McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter 8

Orientation

and

Employee

Training

Chapter 8 Overview

• Orientation

• Training Employees

• Methods of Training

• Evaluation of Training

• Principles of Learning

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Relationships among HR Functions Necessary for Effective Performance

8-3

Orientation

• Introducing new employees to the organization, work units, and jobs.

• Orientation from coworkers:• Usually unplanned, unofficial; often

provides misleading, inaccurate info.

• Job applicants get some orientation before hired through organization’s reputation.

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Orientation

• During selection, new employee learns:

• General aspects of organization.

• Duties, working conditions, and pay.

• Formal orientation begins after hiring.

• Orientation usually conducted at 2 levels:

• Organizational orientation.

• Departmental and Job orientation.

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Shared Responsibility

• HR and employee’s immediate manager normally share orientation responsibilities.

• HR department responsible for coordinating the process, for organizational orientation and follow-up.

• Manager usually responsible for departmental and job orientation.

• “Buddy System” – Coworker of new employee conducts job orientation.

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Organizational Orientation

• Topics relevant to all employees.

• Organization is interested in:

• Making a profit

• Providing good customer service

• Satisfying employee needs• Being socially responsible

• New employees are interested in:• Pay and Benefits• Terms and conditions of employment

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Departmental and Job Orientation

• Topics unique to new employee’s specific department and job.

• Content depends on:

• Specific Department needs.

• Skills and Experience of new employee.

8-8

Orientation Kit

• Usually prepared by HR department.

• Many organizations require employees to sign a form indicating they received and read the orientation kit:

• In Unionized organizations, to protect against grievances.

• In Non-Union organizations, to protect against wrongful discharge litigation.

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Orientation Kit Contents May Include:

• Company organization chart

• Map of company’s facilities

• Policy and procedures handbook

• List of holidays and benefits

• Performance appraisal forms, etc.

• Emergency and safety procedures

• Company newsletter or magazine

• Phone numbers, locations of key personnel

• Insurance plans

8-10

Orientation: Length and Timing

• Brief sessions increase likelihood of understanding and retention:

• Best if not more than 2 hours per session, spread over several days.

• Departmental and job orientation methods:

• Employee given department procedures manual, told to read and ask questions.

• Or, giving new employees menial tasks.

• Both likely to produce poor results

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Orientation Follow-Up

• Employee should not be told to “drop by” if problems occur.

• Manager should regularly check on new employee and answer questions arising after initial training.

• HR department should schedule follow-up after employee on job for a month.

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Orientation Evaluation

Feedback to evaluate orientation effectiveness:

• Unsigned questionnaires from all new employees.

• Interview randomly selected employees.

• Group discussion sessions with new employees settled into their jobs.

• Helps organization adapt and improve orientation program.

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Training Employees

• Learning process of acquiring skills,

concepts, rules, attitudes to enhance

performance.

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Reasons for Training

• Changes (technology, etc.) make skills learned today obsolete in future.

• Planned organizational changes: employees must update or acquire skills.

• Performance problems such as low productivity or quality issues.

• Regulatory, certification, etc. issues require employer to provide training.

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Successful Training Steps

• Perform Job Analysis:

• Identifies KSAs of a job.

• Design Training to improve trainee KSAs.

• Perform Needs Assessment.

• Establish Training Objectives:

• Conduct training program

• Evaluate training outcomes

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Training Needs Assessment

• Commit resources to only training activities that help achieve organization objectives.

• 5 Methods to collect assessment info:

• Interviews

• Surveys/questionnaires

• Observations

• Focus groups

• Document examination

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Needs Assessment Questions

• What problems is employee having in job?

• What additional skills and/or knowledge does employee need to perform job better?

• What training does employee believe is needed?

• Employees must believe their input will be valued and not be used against them.

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Needs Assessment Questions

Surveys and/or Questionnaires often used:

• Develop a list of skills required to perform

particular jobs effectively.

• Ask employees to check those skills in

which they believe they need training.

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Training Needs Assessment

• Employee Attitude Surveys can uncover training needs; usually an outside expert conducts and analyzes the survey.

• Customer Surveys can indicate problem areas for the entire organization or particular units.

• Training Needs observations conducted by trained experts.

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Training Needs Assessment

• Focus Groups: employees from various departments and levels within organization.

• Sessions can be conducted by HR department specialists or outside experts.

• Focus group topics address issues such as:

• What skills/knowledge will employees need for us to stay competitive over next five years?

• What organizational problems can be solved through training?

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Training Needs Assessment

• Document (record) examination to find:

• If problems exist.

• If these problems can be addressed through training.

• Organizational records include:

• Absenteeism

• Turnover

• Accident Rates

• Performance Appraisals

8-22

Establishing Training Objectives

• Many training programs have no objectives!

• “Training for training’s sake”:

• Impossible to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of a training program.

• Effective training objectives state (in writing) what outcomes will result for organization, department, or individual after training.

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Training Objectives Categories

• Instructional Objectives:

• What is to be learned?

• Who is to be taught, and When?

• Organizational and Departmental Objectives:

• What impact will training have on outcomes – turnover, costs, etc.?

• Individual Performance/Growth Objectives:

• What impact will training have on behavior and attitude outcomes or personal growth?

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Common Training Methods

• On-the-Job training (OJT)

• Job Rotation

• Apprenticeship training

• Classroom training

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On-the-Job Training (OJT)

• Shows employee how to perform job under trainer’s supervision (normally senior employee or manager)

• Advantages:• No special facilities are required• Performs productive work during learning• More effective than classroom training

• Disadvantage:• Workplace pressures can cause

instruction to be haphazard or neglected

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Job Rotation (Cross Training)

• A form of OJT.

• Requires individual to learn several different jobs and perform each job for a specified time period.

• Advantage – Makes flexibility possible in the department.

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Apprenticeship Training

• Combines OJT and Classroom training to prepare workers for skilled occupations such as:

• Bricklayer

• Computer operator

• Laboratory technician

• About two-thirds of apprenticeable occupations are in construction and manufacturing trades.

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Classroom Training

• Quickly imparting information to groups with little or no knowledge of subject.

• Useful for teaching: Facts, Concepts, Principles, and Theories.

• Orientation, safety, and, apprenticeship programs usually include some classroom instruction.

• Classroom instruction is more frequently used for technical, professional, and managerial employees.

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Virtual Classroom

Online teaching & learning environment integrating:

• Chat rooms

• Video conferencing

• Web sites

• E-mail

into a lecture-based system.

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Benefits of Evaluating Training

• Less effective programs can be

withdrawn, saving time, money and effort.

• Weaknesses within established programs

can be identified and addressed.

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Training Evaluation: 4 Areas

• Reaction: How did trainees like program?

• Learning: What principles, facts, and concepts were learned?

• Behavior: Did trainees’ job behavior change?

• Results: In terms of factors such as reduced costs or reduction in turnover?

8-32

Reaction to Training

• Reaction Evaluation Questionnaires normally administered immediately following training:

• Can be administered several weeks later.

• Drawback in using only reaction evaluation:

• Enthusiasm of trainees cannot be taken as evidence of improved ability and performance.

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Learning Evaluations

• How well trainees understood and absorbed principles, facts, and skills taught:

• Skills: Fairly objective way to determine how much learning is occurring.

• Principles and facts: Paper-&-pencil tests.

• For accurate picture of what was learned, trainees should be tested both before and after the training program.

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Behavior Changes

• More difficult to evaluate!

• Systematic appraisal of on-the-job performance on a before-and-after basis, by one or more of these groups:• Trainee• Trainee’s superior(s)• Trainee’s subordinates• Trainee’s peers

• Control group should be used

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Results Evaluation

• Attempts to measure changes in variables:

• Turnover

• Costs

• Efficiency

• Quantity and Quality of Production

• Pretests, posttests, and control groups are needed for an accurate results evaluation.

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Principles of Learning

• Used during development and implementation of training programs to help ensure success.

Principles of Learning:• Motivation to Achieve Personal Goals• Knowledge of Results• Reinforcement• Flow of the Training Program• Practice and Repetition• Spacing of Sessions• Whole or Part Training

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Motivation to Achieve Personal Goals

• Frequently identified Employee Objectives:

• Job Security

• Rewarding Work (Financial or Intellectual)

• Recognition and Status

• Responsibility and Achievement

• If training program helps employees achieve personal goals, learning process is greatly facilitated.

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Knowledge of Results (Feedback)

• Feedback influences the learning process:

• Progress feedback helps in setting goals for what remains to be learned.

• Continuous progress analysis and setting new goals enhances learning.

• Employees may become discouraged by goals that seem unachievable.

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Knowledge of Results (Feedback)

• Learning Curve – Chart plotting progress of an individual learner or a group.

• Primary purpose – Provide feedback on trainee’s progress.

• Helps in deciding when to increase or decrease training and when to change methods.

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Sample Learning Curves

8-41

Reinforcement

• Behavior that appears to lead to a positive consequence tends to be repeated, but behavior that appears to lead to a negative consequence tends not to be repeated.

• Positive Consequence = a reward

• Praise and recognition, typical rewards.

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“Flow” of the Training Program

• Each segment of training should be organized so that trainee can see:

• Its purpose.

• How it fits in with other parts of program.

• Later segments should build on earlier ones.

• Gaps and inconsistencies in material are not conducive to effective learning.

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Practice and Repetition

• Having trainees perform a particular operation helps them concentrate on subject.

• Repeating a task several times develops facility in performing it.

• Practice and repetition almost always enhance effective learning.

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Spacing of Training Sessions

• Managers often want to get an employee out of training and into productive work.

• Trade-offs in deciding whether training should be given on consecutive days or at longer intervals.

• Spacing out training over a period of time facilitates learning process.

• Interval most conducive to learning depends on type of training.

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Whole or Part Training

• Training for a job all at once, or training employee separately for each job component, should be based on:

• Specific Job Content• Material to be Taught• Needs of Trainees

• Often successful method:• First give brief overview of whole job

• Divide job into parts for in-depth training

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