On the other hand, new employees find information even more difficult to retain when given on paper. New hires given a pile of documents to read find their focus drifting. They feel that they've been hired to "do a job," and that the paperwork review process gets in the way; they also feel that the experienced staff is too busy doing their own jobs to help the new hires find their way around.

If orientation is part of the new hire's job, then why would it not be part of the jobs or those who will depend on the new hire for support? A seamless transition into the organization is critical new employees, especially when

• they are in a highly creative profession, such as engineering
• they will be moved into project management roles or called upon to deal directly with customers

Yet it's amazing to learn how seldom workplaces are ready for their new hires. I have reported to work on my first day and not even found an assigned seat, or a computer. I have come to work on my first day and found my assigned mentor on vacation for the next two weeks, leaving behind a pile of books for me to read. I have gone as long as two weeks not knowing where to park, or how to use the fax machine, etc. etc. etc.

Here are the objectives of one new employee orientation program:

1. Treat all new employees the same way, no matter where they are within the organization.
2. Help management and clerical staff get ready for the new employees.
3. Help the new employees find their way around as soon as they arrive.
4. Help the new employees feel like they're a part of the organization.
5. Use existing services to do all this, rather than develop new ones.
6. Keep all information up-to-date.

This particular program required some critical ingredients:

1. "Shepherds." Senior employees willing to volunteer to answer questions about the organization and to help the new hires find things. (These are not "mentors," who help the new hires learn their jobs.) This takes about four hours a month for about six months.
2. Management and clerical training. Required, but brief. Senior management must support this, and it must be perceived as adding no burdens to a manager's workload, or it will never happen.
3. Tours and technical briefings describing the organization's activities.
4. An information handbook, containing
   • maps
   • guidelines and regulations
   • contact info for essential services
   • organization charts, including technical specialties
   • FAQs and definitions of terms that aren't otherwise universally understood (e.g. "progress")
5. A package of information about the surrounding area, including
   • maps
   • brochures
   • coupons
   • travel, moving, and pet care info
   This is sent to the new hires before they arrive.
6. A series of (free) social activities. We must be careful to avoid feigned comradeship with new hires, though -- they can sense it when you don't mean it, and they will duly resent it. This would impact the productivity of the whole organization.

The shepherding function provides these benefits:

• walking through the organizational culture, especially the "pecking order," which defines the people in the organization with the most influence
• defining organization-specific terms
• helping with document formatting and distribution
• helping ease concerns and fears
• pushing the new hire toward positive accomplishments and exposure within the organization

Though the clerical staff can (and more often than not does) handle this function, there are reasons to consider others:

• providing the new hire with attachment to other "techies"
• freeing the clerical staff to assist the whole group instead of a single person
• freeing the clerical staff from having to interpret "techie" language
• protecting the new hire from the secretary's "direct line to the boss"

The shepherding function must be voluntary if it is to be successful. In order to encourage people to volunteer to be shepherds, you have to offer some sort of incentive, such as:

• recognition awards (preferably with cash) after a certain length of service
• invitations to new employee socials and tutorials

This is an artist's conception of the "shepherd" with a "new hire." It was not adopted for the formal program, as management thought the image too religious. But you get the idea. -- courtesy Frank Calco

There are up-front costs involved in implementing a program like this, but the costs are recouped in new hire productivity. New hires need information more than anything else. Their morale is based on more, of course, but they need information immediately -- if there's a delay there, morale plummets and productivity with it.

It's important, of course, to keep things up-to-date. Those responsible for implementing the program should meet before each hiring (unless hires come in frequently) to make sure everything is in place. It takes some time to establish the program, but if all procedures are documented, maintenance should only take a few hours every six months or so. The organization implementing a new employee orientation program should designate someone as an Administrator.

Ingredients of Employee Satisfaction

• salary
• flexibility in dealing w/personal and family issues
• autonomy in personal decision-making
• opportunity for successful outcomes

Handbooks

Workplace litigation typically arises from

• harassment
• grievances
• privacy issues (e-mail and otherwise)
• workplace violence
• solicitation

and each of these could be addressed briefly in a handbook. The handbook could consist of a binder or folder of memos, kept up to date and resent periodically -- especially if the company and information load are small.

The handbook must contain disclaimers that preserve

• an employee's "at will" status (or else there's no firing without cause and due process)
• employer's discretion in decisions not covered by explicit policy (or else there are no decisions)
• consistency between stated policies and any policies recorded in other documents
• explanations of how company deals with complaints; reinforcing employee rights

References

Graham, R., R. Furnas, and M. Babula. "Design and Implementation of a Pilot Orientation Program for New NASA Engineering Employees." NASA Technical Memo 105907, May 1993.