Learning Quest: Neo and On-Boarding the Critical Essay

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Learning Quest: Neo and on-Boarding

The critical thinking assignment module utilizes a Learning Quest. You participate explorer a quest learn New Employee Orientation (NEO) On-boarding. As explorer, search information practices utilized NEO-On-boarding programs.

Learning quest: NEO and onboarding

New employee orientation comes immediately after selection as the next process in the human resources management activities. Orientation of new employees to the organization and to their positions is essential to establish a productive and successful working relationship. The first interactions of the employee with the organization are essential to create a positive and lasting impression on the department and therefore time should be spent in planning and executing the new employee orientation activities to ensure their first days, weeks and months at work greatly improve their chance of succeeding at the position. New employee orientation goes hand in hand with on-boarding whereby the employee is taught the necessary behaviors, knowledge and skills for them to become effective members of the organization. The two activities go hand in hand to ensure the employees perform well at their job, have a high job satisfaction rate, are committed to the organization and have reduced stress. This paper deals with new employee orientation and onboarding which are essential human resources management activities to ensure a high employee satisfaction rate which acts as a motivational factor for better job performance and also reduces the employee turnover rate.

New employee orientation and on-boarding

New employee orientation and on-boarding are essential human resource practices though are neglected in many organizations. Many organizations use employee handbooks and other disorganized methods to orient their employees into the organization. The reason for this is that they feel employee orientation programs are often boring and overwhelming. This paper looks at the common reasons why organizations should use new employee orientation and on-boarding programs and some of the advantages realized as a result of utilizing these programs. It also goes ahead and deals with the effective and ineffective practices that are often used in organizations to orientate and socialize new employees. The exploration also focuses on the barriers that organizations feel in the design and implementation of effective new employee orientation and on-boarding programs.

Exploration Questions

The questions to be addressed in this exploration paper include:

What is New Employee Orientation (NEO) and On-boarding?

Why should organizations utilize these programs?

What are effective, and ineffective, practices for orienting and socializing new employees?

What are the intended outcomes of NEO and On-boarding programs?

What approaches can be used to develop and implement NEO and On-boarding programs?

What are potential barriers to effective design and successful implementation; and how can the barriers be overcome?

Journal article review

The amount of literature that addresses new employee orientation and on-boarding programs is massive. This journal article review dwells with journal articles on the topic of new employee orientation and on-boarding as well as looking at the employee recruitment process.

New employee orientation and on-boarding defined

New employee orientation is defined as the process by which a new employee is given their first interaction with the organization, their position in the organization and the other members of the organization. The employee is made aware of the standard practices in the organization such as policies, procedures, company history and goals, culture, and much more. The main purpose of new employee orientation is to train and cross-train the employee while on the job thus enabling them to get a clear picture of the organization, its goals and objectives, its challenges and how the employee can use their position to assist in achievement of the goals and objectives of the organization.

Bauer, Bodner, Erdogan, Truxillo, and Tucker (2007)

define on-boarding as the process of acquiring, assimilating, accommodating and accelerating new team members. In this definition, acquiring refers to the selection process to find the right people to join the team. Assimilation refers to helping the new hires to join the other team members to ensure collaboration in the organization's activities. Accommodation refers to giving the new hires the right tools that they need to perform their function in the organization. Lastly, acceleration refers to helping them to deliver quality work in an accurate and timely manner Bauer & Erdogan., 2011()

Advantages of new employee orientation and on-boarding programs

New employee orientation and on-boarding programs have been referred to as antecedents of the success of new hires in an organization by Valentine and Johnson (2005)

. This is because they create the initial contact between the new hire and the organization.

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The first and foremost reason of having an employee orientation and on-boarding program is to give the new employees a sense of worth. The first and foremost purpose of the NEO and on-boarding programs is to welcome the new employees to the organization and introduce them to the key people with who they will relate in their position in the organization. NEO and on-boarding gives the new employees a positive experience with the organization. When the employees feel welcome in the organization, they are able to feel happy and motivated in their new role. This gives them a sense of worth and makes them feel they are valued in the organization thus acting as a motivation factor.

According to Holton (2001)

NEO and on-boarding programs help to familiarize the new employees with the company history, culture, goals and objectives. The employees are thus able to know what is required of them and how their role fits in the organization. The employee is also able to know how they will apply their KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics) to help them fulfill their role and to help the organization to succeed in exceeding its goals and objectives. This helps to protect the employees from having to learn certain aspects of the company or their role in the company the hard way. The hard way in this case means that the employee learns through experiencing embarrassing or otherwise frustrating moments.

NEO and on-boarding helps the new hires to know and understand the chain of command in the organization and thus to know exactly where they fit into the organization. NEO and on-boarding also helps the existing employees to understand the role of the new hires in the organization thus helping the chain of command to be sustained. This develops a positive work relationship between the new and existing employees thus promoting teamwork and collaboration which are essential in the achievement of the organization's goals and objectives.

NEO and on-boarding programs help the organization to have a low employee turnover rate thus be able to retain top talent. NEO and on-boarding helps to get the employee engaged in their settling down in the organization and to get their opinion regarding the organization. The new hires are able to feel comfortable with their new positions in the organization by making their adjustment to the new position as easy as possible. This helps the new hire to feel that their opinion is valued and that they should feel free to share their opinion regarding any aspects of the organization.

Effective practices

Successful NEO and on-boarding programs need to be developed by considering the effective practices. The first and foremost practice is the definition of the role. Here, the person conducting the orientation will be required to help the new employee to understand their role in the organization and their responsibilities. They will also inform the employee about where they are on the chain of command, who they are answerable to and who is answerable to them. Given this information, the employees will be able to develop their own knowledge on how they will succeed in their role Drake, Meckler, & Stephens, 2002()

The second effective practice is to begin the orientation and on-boarding process before the time when the employee is required to begin performing their task. This ensures that the new hire is able to perform to the required productivity level while keeping in mind their expectations, the company culture, goals and objectives.

Facilitating connections is another effective practice. The employees should be given a chance to meet with the key stakeholders, the management team and their teammates to help them establish work relationships that are effective and to network to ensure they understand how to collaborate to succeed in their role.

Seeking feedback from the employees is also an effective practice since it helps to gauge the effectiveness of the NEO and on-boarding program. It also helps the new employees to feel valued since they are given a chance to voice their opinion. Automation is also an effective practice since it helps to systematize the NEO and on-boarding program while helping the employee complete all the necessary paperwork in an easy way. This helps the new hire to complete the program in an easy way and ensures there is consistency in the program Zhang, 2010()

Ineffective practices

Ineffective on-boarding practices lead to a loss of over $35 billion each year for U.S. companies as a result of high employee.....

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