TITLE: THE PURPOSE OF EMPLOYEE ORIENTATION AND TRAINING

PRESENTED TO
PROFESSOR PERRY BARTON (TEAM PROJECT)

PREPARED BY: GODWIN ARMAH-AFFUL

SPRING 2015 TERM RESEARCH PROJECT FOR

TEAM PROJECT (MGMT 2215).

Armah-Afful 20--1

According to Aristotle, Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not

act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted
rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit Aristotle
rightly hit the nail by the head because no matter our level of knowledge if that knowledge
refuses to be updated with time it becomes equally empty as obsolete mind. Employee
orientation is the means by which organizations introduce new employees to their new job and
work environments normally immediately after hiring process has been completed. An effective
employee training program is tailored to model employee behaviors and attitude, and change
organizational culture to help the organization achieve its goals. Most of the job training comes
in the form of in-house training mostly organized by human resource personnel, department
heads, supervisors and senior employees. Supervisors are ultimately responsible for the
productivity and employee performance therefore, the training of their subordinates is considered
their utmost ambition. Human resource managers design employee training by using
instructional design with integration of software applications. Instructional design is a systematic
approach to developing enhances training materials to meet organizational staff development
needs. Job orientation exercise typically covers topics more concerned with the organizations
policies and procedures. Job orientation programs are also in some instances designed to help
employee complete the necessary paperwork to seal employment contract. It is very pertinent to
provide an effective and relevant training to the workforce that meets the organizational needs
aside the traditional orientation exercise new employees go through in todays business
environment. An effective training program is designed to teach and update employees
knowledge on current developments regarding their job responsibilities. Not only is customer
satisfaction very critical for any business that aims to maximize their bottom line but a perfect
customer satisfaction results in customer loyalty which is priceless for sustainability of any
business. New employees orientations are usually planned and organized by human resources
department but in collaboration with the employees department heads. The orientation process
also helps new workers to navigate their way through the organizational structure and learn the
organizations operational procedures. In order to satisfy customers and improve the bottom-line
of the organization, employee orientation and training are very critical in any organization. In
this piece, a thorough discussion of the purpose of employee orientation and training will be
analyzed.
In the first place, job orientation is mostly tailored to urge new recruits or employees to
spend amount of time examining the company's history, policies and structure, codes of conducts
and ethics, and mission statement. This orientation opportunity is offered to new employees to
understand the companys humble beginning, where the company is now; and the future
aspirations of the company. The new employees learn about the top management team especially
the CEO, Board of Directors, suppliers, other stakeholders, and other departments of the
company. Every organization has a set of values and codes of conduct by which it is operated
upon. These values may include but not limited to keeping corporate social responsibilities,
embracing diversity, respect for others and adhering to strict ethical values. The ideal way
organizations uphold and instill such values in their culture is to introduce it to the new
employees and periodically train the current employees through effective orientation and training
programs respectively. This kind of orientations or training makes it easy for new or current
employees to navigate their way through the organization confidently. There is nothing more
frustrating than an employee who doesnt know where to access information, what his/her job

Armah-Afful 20--2

descriptions and specifications are, and lacks knowledge of the organizations mission
statements.
Secondly, organizations introduce job orientation and training is to enhance quality
improvement in customer service. Any organization that aspires to stand the test of time has the
responsibility to increase its bottom-line, expand customer base, and eventually meet
stakeholders interest of the organization. However, organizations in recent times face the
challenge of being able to withstand the intense and rough competition in the marketplace. The
ideal solution to this problem is embarking on continuous quality improvement to meet the needs
of customers. For organizations to carefully and successfully satisfy customers needs there is the
need to develop the necessary manpower to carry out these projects in order to reach such
aspirations. It is very pertinent that top management strategizes carefully and implements a
vibrant training program that focuses on continuous improvement on customer satisfaction. The
focus human resource management on every training program must ultimately be on customer
satisfaction. Organizations ranging from small to multinational ones such as Home Depot, WalMart, Best Buy and many more have in recent years established some kind of institution to train
its workforce to realize this aspirations .A relevant training of the organizations workforce
undoubtedly puts the organization at perfect position with respect to competition. Customer
service is inseparable from the product so companies that want to be at competitive edge must
learn to develop their workforce with the necessary skills set to accomplish it effectively and
efficiently. Some organizations that are on cutting edge of customer satisfaction and for that
matter business have recognition for employee training and development.
Another purpose job orientation and training serve is for directional. Most job orientation
programs tend to focus on familiarizing new employees with their work environment and
acquainting them with clear directions regarding their work environment such as rest rooms,
break rooms, recreational centers, and emergency evacuation centers. Organizations ought to
provide relevant orientation to new recruits in order to avoid surprises on the job. It will be nave
to measure an employees performance without matching it with any expectations. Orientations
are supposed to be expectations or requirements of the employee stipulated by the employer.
Also, organizations design job orientations and periodic trainings for employees to
inspire and motivate employees, and boost creativity to be more productive. These orientations
re-affirm an employees decision to work with the company and also serve as motivation making
the employees less likely to quit their job. Job training empowers employees to realize their
potentials and better still experience their dreams and improve their lives. Employees benefit
from feeling valued and "fitting in" to the new job more easily and quickly when they know their
expectations. Training adds value to employee and becomes more efficient in the dispensation of
his/her assigned responsibilities thereby increasing productivity. Organizations benefit
tremendously when employees feel highly satisfied. Job satisfaction leads to low employee
turnover which tend to increase employees efficiency and for that matter productivity. (Costen,
John, 275). Normally, in most of such trainings organizations top inspirational leaders talk to
employees or sometimes keynote speakers are hired to inspire the entire workforce.
Furthermore, one of the purposes for human resource departments to periodically
organize employee training is to foster or enhance employee cooperation. The benefits of reaffirming an employees choice to work with your company increased co-operation employees
are less likely to quit their job. Many times HR departments design training programs to instill
cooperation of employees with top management executives especially where employees are
found to be uncommitted towards organizational visions. According to Harvard Business

Armah-Afful 20--3

Review, a research conducted by policy think tank on human resources training indicates that
employees feel more comfortable opening up and cooperating with employers when investments
are directed towards their skill development. This is especially with team members on project. In
order for teams to function effectively, there must be high level of corporation. In order to foster
cooperation in team members, there is a need to offer training on conflict resolution and clear
directions regarding the said project.
Again, many human resource departments have in recent times intensified their training
of employees periodically after initial job orientations to boost low employee turnover in their
organizations. The essence of orientation exercise by organizations for new employees is to
increased employees loyalty as employees are less likely to quit their job as the organization
bring them closer to the inside out of the company. Opportunity for advancement is an
employees metrics of measuring the developmental opportunities available for growth in an
organization so that their job security can be guaranteed. Diversity training is tailored to change
employee attitudes about diversity and develop skills needed to work with a diverse workforce.
As employees are well-informed about embracing each other and feel some sense of
belongingness they will be more loyal to the organization and its aspirations hence low employee
turnover. Turnover costs for many organizations in recent times are very high and can
significantly affect the profitability of an organization. Some of the direct turnover costs human
resource departments incur in hiring new employees include recruitment, selection, and training
of new people. Much time, resources, and logistics are mostly channeled into this process.
Organizations lose tremendously in indirect employee high turnover costs such as increased
workloads and overtime expenses for coworkers, as well as reduced productivity as well as low
employee morale. According to Calabrese, Armando, and Alessandro, the estimated costs of
employee high turnover vary from organization to organization, some as low as a few hundred
dollars to as high as four times the annual salary of the employee. By engaging all employees
with training programs and helping them clearly understand the vision, strategic direction and
values of the organization, employees are more likely to stay as feel sense of belongingness.
These employee development programs build a corporate culture of employee commitment and
provide a proven process for maximizing employee productivity and increasing profitability (10).
Many researches indicate that employees who perceive they have the opportunity to develop new
skills are more satisfied with their jobs, more loyal, and more likely to stay with the organization.
Another extremely important reason why organizations involve and engage employees
with both job orientation and training programs is to inculcate confidence in employees to help
them dispense their duties and responsibilities effectively and efficiently. The benefits of making
an employee feel like they are part of a team include greater levels of confidence, they feel more
comfortable approaching a supervisor when they have a problem, and it helps lower stress and
nervousness of being the new guy( Costen, John, 280). According the Glassdoor Employment
Confidence Survey, who also monitors four key indicators of employment confidence: salary
expectations, job security, the job market and company outlook, although most employees
believe a degree is important, a majority of employees (72%) believe specialized training to
acquire specific skills is more valuable than a degree in the workplace. Nothing gives employees
confidence more than relevant skills that enable them to achieve their work successfully.
Close to confidence building as a purpose for employee training and orientation is to
improve morale of employees. Training assists the employee to achieve job security and job
satisfaction. The more satisfied the employee is and the greater is his morale, the more he will
contribute to organizational success and the lesser will be employee absenteeism and turnover.

Armah-Afful 20--4

Resorting to training as objective to providing the skills needed for employees to move to
different jobs is the only objective which raises performance. Cross training as currently being
adopted by multiple organizations helps employees to change their departments for higher
positions. Strangely, training which increases employees ' understanding and commitment to the
organization is tied to high confidence and a motivational factor for low employee turnover in
most organizations. However, by introducing this type of training might be a perfect approach to
solving high absenteeism in organizations by management. Cross-training is meant to be
mutually beneficial to both the organization and the employee. Employees after the training and
orientation become more substantial to the organization as they acquire more skills leading to job
enhancement; they feel more valued because the bosses are investing scarce time and resources
in them, and they become promotion candidates for higher-level positions, states Michael
Campbell, director of North Florida Outreach for the Jim Moran Institute for Global
Entrepreneurship at Florida State University says employees with fresh look often see solutions
to work problems and can gain recognition and rewards for their contributions to a better work
flow. Cross-training works as a great morale booster and a unique developer of leadership skills
(Ubeda-Garca 390).
Additionally, organizations have purposefully undertaken employee training in order to
be productive and efficiently. There is no doubt there is clear correlation between employee
training and profitability. There is no argument that a skillful employee is highly productive.
Training is a valuable pathway to follow through when organization intends to improve its
performance. . In their research about the correlation between employee performance and
training, Costen and John revealed that employers with less employee turnover have a propensity
to spend less on employee training than other businesses which have high employee turnover.
According to Ubeda-Garca, Fuji-Xerox (2005) introduced a training program in 1999 that
emphasized the concept "everything is for the customers." This training was aimed at bringing
the employees into a more active role to interact with the customers and to develop personal
goals and tasks within the company. The training program had over 1700 members and was
called the wonderfully Japanese title of "Virtual Hollywood" (120). This program transformed
Xerox into a giant printer manufacturer and for that matter increases their bottom-line.
Moreover, organizations engage employees in job orientation and training to foster unity
and harmony at the work place. Training on diversity is meant to impress upon the workers to
embrace and tolerate each other. What actually cements every successful team is unity.
Unfortunately, conflict due to incompatible personalities may prevent the cooperation and
communication between employees, each of which has a direct impact on a company's financial
and operational results (Al Khoury 25). Training geared towards encouraging diversity at work
place is very critical in todays businesss success. In organizations pursuit to build more diverse
workforces, training programs are put in place to augment such initiatives which contribute to
competitive advantage for two reasons: People from diverse backgrounds bring new talents and
fresh perspectives to an organization, typically enhancing creativity in the development of new
products. By reflecting more accurately the changing demographics of the marketplace, a diverse
workforce improves a companys ability to serve an ethnically diverse population (Costen 275).
In recent times most organizations have suffered financial loses for law suits as a result of
discriminatory practices either by human resource departments or co-workers. This does not
auger well for team work and for that matter the success of the organization.
To add more, organizations engage employees in job orientation and training to prevent
future legal conflict between employees and employers. A lot of companies run out of business

Armah-Afful 20--5

because legal battles with employees. In order to avoid such conflicts organizations proactively
lay out all safety policies, code of conduct, code of ethics, sexual harassment training, safety
training, and other rules of engagement to newly hired employees. In addition to meeting legal
and ethical requirements, organizations periodically train employees to be well versed with legal
consequences of their unethical conducts at workplace. In the organizations bid to avoid future
legal conflicts between the organization and the employee and knowing that an intelligent, welltrained workforce is fundamental to worker productivity and well-being of the organization, and
every effort is normally geared towards developing the skills needed for that success.
Job orientations and training are usually conducted for employees to embrace diverse
workforce at the workplace. In recent times, educating employees on cultural diversity has
become the norm by the various human resource departments in many organizations. In view of
the critical importance organizations place on this aspiration, most organizations nowadays
consider cultural competence a priority to purposefully educate its workforce. According to
Foster, culture is dynamic; therefore cultural competence must be an on-going process or
continuous improvement process just as important as customer satisfaction. Cultural competence
is the effective use of social and interpersonal knowledge and skills that demonstrates
understanding and appreciation of individual and group differences and similarities (90). Many
companies have made it a requirement for every employee to be well versed with U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission civil rights laws such as Civil Rights Act of 1964, Age
discrimination act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978.
Most of these trainings and orientations emphasizes on cultural awareness programs teaches
employees to know their own cultural background affects their perceptions and stereotyping ,
recognizing your own stereotypes and biases, gaining knowledge of cultural history and heritage,
and being aware of others perceptions. In recent times, organizations have been resorting on
team work to achieve very strategy business goals to thrive. The hallmark of successful team is
ability to show recognition of and respect for the opinions, practices or behavior of others.
Organizations have learned that acknowledging diversity and accepting it can improve
employees interpersonal effectiveness and increase their personal and professional
opportunities.
Another purpose job orientation and training serve is that it offers less supervision since
employees after training come with massive skills to be self-supervisory. A well trained
employee will be well familiar with skills needed to accomplish his/her job and will most likely
require less supervision. Al Khoury further opines that reliable, intelligent, and skilled employees
can also be empowered to train other employees, the fact that it reduces pressure for the
management team and offers a pathway for future leadership.
Besides the fact that job orientation and training offer employees less supervision,
organizations sometimes involve employees in orientation and training for the purpose of
socialization. The ideal way new recruits easily become fully integrated members of any
organization is normally done through their first job orientation. The orientation process often
results in outlining behaviour and attitude specifications for the new employees to reduce
cognitive dissonance resulting in personality conflicts with of the organization. Orientation and
training offer employees the chance to meet with other employees working in different
departments to interact and familiarize themselves with each other. Many cultural norms and
values are delicate and unspecified in any organizational codes of conducts so they must be
verbally communicated to the new employees. . Employee orientation and training many times
offer employees the opportunity to meet and interact with management personnel who

Armah-Afful 20--6

sometimes serves as coaches and mentors during the orientation process. The integration of new
employee with organizational corporate cultures starts with orientation and training as new
employee has been carefully selected through the hiring process. According to IPA Survey, at
Southwest Airlines, for instance, prospective or potential employees whose personality traits fit
with the corporate culture are selected during hiring process for easy integration. Other
companies like Procter and Gamble, the survey describes the process of acculturation as a means
where new employees are assigned minor tasks while they study their prior behaviors, beliefs
and values. With rigorous orientation and training, new employees and existing employees are
continuously informed about the companys magnificent values and across-the-board purposes,
and defining moment in the history of the organization. It is believed that General Motors
organizes the companys history month annually to celebrate its achievements and exemplary
individuals the heroes. During this celebration numerous training programs and lectures on
quality improvement are unveiled to boost employees knowledge and skills.
Apart from scheduling job orientation and training for socialization of new employees
with the old, organizations have over the years by design organized orientation and training of
employees to purposefully effect changes in organizational hierarchy specifically for promotions
of employees. Employees gain skills and efficiency in performance during orientation and
training. These exercises serve as a platform to prepare employees for promotional opportunities
for that matter leadership opportunity in the organization. This training makes employees more
eligible for promotion or boosts significantly their chances of being promoted in their respective
departments or across different departments in the organization. According to Al Khoury, there
are significant changes today in terms of employee training and significant of these training on
the employee. Along with these changing values trends at the workplace that have significant
impact on employees knowledge and skills. Not only is training a necessary tool to enhance the
knowledge, skills and attitude of employees, but it has become a means by which employees get
promoted in recent times by most fortune 500 companies. These trainings have become basis for
most employees to rise up in the organizational leadership hierarchy as well as making it easier
for employees to acquire further knowledge based on the foundation gained from the training and
further effect changes in other coworkers (28). Al Khoury further argues that employees who
learn new skills through training and orientation make good candidates or position themselves
for promotions because they have shown their ability to learn, re-learn, retaining skills and use of
information.
Next to using job orientation and training as a platform to prepare employees for
promotional opportunities, organizations purposely schedule orientations and training to develop
group and team skills needed to achieve organizational goals. Costen argues that team building is
indispensable in every organization that seeks to tap the potential of it human assets as it brings
out the best in every member for continuous growth, it also encourages and boost positive and
open communication, it helps develop the leadership potentials of the members, and it brings
unity in the team. However, no team will stand the test of time without clear vision,
responsibilities, directions, and clear and well-defined team goals which are mostly
communicated to the team during orientation and training sessions (Costen 281). Organization
like GE has experienced tremendous growth because of their commitment to building a
community of innovative and creative teams that puts the organization at high competitive
advantage over its competitors. GE has employee training center in Milwaukee, WI which has a
schedule training plans for all employees and teams year long in order to become a global leader
in meeting customer needs. The skills development process organizations embark on focuses on

Armah-Afful 20--7

the systematic adjustments and acquisition of attitudes, values, concepts, knowledge, roles, or
skills that result in order to improved performance at work through training. The process begins
with identifying training needs of individual employees by considering needs analysis, learning
objectives, learning environment, how should training be delivered in terms of instructional
techniques for the proposed training. What makes employees a viable human resources asset is
their knowledge base. Today's job seekers are hunting for organizations that make room for
advancement through training as training is considered important as the compensation package.
When employees know that a company believes in their personal growth and willing to offer the
necessary adjustments and resource to make them successful at work, they are more likely to stay
with that company for a longer period of time. The lower a companys turnover rate, the more
productive, enthusiastic and motivated workforce the organization may possess as human assets.
There is a likelihood of employees supporting organizational goals and vision with their acquired
knowledge and skills. Training helps employees to improve their competencies, and is necessary
requirement for workers to achieve their goals presently and in future. Good training also leads
to better performance appraisal, leading to employee satisfaction and engagement. With the
emergence of fast-paced technology and globalization, there is the need to constantly updating
employees skill sets in order to withstand the immerse competition in the marketplace.
Increasingly, effectiveness of teamwork is pushing the demand for training of teams to solve the
numerous emerging organizational challenges brought by intense competition and globalization
in recent times.
Not far from improving employee skills sets as purpose for employee orientation and
training is improving healthy workforce or stress free workforce. According to IPA Survey, over
half of American workers report that stress is common in their workplace. Stress is thought to
contribute to about half of all lost working days, along with other psychosocial risks. Around 4 in
10 workers think that stress is not handled well in their workplace (7). According to Foster,
among the expected benefits derived from managing psychosocial risks at the workplace
includes improving employee welfare and job satisfaction; it improves the health and morale of
employee; improving employee performance and productivity; it reduces employee turnover rate
and absenteeism; it enhances safe working environment; and fosters compliance with legal
requirements.In order for organizations to maintain workplace devoid of poor psychosocial work
environment which may be the result of excessive or conflicting work demands; lack of
participation and authoritarian leadership style; poor communication and lack of support;
psychological and sexual harassment and third-party violence; and poorly managed
organisational change and job insecurity, organizations put in place strategic employee trainings
to combat its adverse effect on entire workforce((Foster 105).. This training is normally
conducted by human resources by soliciting the help of experts such as clinical psychologist to
deal with specific situations.
Last but not the least purpose of orientation and training is to safeguard against
workplace and employee safety. Under the OSH Act of 1970, employers are required to provide
a safe and healthy working environment. OSHA offers a wide variety of training courses and
educational programs to help expand worker and employer knowledge of work place safety and
proper handling of hazardous materials. Most organizations conduct periodic trainings for
employees and other stakeholders such as suppliers to the compliance or standards set by
Occupational Safety and Health Act. Besides meeting legal requirement as stated earlier,
organizations sometimes conduct extra safety guidelines through safety trainings under the
supervision of OSHA personnel to broaden employees awareness and consciousness of safety

Armah-Afful 20--8

issues to keep workers and properties safe. In fact, though OSHA training is available to all
organizations however, it is more prevalent but limited to the industrial, construction,
manufacturing, and companies that deal with hazardous materials.
Finally, among the purposes for which organizations undertake employee orientation and
training is to effect organizational change. Top Management demand organizational change
because there is sufficient gain to the organization to merit the cost of change and the risk
involved. Change is the most unpleasant thing to do because it threatens the status quo as well as
uncomfortable. Every intended or proposed change can only succeed if it is properly
communicated to the entire employees who can make it happen. According to Ubeda-Garcia,
organizational change can generate cynicism and resistance in employees, making it sometimes
difficult if not impossible to implement (405). Change is best effected through rigorous on the
job training. Organization's ability to achieve maximum benefits from change depends in part on
how effectively they create and maintain the right atmosphere to minimize resistant behavior and
encourages acceptance and support from entire employees.
In conclusion, organizations conduct orientation and training for employees purposely as a
introductory tool, familiarization and directional tools, to increase productivity, as a quality
improvement tool, to foster corporation from employees, to boost low employee turnover, to
promote confidence in employees, to improve employee morale and creativity, to foster unity
and harmony among employees, to prevent future conflict between employees and employers, to
educate employees to embrace diverse workforce, to encourage less supervision, to serve as a
pathway for promotional opportunities, to improve employees skills sets, to promote stress free
workforce and workplace, to equip team members for effective project management, to
safeguard safety of employees and property as required by OSHA, and effecting change in both
the organization and organizational culture. In my opinion, job orientation and training are
critical due to the nature of the modern business environment; also rapid change orchestrated by
globalization requires employees to continually learn new skills; and as a result of growing
dependence on teamwork calls for team problem solving which requires formal training.
Therefore, I recommend strongly the need for organizations to consider job orientation for every
new recruit and consistently scheduling existing employees for training such as on the job
training and cross-training with integration of technology.
.

Armah-Afful 20--9

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