Dealing With Employees

A new employee's first day is a key experience for both the employee and the company they work for.

It's like meeting a person for the first time. A first impression sets a tone for a relationship and can have a big impact on the way it develops.

It's commonly believed that employee orientation can affect how long workers stay with a company and how productive they are.

An employee orientation program is therefore partly about providing key information, and partly about making an employee feel welcome and positive about the job they have just taken on.

They need to be given broad but clear information on their role, the resources they have available, the internal systems of the company, the mission and goals of the company and company policy on key areas such as health and safety.

However, the way this information is presented will affect employee attitudes, in the same way that a handshake can set the tone for a meeting.

On the first day, the employee is probably feeling a mixture of excitement, curiosity and anxiety. They're likely to be pretty hyped up, in fact.

So sitting on a hard chair in front of a long, boring orientation video is likely to be a particularly uncomfortable experience for them.

Nerves are likely to limit the amount of information they can take in. At the same time, if they feel they are missing things, their anxiety will only heighten.

It's important not to overwhelm them with information. The information should be in digestible quantities and clearly presented.

Orientation is also about reassuring a new starter. One of the best ways to do that is have a workstation fully set up for them and to have meaningful work for them to do on their first day.

It's important to sketch in work goals for new starters. They should be introduced to positive members of their team, so they know they'll have help in reaching those goals. If they are assigned a mentor, they can more easily work through any unease they may be feeling.

That way, when leave work, they'll be more likely to think, 'I can fit in here. I can be useful.'

That's important because research indicates that good orientation can lift employee retention by 25 percent.

And of course there are some key things not to do - the sort of things that will make the employee wonder if they have made the right choice in accepting the job, rather than focusing on how they can get the best start.

For example, leave new starters parked in a corner while other team members rush about, discussing where to put them - that's bound to make a bad impression.

Assigning a mentor who is heavily overworked or disgruntled is another way to get a new starter off on the wrong foot.

Having new starters wade through a hefty and poorly written employee handbook is another way to demoralize them. As is assigning them work that is incidental to their new role, and does no more than keep them shuffling papers for the first day.

Avoiding such pitfalls and providing a positive initial work experience can set the tone for a long and productive work relationship.

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