Question

IV. Case study (20 points) CARTER CLEANING COMPANY In the volatile world of E-business, speedy and effective orientation of new employees is erucial Influence, a technology solutions provider, recently started FUSION, an intensi e today oneena workshop for new employees at the company's St Louis headquarters. Not only does this orlentation program give new employees-called associates-basic information on such things as phones and the E-mail system, it also is intended to orient them quiekly to the company's culture, including its informally written handbook. In each FUSION workshop, an average of 10 new associates start by meeting the company's leaders, including Craig Kaminer, the president and CEO. The next two days are filed with presentations on the history and values of the company, teamwork challenges, personally evaluations, and opportunities to meet new colleagues. New hires are also matched up with buddies for their first few weeks on the job. Although Influence had to make a major financial commitment to FUSION, the company feels that the program has saved time and effort in the long run. Carol Sacks vice president of leadership and development, says:" whether someone is employee number 50 o number 100, we want them to feel the same sense of culture and excitement about the company. We also want to enable our associates to be productive right away. If you don't orient people, they're not going to produce breakthrough work Discussion: Do you thlak orienting people is important in the organization? Why? What are the most dimeulties of today's orientation program in your mind?Do you have any idea can better improve the orientation?
Answer in within 3 mins urgent

Answer 1

Yes,orienting people is important in the organization. It gives new hires time to adjust to their surroundings, equipment, computer programs, duties and co-workers. It helps in the following ways:

1) It ingrains loyalty. Positive first impressions fill a new hire with excitement and pride, jump-starting his sense of loyalty to the company. It should be opened on an upbeat note, with introductions, the mission statement, vision statement, company culture, goals, benefits and a short summary of plans for growth. A new employee should be warmly welcomed on board making him feel like an important member of a caring, supportive team, rather than a resource on an assembly line.

2) It accelerates learning. The initial information must be made easy to understand which helps to streamline and accelerate the learning process, letting everyone involved get on with business sooner rather than later.

3) It promotes communication. An ideal orientation process also makes a new hire feel comfortable, welcomed, supported and able to communicate freely, even as explained how she's expected to approach higher-ups in an appropriate manner.

4) It increases performance. It is smart to post the rules and regulations in a convenient location, directing the new hire to refer to them as needed. An orientation handbook may be another handy source of information to use to establish a solid base,boost efficiency, build confidence and increase performance during the onboarding program and beyond.

5) It reduces turnover rate. The ideal orientation program supports each new hire, giving them what they need to feel confident, heard, loyal and eager to stay with (and grow with) the company long-term.

The most difficulties of today's orientation program are as follows:

1) It has no planning. The organization don't invest enough time and money in their orientation program. There may be a need for repeated instructions, which leads to a waste of resources.

2) It has involvement of management. The top level managers usually exclude themselves from such programs. Their role is not an interactive one. They fail to realize the opportunity to effectively communicate company goals to new employees.

3) The handouts are ineffective. It don't receive much attention. These usually resemble an itinerary containing the content of presentations for the day.

4) There is absence of follow-up. The organization don't have follow-up sessions after an initial orientation program. Periodic follow-up sessions are ways of finding out how the employees perceived their workplace. These follow-up sessions can also be a platform for airing new ideas and suggestions.

In my view the orientation program can be improved by applying the following methods:

1) The Onboarding and Orientation Programs should be separated. Orientation should be the primary introduction of a new hire to the physical being of your company, including its employees, the buildings, its workstations and so on. It should also contain some baseline training in order to get the employee to a minimum level of functionality right off the bat.

2) The authentic strengths of the employees should be applied. Each individual's authentic strengths should be identified and then long term plan concerning how and where to fit that employee into the overall company should be built.

3) Introductions should be facilitated. It facilitates the training process by creating an interaction through which the employee will learn on the job, even in the absence of any formal training.

4) The process of orientation must be kept as easy as possible. Onboarding should be scheduled well and tailored to suit the learning speed of the individual.

5) The organization should be ready and willing to spend enough time on the process to do the job right.

6) The employee should be expected to interact with various trainers and onboarding messages, as well as ask questions for clarification or expansion of ideas.

7) Having a standardized metrics system in place will allow to access an individual's progress, as well as examine the process itself in case it needs to be modified.

8) The new hires should be held accountable for their actions.

9) The process of orientation should be expedited and create a win-win situation in which new hires learn faster and are able to stand on their own two feet sooner.

10) The new hires should be treated individually in the best possible way.

11) The experience of the orientation program must be a social one. It will help the actual on-the-job-training and allow employees to build social bonds, connect to the company and begin to adjust their own long term goals with their new positions in mind.