„‚ CONDITIONS THAT HINDER EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

❚❘
DESIGNING MORE EFFECTIVE
ORIENTATION PROGRAMS
Daniel C. Feldman
Almost all organizations run some type of orientation program to teach new recruits
corporate practices, policies, and procedures. Recent surveys suggest that over 70
percent of the major organizations in the United States provide formal, organized
orientation programs (Zemke, 1982). However, orientation is typically seen as a less
important, or less vital, activity than skills training. Much less time and effort are
expended on it. Indeed, despite the fact that most organizations have orientation
programs, the attention that has been devoted to these programs has been noted as
“woefully inadequate” (Cascio, 1986). This article deals with several fundamental issues
involved in designing orientation programs and presents the following:
1. The common problems that organizations face in running such programs;
2. Three innovative orientation programs that have circumvented these problems;
and
3. Some ways in which organizations can better implement their orientation
programs.
COMMON PROBLEMS IN ORIENTATION PROGRAMS
The typical orientation program consists of a one-day seminar run by the human
resource department. In practice, orientation usually consists of delivering pep talks,
having new recruits fill out personnel forms, taking the new people on a brief tour of the
facilities, introducing them to other personnel, and giving them employee handbooks
and other rule books. When current orientation programs are reviewed, several common
problems emerge (Lubliner, 1978; McGarrell, 1984; St. John, 1980):
1. Emphasis on paperwork. Early on the recruit’s first day he or she is confronted
with a stack of forms to complete. This frequently creates a first impression of a
bureaucratic, impersonal organization.
2. Information overload. Probably the most common complaint about orientation
programs is that they try to give too much information to new recruits too quickly. New
employees simply cannot absorb all of the data that are being given to them, and they
feel intimidated.
Originally published in The 1988 Annual: Developing Human Resources by J. William Pfeiffer (Ed.), San Diego, CA: Pfeiffer &
Company.
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 6, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer ❚❘ 393