Building a better orientation program

HR Magazine, Nov, 1996 by Alice M. Starcke

Are you thinking about setting up your first formal program for employee orientation? Or, are you perhaps considering an overhaul of an existing program? In either instance, an essential first step in building or revamping employee orientation is to evaluate carefully what the company already does to make sure new hires get off to a good start.

Benchmarking made the difference in the rebuilding process for National Semiconductor Corp., and in the University of Minnesota's Facilities Management Department, training for supervisors and a system for employee feedback made a major difference in program quality. Some of their techniques included questionnaires, checklists and focus groups.

BENCHMARKING PROVIDES FRESH IDEAS

"New employee orientation is one of those programs that you tend to put on the back burner and let go stagnant," says Debra Bogowitz of National Semiconductor Corp., who stresses the importance of evaluating the orientation process. As an HR generalist/business partner at the company's Arlington, Texas, plant, Bogowitz was involved in a benchmarking project about two years ago to improve orientation. "We realized that our employee orientation program was not the best; we were getting negative feedback from employees," she says.

"To get ideas for revamping our program, we started benchmarking, first with the Walt Disney Co., because they have one of the best and most comprehensive orientation programs," she explains. A member of the orientation project team from the corporate office went to a week-long program at Disney's training center in Orlando, Fla., and brought back many good ideas.

"The information from Disney stressed the importance of making an up-front investment in the new employees to help them become assimilated into the company," Bogowitz says. "Disney provides insight for new cast members (employees) into how the company works and information that helps them understand the 'corporate family' they are joining. Part of this is learning how the specific job fits into the big picture." Later, National Semiconductor benchmarked with some of its competitors and customers, such as Ham-ilton/Hallmark, based in Dallas.

Bogowitz summarized the most important information National Semiconductor learned from the benchmarking process:

* The company needed to make the orientation period longer to give employees more time to become acclimated to their jobs and help them to be more productive.

* People like and respond best to a combination of learning styles - seeing the processes and touching the products, as well as hearing others talk about them.

* Allowing time for a stretch break about once an hour improves people's ability to learn.

* It's important to begin orientation immediately, so that new hires can become assimilated into the workforce as soon as possible; early assimilation makes it easier for new employees to be successful.

* An introduction to the company as a whole is essential.

Bogowitz's first task after benchmarking was to revamp the orientation program for the Texas plant with assistance from her colleague Kenya Renee Rodgers and several other team members. "The revised program we developed introduces new hires to the company's overall vision and strategy, products, markets, customers and competitors," Bogowitz explains.

This company-wide orientation takes about a half-day. "We focus on teaching new employees about the semiconductor industry, in addition to giving them an overview of our company, which includes a video on corporate identity." Then the benefits information is presented. "We later take new employees on 'window tours' to see the products and production processes firsthand, and they receive copies of employee communication materials such as the newsletter."

Bogowitz says new-hire groups average about 15 people. At one point in the program, the new employees are divided into smaller teams for a question-and-discussion session. The orientation trainer gives each team questions from the handout materials, then the new employees discuss the questions with fellow team members and prepare answers from what they remember. One person from each team presents the answers. These orientation sessions are likely to be cross-functional, including employees from different departments.

According to Bogowitz, most new employees in the Arlington location are in manufacturing or wafer fabrication. After the general company-wide orientation, these new employees will have a week-long orientation in the production processes, conducted by a trainer from human resources. This training covers the basics of production as well as preparation for certification. Employees who work in other departments will have a day and a half of this type of training.

For the fabrication and manufacturing employees, specific job training continues for several months, conducted by dedicated trainers in the plant, Bogowitz explains. "Our production runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so we have the training on all three shifts. We estimate that it takes from six to nine months on trainee status for an employee to get up to speed."