Nature and Causes of the Orientation Problems - Assignment Example

Executive Summary: Induction, also called as orientation is designed to provide a new employee with the information he or she needs to function comfortably and effectively in the organization (Aswathappa, 2008). Orientation programs may take the form of formal training programs, informal orientating activities by peers and supervisors (MR et al. 1983), or a combination of both. However, sometimes due to some reasons the orientation programs may go wrong. This may be because of the attitude of supervisor or the employees are overloaded and overrated or employees are not provided with the necessary training and materials. The post office in the case study is also suffering from the same loophole. Due to certain ambiguity in the role and responsibility of the trainers and supervisors and due to lack of certain format available for orientation program its new postal officers are not getting the necessary exposure to the organization and leaving the organization even before the probationary period is completed. Certain reasons cited out in the report for the orientation problem are lack of fixed format of orientation and training program, lack of full time trainers, lack of proper instructions available to the supervisors and no proper training to the supervisors to train new employees. In order to solve this problem as new and formal orientation program must be designed catering to the needs of the employees. The new orientation program must give more authority and responsibility to the supervisors to handle the new employees. These supervisors should provide the new employees information about the particular facility, the personnel working on the facility, about the area to be covered by new employees and all the possible routes and means to reach the area, about how to read the maps and routes, about the maintenance of the walk books, directories, mail counts and other postal delivery records, about the internal mail handling equipment, about the delivering lettergrams, express courier items and parcels and finally about the expectations of a supervisor from employees. Finally as measure of change the report also suggests that the supervisors should also be trained properly so that they can be fully equipped with the necessary techniques and methods to train new employees. Table of Content: Executive Summary: 1 Table of Content: 2 Introduction: 3 Nature and Causes of the Orientation Problems: 5 A New Orientation Program: 7 Orientation Program: 7 Training Methods for Direct Supervisors: 10 Introduction: Induction, also called as orientation is designed to provide a new employee with the information he or she needs to function comfortably and effectively in the organization (Aswathappa, 2008). The idea is to make the new employees feet ‘at home’ in the new environment. It is a well-known fact that employees feel anxious on entering an organization. Effective orientation programmes reduce the anxiety of new employees by providing them information on the job environment and on supervisors, by introducing them to co-workers, and by encouraging them to ask questions. Orientation seeks to expose new employees to each and every aspect of the company’s policies and rules (NR et al. 1996). This prevents inductees from getting overspecialized. Induction makes new hires become productive to the company quickly (Klein et al.). Orientation programs may be in the form of formal training programs, informal orientating activities by peers and supervisors (MR et al. 1983), or a combination of both. The orientation program also differ in the sense whether it is aimed to provide information about the overall organization or the on the information that the employee has to do. Although both formal and informal orientations have their importance at their places to get employees acclimatized to new working conditions and so employees need to be oriented to both their jobs and the broader organization. However, sometimes due to some reasons the orientation programs may go wrong. This may be because of the attitude of supervisor or the employees are overloaded and overrated or employees are not provided with the necessary training and materials. All these loopholes in the orientation, results in the absenteeism and higher turnover of employees. The post office in the case study is also suffering from the same loophole. Due to certain ambiguity in the role and responsibility of the trainers and supervisors and due to lack of certain format available for orientation program its new postal officers are not getting the necessary exposure to the organization and leaving the organization even before the probationary period is completed. In this report we will try to sort out the possible reasons of the orientation problems, the nature of the problems, how the organization should redesign the orientation program to solve these problems and finally how the trainers and supervisors should be trained so that they carry out the orientation program in the manner that can achieve its objectives and goals. Nature and Causes of the Orientation Problems: The orientation problem that the organization is facing currently lies partly in the side of training methods used to induct the trainees and its duration and partly on the side of the trainers and supervisors who are inducting these new employees. The orientation program does not seem to be following a common guideline that must be given to each trainer and supervisor. Followings are the causes of the orientation problem: Lack of fixed format of orientation and training program: The training and orientation program at the Post Office is not having any proper format except the policy of post office to provide training for 3 days including one day of orientation. The trainer Tran provides only partial orientation to new employees and for other instructions she assumed that these would be provided by the supervisors. However, supervisors are not properly communicated what all things she has already told them and what other things new employees are required to informed. The employees were hardly given any informal induction in which they can meet their peers and their other seniors. The employees are not given any formal training through which they can learn about their job nature and other necessary things. Shortly after the induction program they are given an assignment and allowed to sink and swim. Lack of full time trainers: The trainer Tran in the Post Office is herself a postal officer and she is a part time trainer. She might have learned the methods of inducting and giving trainings to new employees from her experience, but without any proper training to train others she might not figure out the necessary things that needs to be told to new employees before putting them to on the job training. Lack of proper instructions available to the supervisors: As mentioned above the supervisors were not aware what all things the employees are already knowing about the organization and what other things they need to know. They were not informed about the materials that new employees are required to be provided with. It all depended upon the discretion of the supervisor whether to provide any material to new employees or not. No accountability of supervisors towards orientation program: Perhaps this was lack of any accountability of supervisors that they were training the employees at their own discretion. At certain places when only 20% of the employees are surviving the probation period then the matter should be taken seriously and the supervisor should have been called upon to reason out the employees’ turnover and they should have been instructed regarding what to do in these situations. However no such instruction were given to them and hence the supervisors also paid no heed towards their induction methods. No proper training to the supervisors to train new employees: The supervisors are not provided with any formal training to train the new employees. These supervisors are not aware of their responsibilities as a trainer and at the same time they do not have enough instructions and guidelines regarding how to induct new employees. Very short period of orientation: One of the possible reasons of the orientation problem may be the short time period of the orientation and training. Only 3 days are given to new employees to learn about the job specifications, their roles, duties and responsibilities. This turn out to be providing ample information at a stretch without giving the employees a breathing period. A New Orientation Program: Part of every supervisor's job is helping subordinates--particularly new employees--succeed. By definition, supervisors and managers work through other people. When these other people fail to succeed, supervisor also seems to be failing in achieving his goal. When new hires don't make it on the job, they usually don't fail all on their own. Often when a new worker fails, the responsibility goes to the supervisor himself; either the supervisor has hired the wrong person for the job or has failed to train new employees to guarantee the newcomer's success. In either case, everyone loses. (Ramsey et al. 1998). Looking at the nature and causes of the orientation problem, the Post Office must design a new orientation program that can address the expectations of the new employees as well as it can convey the expectations that the organization is having from them. This orientation program must be handled directly by the supervisors. Before designing the new orientation program the organization must look at the four strategic choices (Aswathappa, 2008): 1. Whether the orientation is to be formal or informal 2. Whether the orientation is to be indualistic or collective 3. Whether the orientation is to be serial or disjunctive 4. Finally, whether the orientation is to be investiture or divestiture Orientation Program: After deciding the strategic choice now we should design the orientation program seeking the above strategic choices. The formal orientation program must consist of three stages as following: 1. A general introduction to the company. 2. Specific orientation to the job, given by supervisor. 3. Follow up meetings to verify the important issues. While, the first stage is handled by Trainer Tran, the second is to be handled by supervisors and third should be handled by both the trainer and the supervisors. The current format of the orientation program deals with the first part but it has problem in the second and the third stages. The following is what supervisors require to do in order to induct new employees properly: The supervisor must inform the new employees about the job specifications and the employees’ duties, roles and responsibilities. They should also provide the information (Occupation Information: Postal Employee, 2009): about the particular facility, the personnel working on the facility, about the area to be covered by new employees and all the possible routes and means to reach the area about how to read the maps and routes, about the maintenance of the walk books, directories, mail counts and other postal delivery records about the internal mail handling equipment about the delivering lettergrams, express courier items and parcels expectations of a supervisor from employees These all information must be provided on the job. After providing these information the employees must be provided with the necessary written materials that can assist the employees in performing their tasks and duties effectively and efficiently. They must be provided with The employee handbook and union agreement The maps of the area describing all the possible routes and modes of transportation to reach there A log book containing all the important number which could be used in emergency situation Finally, the supervisors must be given the authority to assist the new employees in case they need any help. As in the case a new employee needing help could not get proper assistance in her work. The supervisor must be given the responsibility to follow up the employees after the orientation program so as to see whether all the important issues have been addressed and employee questions have been answered. These follow up meetings should take place between supervisor and the employee after a week or so after the employee has begun working. In case of any need he must discuss these things with the HR department to sort out the problem. In addition to this the supervisor must have following check-list for helping new employees succeed (Sluss, 2008): Realize that the first day of the job is the most important day. Be there on the first day of the job to make good for each new employee. Help new employees to get done the other formalities (such insurance forms and other paperwork) of joining the new office. The new employees should be provided with any training to bring them at par with the existing employees. (Kaupins, 1997). It’s important to know what the new employee wants to be called. It’s should be properly checked that has everything needed to do the job. The employees should be intimated all the safety measure in case of emergency. The supervisor should take initiative to know about the new employees’ family background, their culture etc. (It's another way to humanize the supervisor-subordinate relationship.) The employees should be introduced to each an every important person who may be of any help to him/her in discharging his/her responsibilities properly. Introduce new employees to the work culture (belief system) of the organization. The supervisor must ensure that the employees are aware of the mission and vision of the firm. The employees must be provided with the other causal information about the dress code of the firm etc. Employees should be encouraged to ask questions. The supervisor must ensure that the new employees know where to go at the time of need. A supervisor must believe in his/her new employees. Rather than berating them they should motivate them to get their work done properly. The supervisor should have a policy of zero tolerance regarding any discrimination at the work place. The supervisor must take care that the end of first day, first week and first month of employees is ending at positive note. This instills a confidence in the employees. Finally instead of behaving like a tutor, the supervisor must act like a mentor and a guide at every time. Training Methods for Direct Supervisors: One of the causes identified in the current orientation program that post offices follows is the lack of any training to the supervisors to train the new employees. Hence the supervisors must also be provided with the proper and a formal training to train the employees in a sequential and proper manner. The training must not be of more than a week as the supervisors will be training the employees only part time and this time would be sufficient to inform them about all the training methodologies (Broadwell et al. 1993). The training may involve use of lectures informing them about the right sequence to training. An audio-visual may be used to demonstrate them how to teach on the jot trainees. The training must also involve the case studies which would help them to envisage how to handle an expected situation that may arise during the training period. Finally the training must involve the practical aspect. This can be done by allowing the supervisors to train new employees and then the supervisors must be assessed whether he has performed well or not. The training must be oriented towards the handling of a group of people and to motivate them to finish their work efficiently and effectively (Aswathappa, 2008). Conclusions: For a new employee a new organization seems like a strange place to work and in order to make him/her familiar about the work culture and environment the first step is to give him/her a proper orientation program. A good orientation program can create a favorable impression of the firm and its work. The major responsibility of this orientation lies on the shoulder of the direct supervisor who work as a continuous tutor and guide for the employee. Unfortunately, many managers and supervisors do not consider orientation to be the important part of the training. And in most of the cases the supervisors ignores this fact. They consider their responsibility to be limited to only hiring employees and placing them to their department of concern. They feel it's up to the newcomer to make it on his/her own. However, the supervisors’ role in reality goes beyond only hiring and placing new employees. This starts with what new employees know about the organization, their expectations and needs from the organization and what they can do for the organization to achieve the mission and vision of the organization. In the Post Office case the supervisors must also be provided with a proper training so that they can understand the expectations and then can fulfill those expectations in a manner that can make these new postal delivery officers that they are at no strange place. Moreover there should be a voluntary act from the side of supervisors to help out the new employees in the time of need whether on the job or off the job. References: Aswathappa, K. (2008). Human Resource Management. In K. Aswathappa, Human Resource Management (pp. 191-200). New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill. Broadwell, & M., M. (1993). How to train experienced supervisors. Training , 61. Kaupins, G. (1997). Trainer opinions of popular corporate training methods. Journal of Education for Business , 1-4. Klein, H. J., & Weaver, N. A. (n.d.). The Effectiveness Of An Organizational-Level Orientation Training Program In The Socialization Of New Hires. Business Source Premier , 47-66. MR, L., BZ, P., & GN., P. (1983). The availability and helpfulness of socialization practices. Personnel Psychology , 36. NR, A., NA, C.-S., & J., H. (1996). Induction training as socialization: Current practice and attitudes to evaluation in British organizations. nternational Journal of Selection and Assessment , 169-183. Occupation Information: Postal Employee. (2009). Retrieved May 15, 2009, from Myfuture: http://www.myfuture.edu.au/services/default.asp?FunctionID=5050&ASCO=811413A# Ramsey, & D., R. (1998). A Supervisor's Check-List For Helping New Employees Succeed. Supervision , 3-7. Sluss, D. M. (2008). Who's Your Supervisor? Business & Economic Review , 19-21. Read More