ORIENTATION AND TRAINING

Entry Issues
Realistic Job Preview (RJP) and The Psychological Contract Developing commitment in the new recruit Understanding Culture/Climate Orientation Socialization

What is Socialization?

Process by which an employee begins to adapt to the values, norms, and beliefs of the organization and its members
Focus on a long term program Involves learning the organizations climate and learning to fit in Foster links between employees and organization
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Strategic Importance of Socialization

Sets the tone of employment relationship Clarifies expectations / how things are done Reduces anxiety for new employees
Will I fit in? Will I enjoy the job/coworkers/etc?

Effects employee attitudes and behaviour

Socialization vs Orientation

Socialization
Process of employees adapting to organization Long-term process, often informal

Orientation
Program that informs new employees about their job and company Short-term, often formal

Examples of Tim Hortons employee orientation and socialization

Stages of Socialization
1.

Anticipatory (Pre-Arrival)
Employees begin with certain expectations about organization and job May be unrealistic if unmet, result in dissatisfaction, turnover, etc.
Realistic Job Preview (RJP) may be helpful
Info about job demands and working conditions both positive and negative aspects
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Stages of Socialization
2.

Encounter
Employee has started new job Inconsistencies between expectations and reality emerge Needs info re: policies, procedures, etc.
E.g., via Orientation program
Organizational issues, policies, etc. Benefits Introductions Job Duties

Stages of Socialization
2.

Encounter (contd)
Benefits of a good orientation program
Shows organization values to employee Reduces employee anxiety and turnover Reduces start-up costs Clarifies job and organizational expectations Improves job performance

Stages of Socialization
3.

Change (Settling in)

Inconsistencies start to get worked out Employee begins to identify with organization Transition from being an outsider to feeling like an insider Often involves taking on new attitudes, values, and behaviours to align with organizations Misalignment = dissatisfaction and turnover

Summary

New employees face many challenges Realistic job previews and employee orientation programs can:
Reduce stress Reduce turnover Improve productivity

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The challenge?
Information overload Information irrelevance Too much selling of the organization No evaluation program Lack of follow up

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Training and Development

Training vs Development
Both refer to the learning of job-related behaviour

Training
Focuses on job performance Emphasis is on acquisition of specific KSAs needed for present job

Development
Focuses on personal growth, longer-term development Emphasis is on acquiring KSAs needed for future job or organizational need
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Trends Affecting Training

Low unemployment = tight labour market

T&D opportunities to attract & retain employees

Alternatively, high unemployment , or economic recession

T&D opportunities to create more and better work opportunities However, some companies may offer less T&D to cut costs

Globalization

Training for employees with international assignments

New and changing technology new KSAs Mergers, acquisitions, restructuring

Jobs change, employees need new KSAs

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Training Process Model

1. 2. 3. 4.

Needs assessment Design training objectives Develop program content Implement training program

5.

Evaluate effectiveness of training program

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Step 1: Needs Assessment

Needs Analysis
Proactive or Reactive Diagnosis of problems and future challenges that can be met through training & development

Organizational analysis
Culture, values, mission, goals, strategy

Job / task analysis

KSA requirements

Person analysis
Consider pre-training states: predicted by individual (e.g., age, anxiety, cognitive ability, etc.) and situational characteristics (e.g., organizational climate) (Colquitt et al., 2000). Gaps between employee KSAs and KSAs required by jobs

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Step 2: Develop Training Objectives

Must include:
The desired behaviour The conditions under which it is to occur Performance criteria E.g., By the end of this week, you will be able to list and define the 5 main steps involved in the development of a training program, without referring to your notes

Objectives are standards that allow the success of training to be measured

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Step 3: Develop Program Content and Learning Principles

Issues to consider
Needs assessment Training objectives Audience Class size Time availability Cost Training format Learning principles
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Learning Principles

How do people learn most effectively? Participation

Participants are actively involved

Repetition
Repeated review of material

Relevance
Material is meaningful

Transference
Application of training to actual job situations

Feedback
Information given to learners re: their progress
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Banduras Social Learning Theory

High self-efficacy
Belief one can achieve a behaviour
Higher level of learning

High outcome expectancy

Belief that behaviour will lead to an outcome of value

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Organizational Influences on Transfer of Training

Relates to trainees outcome expectancies

Will the behaviour lead to desired outcomes?

Rewards, pay, & promotion

Are there rewards for demonstrating the new behaviour?

Environmental constraints / obstacles

Is equipment, time, etc. avail. for person to use skills?

Supervisory and peer support

Is the training reinforced / encouraged / rewarded on the job? Train coworkers together reinforce each other

Organizations learning climate

Learning is encouraged, supported, rewarded, etc.
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Step 4: Deliver Training

Numerous methods to choose from: On-the-job Off-the-job
Job instruction Job rotation Apprenticeships Coaching
Lectures & videos Vestibule training Role-playing/Cases Simulation Self-Study & Programmed Computer-based (CBT)

Virtual reality
Internet/Web-based/Intranet Video-conferencing

Strengths and Weaknesses of various Methods

Method Lecture Video Role play Simulation Case study Knowledge Yes Yes No Yes Yes Skills No No Yes Yes Med Attitudes No Yes Yes No Yes Transfer Low Med High High Med

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Step 5: Evaluating Training Effectiveness 5 Criteria - Kirkpatricks 4 levels plus 1

1. Reaction
Are participants satisfied with training?

2. Learning
How much has been learned?

3. Attitude Change (not 1 of Kirkpatricks 4 criteria)

Did training result in attitude change?

4. Behaviour change
Did the learning transfer to the job?

5. Results criteria
Was the training worth the cost to the
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Evaluating Training

Evaluation method used should assess all important training objectives

Typically, focuses on whether change has occurred

If possible, use an evaluation method that will allow you to draw accurate conclusions about the programs effectiveness
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Training Evaluation Designs

Reaction measures
Important, but dont refer to effectiveness

Measure behaviour post-training

Cant determine whether change occurred

Pre-test Post-test Design

Measure Training Measure Allows you to see if change has occurred E.g., # of items produced before training = 10/minute # produced after training = 16/minute

But, what if other employees who did not receive training average 15 items/minute?
Is training effective?
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Training Evaluation Designs

Mere passage of time or task experience could also influence post-test performance.
Could not necessarily attribute post-test scores to training

Should also use a control group

Employees who did not receive training often called a waiting list control group Control group post-test could also be influenced by time and experience therefore, the only difference between the groups would be training
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Cost benefit analysis at Fed Ex Canada

2 week training program for new courier van drivers Costs of accidents:
$ 399 for a trained driver compared to $1920 for an untrained driver Annual cost of all accidents for trained drivers was $2492 and $4833 for untrained drivers

Value of the training course:

Difference between trained and untrained driver which is $2341

Costs of training was $1890 Thus net benefit was $451 ($2341-$1890) ROI is 1.24 ($2341/$1890). Thus training program resulted in a return of $1.24 on every

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Does training increase turnover?

Debate: Do employers see a return on investment in tuition reimbursement?

2 sides of the debate:
Employee development leads to positive employee attitudes and motivates them to stay Employee development increases employees employment options outside the organization and results in increased voluntary turnover (as per human capital theory)

Which do you think is true?

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Does training increase turnover?

Study: Benson et al. (2004) AMJ, 47(3), 315-331.

In this study, 9543 workers whose company provided full tuition reimbursement were studied Results

Turnover is very low while participants are taking classes or pursuing a degree When participants complete advanced/graduate degrees, turnover increases dramatically However
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Does training increase turnover?

When these participants (who completed advanced degrees) were promoted, turnover was less
56% less than participants who earned degrees but were not promoted 55% less than participants who were promoted but did not take part in tuition reimbursement

Conclusion tuition reimbursement can be an effective retention strategy, provided attention is paid to job-skill match after someone has received an advanced degree

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