Of Outsiders Turning Insiders

Create a sense of belonging in your new recruit through the right induction programme

After the process of hiring new recruits in an organization, they are often thrown into the deep and without an initiation period.  In fact they must be introduced to the organization and to their jobs.  And, the need for orientation and training is directly related to the Human Resource planning process.  An induction process is a technique by which the new employee is rehabilitated into the new organizational surroundings.  This process brings about a sense of belonging.  Induction is, thus, the first step in building a lasting and effective relationship between the individual and the organization.  As a process, induction is the transformation of an outsider into an insider.  It may be an individual exercise or a group activity.

Objectives of Induction

               The post selection exercise of induction has some clear objectives:

• Familiarise the new employee with the philosophies, policies and practices of the company.
• Help the new employee to understand his role, responsibility and his position in his particular division and the organization, vis-à-vis his own functions and those of others.
• Give an opportunity to the employee to meet and acquaint himself with his peers, juniors and seniors within and across the divisions.
• Make the entry smooth, effective and make him feel at ease, comfortable in the organization.

               Mannen and Schein have proposed a socialisation process model comprising three processes:

• Prearrival (the initial set of organisational values, attitudes and expectations)
• Encounter (the dichotomy between the expectations and the organisational reality)
• Metamorphosis (adaptation with and internalization of organisational norms).

Alternative Socialisation Programmes

               The best companies see induction as a process and not as a one-off event.  Induction can take many forms and will vary with the type of individual and the job that they are expected to perform.

Formal vs Informal: Direct on the job placement with no special attention is informal.  The latter is a management structured programme wherein the recruit acquires a known set of standards while in the former the laissez-faire socialisation increases the influence of the immediate working group.

Individual or Collective:  The individual approach is more time consuming, expensive and likely to develop far less homogeneous views.  Collective socialisation fosters common perspectives and is more popular in larger organisations because of its ease, efficiency and predictability. 

Fixed or variable time period:  A fixed schedule reduces uncertainty for the new members since transition is standardized and each step of transition is clear.  On the other hand variable schedules are marked by rumours.

Serial or Disjunctive:  The latter implies situations where an experienced member acts as a tutor and model for the new employee and is conducive to maintaining traditions and customs.  The present trend of ‘mentors’ is an example.  It allows newcomers to project their own careers.

Investiture or divestiture:  At times the firm may want to retain and endorse the characteristics of the new hire through exemplary rites such as publishing his achievements and ceremonial introductions.  As it may suggest this applies to the senior levels.

Stages of Orientation

               There are three different stages in an effective orientation programme.

Stage-1 : This stage is primarily meant to provide general information about the history and operations of the organization.  Also, specific information on social security matters may be given.  Ideally, not all information is given on a single day.  A new employee checklist is often provided to ensure that certain information is provided to the new recruit.  This stage should inform how his department fits into the overall scheme of the company’s operations.  The Personnel department should be involved in this stage.

Stage- 2 :  The new employee’s immediate supervisor is responsible for this stage of orientation.  Issues covered are an overview of the department, job requirements, safety, a tour of the department and layout of the physical amenities, introduction to other employees, specific customs and practices, performance expectations and specific work rules.  This stage should strive to ensure the earliest social acceptance of the new hire and help him adjust to his working environment.

Stage – 3 :  This involves evaluation and follow up, which are conducted by the HR department in conjunction with the immediate supervisor to clarify misunderstandings and ensure that the newcomer is well integrated in the work group.

Criticality of Supervisors

               The role of the supervisor in orientation is vital since it is he who has to eventually integrate the employee into the work environment.  Supervisors need to be trained to reveal both the good and the bad points of the job.  A more complete understanding of the job reduces employee turnover.

Orientation Kit

               It is desirable that each new employee be given an orientation kit or a pocket of written information to supplement the verbal orientation programme.  These induction booklets include the company organization chart, map of the facilities, copy of the policies and procedures, list of holidays and fringe benefits, copies of appraisal forms, dates, procedures, emergency procedures, important telephone numbers.  Many organisations, especially those that are unionized require employees to sign a form that they have received and read the orientation kit.  In addition, a variety of printed material, employee handbooks, house journals, picture stories, pamphlets etc.  could form part of the induction information.

Duration of Orientation Programmes

               Orientation programmes range from brief introductions to lengthy formal programmes.  Many organisations conduct a perfunctory orientation programme lasting from half a day or a full day to those that are spread over months.  Likewise in many departments and job orientation programmes, the new employees are given the departmental procedures manual to read with the option to clarify any doubt thereafter.  Another common method is to give new employees menial tasks to perform.  But, all these methods breed negativism and poor results.

               Departmental orientations should be brief but spread over several days.  Job orientations should be well planned and conducted using appropriate techniques.

Follow-up & Evaluation

Formal and systematic follow-up to the initial orientation is essential to check up on how the new employee is doing and to clarify any doubts.  Many firms have follow-up interviews at the end of 3-6 months.  The HR department should have a planned evaluation of the entire exercise to determine whether the programme is meeting the company’s needs, the employee’s needs and the ascertain ways of improving the programme further.

 -Prabir Jha

(Prabir Jha is the Global Chief People Officer at Cipla. This article was published in “Headstart”, Indian Express, December 30, 2000. He tweets and writes extensively on Leadership, Organization Transformation & Culture)