Three Day Orientation And Training Program

Introduction

Orientation of the company and job training is the first crucial step to ensuring a positive performance from both new and old employees. Proper orientation and training the employee's involves a continuous process that must begin at the time of hire to ensure a since of employee value and company involvement. Orientation will reduce: job training cost, employee anxiety, employee turnover; and improve: employee attendance, performance, and over-all skills available. Well developed orientation programs will also develop a better understanding of job requirements, positive attitudes, and job satisfaction for the employee's, as well as, saving valuable time for the trainers involved. When implemented as an on-going process, the orientation and training program will continue to produce successful organizations.

When hiring a new employee, organizations depend on the Human Resource Department (HRD) and job supervisors to fill open positions. The HRD screens, interviews, tests, and conducts background checks on all applicants to determine if they meet the requirements of the specific jobs available. Once this process is complete, all potential employees for an open position are then interviewed by the department supervisor. The supervisor then conducts either a structured or and unstructured interview, depending on their needs for hire. When conducting interviews, supervisors have to be cautious to avoid common mistakes that are often encountered in the interview process. To overcome these mistakes, supervisors should first review all of the information they have obtained on the applicant from the HRD. Then they should determine which type of interview they wish to conduct.

If the supervisor uses a structured interview they will develop a list of specific questions to be used in all interviews. When conducting the interviews, the supervisor should make the applicants feel comfortable, all the while remembering that the purpose of the interview process is to get information that will help to select the best person to fill the open position. Once a potential applicant has been selected, a medical exam, if required by the organization, will be conducted. This will determine the applicant's eligibility for insurance and decide if they are physically capable of performing the duties of the job. Once the interview process is complete, the job supervisor rates the applicants and hires, usually upon the approval of his or her own supervisor.

After open positions are filled, new employees are required to complete a three-day orientation and training session. In this, new hires will be introduced to the organization, its policies and procedures, and complete a job training program. Orientation and training are very important elements of the employee's job performance. The job supervisor can make or break an employee during this step, depending on if they received adequate training.

When arriving at the three-day training session, the new employee will be given an outline of the session, an employee handbook, and all required paperwork. The outline will briefly describe the things that will be covered during the course of the training. Each component on the outline will further be explained in detail by the job supervisor. Below is an outline of a three-day orientation and training session for a new salesclerk at a large local retail company:

Three-Day Orientation and Training for New Salesclerks

I. Day 1:

A. New Employee Orientation

1. Welcome.

2. Introduction of new employee.

3. Duties and responsibilities.

4. Nature and relationship of the job.

5. Conduct and performance policies.

6. Tour of facility.

7. Safety and fire prevention.

8. Job performance criteria.

II. Day 2:

A. Computer-Assisted Training

1. Professionalism

2. Customer service

3. Product knowledge

4. Cash register operations

5. Company operations

III. Day 3:

A. Performance Try-out

1. Allow employee to work alone

2. Observe performance, praise, correct errors

3. Close follow-up

4. Gradually taper supervisor

New Employee Orientation

Day one in the above outline, consist of a checklist the job supervisor will follow during the orientation session. In large organizations the orientation process is