist new employees in motivating themselves for their future tasks.
Orientation, however, is an extremely broad term and throughout this report will be discussed in depth to reveal how it can positively affect interpersonal communication in an organization Random House, Another key term that will come into play is socialization. Apply this 3. Without the orientation process, whether in the workplace or simply introducing two strangers in everyday conversation, socialization would not necessarily be forced or suggested.
Years of trial and error within the workplace has led to the theory that these orientation processes are extremely beneficial and a true game changer. In business, it is absolutely critical to gain a competitive edge over market competition. More specifically to the hospitality field, there is a great amount of face-to-face, employee to customer interaction. Orientation Benefits To better understand this topic as a whole, it is imperative to distinguish the main reasons for holding employee orientation programs.
Dennison and Weber listed the following as major benefits of orientation: 1. Increases the skills of managers and employees 2. Decreases duplication and waste 3. Increases customer service and guest satisfaction 4.
Improves the quality of products, safety, and sanitation 5. Improves employee satisfaction 6. Decreases turnover and increases productivity and profits Dennison and Weber , p. It is often overlooked in the orientation process; however, managers are equally responsible for becoming a better employee to the organization through each orientation session. It gives an opportunity for a manager to display their leadership skills while also learning about their future employees and the current state of their organization.
Consider 4. If the new employee is greeted with an under developed and sloppy orientation process then he or she may view the company as a joke and work with less motivation, contrary to someone who was completely inspired and intrigued by the event. Although vast in information and activities, an orientation process is meant to be scheduled and practiced in order to be successful.
The next important reason to consider during the orientation process is the increase in customer service and guest satisfaction. The hospitality field requires a great deal of guest services.
With that being said it is extremely important for an employee to be knowledgeable about the company they are working for and the services provided. Another main reason for orientation is the presentation of hazardous work environments to employees. It is by law and OSHA standards that all employees be completely aware of any danger they could potentially put themselves in within the workplace. If not properly instructed and visibly posted, an employer and owner can be legally responsible for any injuries or health hazards at a job.
Such cases have been known to absolutely destroy the reputation of organizations and it can take years to recover. The safety of employees should be the greatest priority to an employer; in turn the employees should feel safe and aware as well. Increased productivity generally results in increased profits, if business is handled accordingly. Profits to an organization represent a scoreboard versus the competition. When a team continuously loses, it loses support, morale and motivation.
When employees are properly and persistently taught the right way to do things at the beginning of their employment they are 5.
More sound employees make better decisions and cut back on their losses. The depletion of small everyday losses and an increase in employee confidence will result in an immediate increase in profits Random House, Socialization Benefits Socialization provides an opportunity to tighten an organization over a longer period. Socialization is a means for generalizing all information for the masses. It is also used as a tool to share personal and work goals as well as an image for how the company wants to be portrayed.
Orientation and Socialization Challenges There are potential challenges in the orientation process for both the employee and the employer. Orientations can be overwhelming for some new employees because it contains a lot of information. As stated earlier, this orientation event covers almost everything an employee needs to know and there can be a lot of pressure to absorb all the information.
Another potential problem is quickly exposing introverts into a very social setting. A lot of people can thrive from this first impression and some may crumble and set a bad impression due to their inability to open up as quickly as others.
Dennison and Weber state that there are five result areas for summative evaluations: Employee Reactions, Knowledge Gained, Behavior, Attitudes, Productivity. Training is expensive so it's important to make sure time and money are being spent wisely. Orientation versus Socialization Although orientation and socialization are very similar in their purpose and focus, there is a clear difference between the two. From the information given, it is clear that socialization is a process that is continuous within a work setting and requires great effort from all involved.
Wanous broke socialization into four departments: organizational entry, hierarchal, functional and inclusional. The girth of productive workplace socialization takes place in the hierarchical and inclusional phases, especially in the hospitality industry. Wanous also noted that orientation is more focused and particular, also it is an event not philosophy. There are many types of orientation, however the two focuses of this paper are 7.
General property orientation may include company policies, mission statements, speeches by General Managers, property tours, a free meal and team building activities. In addition to familiarizing the employee with the broader work environment, managers participate in orientation to reduce employee turnover.
The expense of employee turnover is the greatest motive in operating a fully functional orientation process. The hospitality industry suffers from employee turnover as much, if not more than any other industry in the world. An influential orientation is a tool that can help to prevent these losses because it is a guide for new employees to put them in the best position to succeed and grow within the company.
Alternatively, many companies hold specific job orientations for particular departments and designated positions. This presents an interesting scenario. Socialization begins the day the employee starts their job in a new organization and continues throughout their employment.
Integrating employee interaction in the workplace can be utilized as a network in the mutual work community. Successful socialization in all lights is an everlasting process with an everyday goal to be tighter, more confident and more efficient. Employees should have a chance to get to 8.
Assign a new employee with an experience person, but make sure the experienced person wants to mentor the new employee, and make sure the mentor has interpersonal skills. Again we are presented with a very important piece to the puzzle. The process of aligning a new employee with a mentor results in the creation of special work relationships. Some people will be better mentors than others exclusively due to character and personality types. Although an introvert may be extremely knowledgeable in their field, they may not be an effective mentor.
A good mentor can be characterized as creating working relationships with the employee while making them feel comfortable in the workplace. General Property Orientation As previously stated, general property orientation relates to the basic information a newcomer needs to understand the broader organization. There are many benefits and criteria when implementing general property orientation into an organization.
Large organizations typically have the human resource department and immediate supervisors conduct the employee orientation.
Small hospitality organizations typically have the general manager conduct the orientation. Most of the content that is discussed during orientation is very broad therefore they do not need a specialized employee to conduct the orientation sessions. Although turnover is inevitable in the service industry, taking the necessary actions to acclimate a new employee to their new work environment may help reduce employee turnover in the long run Dennison and Weber, , pg.
During training, a process called an organizational analysis takes place. An important aspect of organizational analysis involves strategic planning and the identification of the KSAs that will be needed in the future. Consistency and persistency are a repeating quality in many of the noted benefits.
These are benefits to employers because they are building clarity about particular goals and the progression necessary for growth. Team building games and activities may seem foolish at times but are a great way to loosen everyone up; the first few weeks of a new job are stressful and this is a means of stress relief.
Employees are also presented with their rights and responsibilities. During orientation employees may fill out tax information and personal contact information. As previously stated, the benefit to an employer of decreasing turnover opens up many doors for new opportunities and growth.
Though not included in the list, orientation presents an opportunity for employers to introduce new employees to potential opportunities such as commission, bonuses and miscellaneous other incentives. These are just a few of the benefits orientation and socialization bring to the employer specifically. This is the first opportunity for an employee to see the basic breakdown and hierarchy of the company. It also gives the employee a realistic view on where they stand in terms of importance and responsibility.
The employees gain a great deal of confidence, comfort and self-esteem after orientation. When an employee looks and feels good, they perform better and are rewarded accordingly. Confidence is evident in body language and the slightest advantage can set a new employee apart from the rest. Orientation is similar to a relaxed classroom setting before the tour of the facilities. Tours of the facilities can help reduce confusion when trying to navigate throughout different departments on the job.
The hospitality industry requires lots of cross-departmental communication and teamwork so having a base knowledge of the area is advantageous. The early inclusion of teamwork sets a standard for future orientation and socialization methods.
Teamwork is one of the main goals of orientation and socialization and progressive teamwork is the most common trait among successful businesses. An organizational-level orientation program will allow the employee to better understand the work environment on a surface level. If an orientation program is not job specific, the information learned is unlikely to help new employees become more proficient in their job tasks Klein, There have been many studies regarding the different orientation and socialization techniques used to integrate employees into the workplace effectively and efficiently.
Klein is a professor of management and human resources in the College of Business and Weaver was a graduate student at the time of the study. The study assessed the effects of a formal, organizational-level orientation training program on the context of socialization content and the affective commitment of new hires. There were two hypotheses that were experimented to a great extent. One hypothesis predicted that, given the goals of the orientation training program, employees that attended The second hypothesis predicted that orientation attendance would be positively correlated to organizational commitment and in turn that relationship would be mediated by the socialization of goals, values, history and language.
After their predictions were made, they created a diverse subject group. This group was chosen through multiple rounds of questionnaires and surveys until the group was narrowed down to newly hired employees.
The orientation technique they tested was a three-hour voluntary program that was open to all full-time employees who were employed for less than six months. Over the next nine months the program was offered with the same content, materials, and instructors.
Although registration was on a first come first serve basis, supervisors signed up their new employees and employees interested in attending registered themselves after obtaining approval from their supervisors. These measures included orientation attendance, employee tenure, and socialization.
Orientation attendance was simply to measure if the orientation program was attended. Employee tenure measured the number of days the test subject was employed when the first questionnaire was completed.
Lastly, the level of socialization on three dimensions was assessed. These three dimensions included history, politics, and language of the organization. Language in the workplace refers to how employees communicate with each other verbally and nonverbally, slang used in the workplace, and body language.
Through these studies, Klein and Weaver discovered program attendance did impact socialization when referring to goals, values, and history of the organization, but not on the language dimension. Orientation attendance was also concluded to be associated with higher affective organizational commitment.
Proper organization socialization and orientation techniques have been linked to important outcomes including increased organizational commitment, job involvement, role orientation, and tenure. Organizations that provide a strong, organizational-level orientation have been identified as benchmark companies for others to follow their orientation practices Klein, In the workplace, motivation is often used to refer to employee productivity and work performance. According to Abraham Maslow, the father of These needs then guide their actions and determine the hierarchy of needs, otherwise known as the sources that drive human motivation.
Maslow stated that people experience tension when a need is operating and motivation leads them to fulfill that need. This can be interpreted into a business when discussing employee motivation. The five ladders of the hierarchy of needs are Basic needs, Security needs, Belonging needs, Esteem needs, and Self-Actualization needs Maslow, In terms of job orientation, every ladder can be associated with an incentive for employees to work for a specific organization.
Basic needs include good working conditions, adequate salaries and a flexible work schedule allowing opportunities for vacations and time off. Security needs are concerned with safety and risk avoidance. Social and Belongingness needs are associated with affiliation in the workplace. A need to interact and be accepted by co-workers and upper level management and being part of a team all form a sense of organizational belonging.
Esteem needs are those that an employee feels they need in order to be recognized. Employees at this level are motivated by opportunities to display their skill, opportunities to achieve status and feel important, and have a desire to be recognized and praised for hard work. Lastly, Self-Actualization needs are those that cause people to have the urge to stand out.
Work that is meaningful and challenging with opportunities to be creative and innovative motivate people that strive for self-actualization Maslow, Upper level needs are considered Motivators and lower level needs are considered Hygiene Factors. Motivators are related to the work itself and represent Esteem and Motivators in the workplace are achievement, recognition for accomplishment, challenging work, increased responsibility, and growth and development.
Hygiene Factors include policies and administration, supervision, working conditions, interpersonal relations, and money, security and benefits Herzberg, When employees have an active need, they are driven to engage in behaviors that will help them reach that goal or objective. Managers can assist with employee needs by ensuring goal objectives are attainable to the employees. Additionally, managers should be aware of employee needs and integrate that into the workplace and orientation programs.
By conducting surveys and questionnaires, employees are encouraged to give anonymous answers so managers can learn about potential improvements that can be made in the workplace to cater to the motivational needs of the workplace. During specific work group and job orientation, all of these factors come into play. If an employer understands the needs of their employees, they can plan an orientation training program around what motivates them which ultimately results in satisfied employees and a successful organization.
This is used to help employees understand many different aspects of the workplace. These include understanding the function of the organization, how the employee fits into their job responsibilities, layout of workplace, and introduction to coworkers and other people in the broader organization. Employee job responsibilities may include meeting and making introductions to clients, evaluating and analyzing documents, and setting up for events.
Employee policies and procedures include work hours, time clock operations, payroll, leave, breaks, smoking, employee dining, and more Woods, Johanson, Sciarini, In fact, many common offices today still have structured cubicles.
Although this may help maximize space and neatness in the workplace, it is not effective for employee motivation. If an employee is stuck in a cubicle from the hours of 9 a. However, it is slowly becoming more common to have an open concept work environment with predetermined destinations for social interactions. Google, Facebook, and Zappos have already integrated their employees in the design process of the workplace. Giving employees free range to create a work environment that best suits their personality results in increased motivation and communication between employees.
It is important for companies to find a happy medium with the layout of the workplace. Unlike general property orientation, specific job orientation refers to orientation techniques that directly relate to job performance. During specific job orientation, employees are introduced to the policies, procedures, rules and regulations of the workplace.
Adapted from : www. Many companies depend crucially on the orientation programmes to present the positive aspects of the job and the organization to the new employees. They consider the orientation programme as a unique opportunity to help the employees understand their responsibilities in the job and the importance of the job to the organization.
It is an occasion for the company to develop employee commitment and efficiency and also the desired work culture. The companies also use it as an occasion to understand the desires, expectations and values of the new employees. Normally, they develop their own style of orientation programmes based on their objectives. Bajaj Electricals Limited is an ideal case for discussion.
Bajaj Electricals has a well-defined job-specific orientation programme for every new employee joining the organization. The purpose of its orientation programme is to help the employee familiarize himself with the internal environment of the organization. It facilitates his understanding of the duties, responsibilities and accountabilities associated with the job. It also enlightens him about the need for and techniques of working well in the challenging environment. Of course, these programmes help in overcoming the initial nervousness of the new recruits and make them feel confident and comfortable.
The HR policy of the company stipulates that the conduct of the orientation programmes is the joint responsibility of the HR head and the business unit for which the employee has been chosen. Besides the orientation programmes, the company has several internal and external training programmes to constantly upgrade the competencies of the employees. Besides the routine skill-enhancement programmes, it also has behavioural training programmes for enhancing interpersonal relationships, team-building, personal effectiveness and goal-setting.
Based on its purposes and content, orientation may also be classified into traditional orientation and modern orientation. When the organizations employ the general and oft-repeated materials to orient employees, it may be called traditional orientation. In this method, orientation is viewed as a ritual and one-time exercise by the organization.
It primarily aims at engaging the employees on the first day and helps them overcome the initial nervousness. In the case of modern orientation, the organization views it as the beginning of a continuous process to convert an employee into a precious asset. Besides attending to the first-day concerns of the employees, it takes care of their training and career needs on a sustained basis. The modern orientation programmes aim at increasing the team spirit, enhancing productivity and achieving better employee satisfaction and retention.
Organizations are now including even mentoring and on-the-job training as part of the orientation process to enhance its effectiveness. With increasing globalization and the resultant labour mobility, organizations are determined to make the optimum use of the orientation programmes to get closer to the employees and establish a permanent bond with its workforce. This calls for systematic and scientific development of the orientation programmes.
Though an organization can follow any process for designing its orientation programme, the one in Figure 8. We shall now see these steps in detail. Figure 8. In the first stage, the HR department should analyse the policy, mission and vision statements of the organization to determine what it expects from the employees and also what qualities and characteristics it wishes to emphasize among them. The HR department should also ascertain what information different departments like those of accounts, welfare, computer and security require about the new recruits.
Similarly, if these departments want to provide information to the new employees, the HR department should find out this information from these departments. Once the information requirements of different departments have been ascertained, the next step is the determination of objectives for the orientation programme. An organization can have multiple objectives for its orientation programme. For instance, removing employee fear and anxiety, conveying what the management expects about employee behaviour and performance, introducing the employees to their supervisors, peers and subordinates, providing them information about the duties, responsibilities and accountabilities involved in the job and orienting them with the rules, regulations and policies are a few objectives.
On the basis of its policy or past practices, an organization may decide to conduct one general programme or several job-specific programmes. While deciding the type of programme, it is necessary for the organization to consider factors like the objectives of the programme, the nature of information required, and the financial support available for the programme.
If the organization decides to conduct different orientations for different categories of employees, then a need to collect information will arise about the participants, including their positions and departments.
In the case of job-specific programmes, the organization may conduct separate programmes for managerial and non-managerial personnel and also for technical and non-technical personnel. In such a scenario, the organization must get ready with the required number and variety of orientation programmes to cater to the needs of the assorted categories of participants.
At this stage, the organization should finalize its plan regarding the method to be adopted for information delivery. Usually, factors like the number of participants, the nature of information to be shared, infrastructure availability, and the category of participants are considered for deciding the manner of delivery of the requisite information.
The method of delivery may include, among others, classroom-based orientation, multimedia-based orientation and on-the-job orientation. Besides determining the mode of delivery, an organization should also develop the necessary brochures and instruction manuals to be given to the participants.
Since orientation programmes are conducted continuously in an organization, it is essential to review the relevance and efficacy of these programmes periodically. The organization should take the feedback from the participants about their level of satisfaction with the various aspects of the programmes. In the feedback process, an organization may find out from the participants whether they have received satisfactory responses for their questions.
For instance, they may have questions like. Based on the feedback, future orientation programmes should be adequately modified and improved to make them more appropriate for the time and situation and also for accomplishing the programme objectives. Since the orientation programme is crucial to the management from the employee motivation and retention perspective, every effort must be made to make it effective and successful.
The following measures might help the organization achieve the desired effectiveness:. The organization should frame the objectives of its orientation in unambiguous terms.
It should decide clearly whether the orientation has a single objective or multiple ones. Similarly, it should make proper need assessments of the different departments to ensure that all their information expectations would be fulfilled through the identified objectives. In any case, the objectives are capable of providing a clear direction to the whole orientation programme. The organization should determine clearly the department and persons responsible for conducting the orientation programme.
It must have strong reasons for choosing a specific department for organizing the programme. The responsibility for orientation is assigned to the HR department normally. In some organizations, however, the training departments are assigned the task of conducting orientation programmes.
This is because they are continuously involved in the training of the new employees at various stages of their employment. The services of the training department can also be used for educating the supervisors and managers about the methods of and need for the orientation programmes. An effective orientation programme must be able to fully address the first-day concerns and general information requirements of the new employees. Its success lies in making the new employees feel assured and positive about their new organization and the job.
It thus becomes imperative for the orientation programme to identify and clarify all the likely doubts and questions of the participants, whether they have been expressed or not. The organization should also be judicious in designing the content curriculum of the orientation programme. It should not attempt to include everything in the programme content. It should decide exactly what the employee should know initially and what information can wait for future presentations.
It should never overburden the new employees with information. Thus, it is essential to ensure that the programme content flows from the objectives and also works towards their attainment. Having decided the content, the organization should choose the most appropriate delivery technique for information presentation.
The nature and size of the content, the length of the programme, and the number and nature of the participants normally influence the selection of the delivery tools. The delivery techniques may include instructor-led teaching, learning by doing the job, one-to-one conversation with the supervisor, and allowing participants to raise questions. The technique that matches the learning and perceptual abilities of the participants should be selected.
For instance, some categories of employees may be good in quickly grasping the information presented while others may be slow in understanding such information. An organization may use one or more of delivery techniques like visual video , print written form , aural classroom teaching , interactive group discussion , tactile demonstrative form like model-building and kinesthetic role plays, games , 7 depending upon the situation and the participants.
Thus, the delivery system should be developed properly to meet the requirements of each participant. In any case, it is important to ensure that the interest and enthusiasm of the employees are sustained by these programmes and not destroyed. The organization should strive to create a positive environment for its new employees. Even before the beginning of the orientation sessions, arrangements must be made to receive these employees and guide them to their predetermined places.
They should never suffer from the feelings of haplessness and alienation. The organization should make every possible effort to make their first day the most memorable in their career. The whole orientation programme should be designed in such a way that the participants completely enjoy their participation in it. As employee orientation is a continuous process in an organization, it is necessary to develop appropriate instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of such programmes.
Evaluation techniques should measure the extent of learning achieved though orientation programmes. They should specifically measure the different learning aspects like cognitive learning knowledge development , affective learning attitude development and behavioural learning skill development.
Normally, organizations entrust the development of the orientation programme to the HR department and its execution to the supervisors and managers. When the organizations fail to plan and execute the orientation properly, it may not fulfil the desired objectives.
Consequently, the time and resource spent on programme development and execution might go waste. We shall now see the problems affecting the efficiency of the orientation programmes.
The purpose of an orientation programme is to orient the employees with the basic information sufficient for initial survival in the organization. New employees should not be overloaded with a large amount of information as they may not be able to absorb it all at once. It is, therefore, necessary to spread out the information so that the employees have time to receive, analyse and assimilate it.
Unfortunately, overenthusiastic organizations and HR people in particular dump a huge chunk of information on the very first day of an employee's arrival. This may frighten the panic-gripped employees further. When an organization conducts the orientation programme in a formal and rigid manner, just like a ritual, it may not achieve the purpose of making the employees feel at ease. It is necessary to conduct the programme in as lively and interactive a manner as possible. The employees should be encouraged to participate in the orientation programme voluntarily and actively.
This may call for good interpersonal skills among the facilitators who conduct the programme. Many organizations lack facilitators with the requisite interpersonal skills and expertise. In a nutshell, organizations should make the orientation an enjoyable exercise and not a punishment for the employees who have just arrived. When an organization entrusts the role of facilitators of an orientation programme to the supervisors and line managers, they may not have adequate experience and training to handle the orientation programmes effectively.
Besides, they may also be too busy to prepare for the programme in advance and this may eventually affect its efficacy. As a result, the participants may feel threatened by the attitude and behaviour of the existing employees. A well-planned orientation programme is capable of enhancing the retention rate of the employees and, thus, reducing the attrition, especially in the initial years.
However, a poorly planned and hastily executed orientation programme could be counterproductive for the organization. It may unintentionally force the new employees to develop negative perception about the efficiency of the organization and also about its attitude towards them.
This may eventually force employees to leave the job abruptly out of fear and anxiety about the future. People have different levels of learning abilities and perceptual skills. Some people may have better grasping abilities than others. Similarly, merely listening to the presenter may be sufficient for some people to comprehend the subject matter, while others may require video presentation and demos for a clearer comprehension of information.
However, many organizations often adopt a common method and identical delivery system in orientation programmes for all new employees, irrespective of their skill levels and educational backgrounds. This may impact the efficacy of the orientation process. Orientation programmes are definitely an important HR function and a recurring activity for any organization.
It is thus essential for the organizations to evaluate the efficiency of the orientation programmes by collecting their feedback from the participants. They should also promptly follow up the feedback process by incorporating the necessary improvements in the programme to make it up to date. However, many organizations hardly undertake a serious evaluation of their orientation process and even when they do this, they do not follow up the evaluation with necessary actions.
0コメント