The Importance Of New Employee Orientation Business Essay

Describe how economic and workforce changes are affecting the organization you are currently employed (or have worked), and then provide specific examples of how these changes should be addressed.

Economic

Changes

Workforce

Changes

Organisation

These are the factors how economic and workforce changes are affecting the organization.

Economic Changes

Before creating business plans or when evaluating existing ones it is important to ‘scan’ the external environment. This takes the form of a SLEPT analysis, i.e. an investigation of the Social, Legal, Economic, Political, and Technological influences on a business. In addition it is also important to be aware of the actions of your competitors.

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These forces are continually in a state of change. Social factors relate to pattern of behaviour, tastes, and lifestyles. A major component of this is a change in consumer behaviour resulting from changes in fashions and styles. The age structure of the population also alters over time (currently we have an ageing population). An understanding of social change gives business a better feel for the future market situation.

Economic changes are closely related to social ones. The economy goes through a series of fluctuations associated with general booms and slumps in economic activity. In a boom nearly all businesses benefit and in a slump most lose out. Other economic changes that affect business include changes in the interest rate, wage rates, and the rate of inflation (i.e. general level of increase in prices). Businesses will be more encouraged to expand and take risks when economic conditions are right, e.g. low interest rates and rising demand.

Workforce Changes

To ensure that change initiatives are successful, organizations need to develop a workforce adept at handling change in whatever form it takes. This undertaking requires not only understanding and fostering effective behaviors and attitudes, but also developing a comprehensive organizational process infusing change agility throughout the company – a system ensuring the right organizational structures are in place and that individuals have the appropriate capabilities required at each level.

Once senior leadership provides the vision on what change is needed, the organization must

then set out to develop and execute a change management plan and engage their workforce

in the process. Our recommendations include:

Use assessment tools to evaluate each employee’s change readiness.

To create a comprehensive change management system, leaders need to conduct an

organizational readiness assessment. One assessment is designed to evaluate structural

issues. Another assessment evaluates the change effectiveness skills and abilities of

employees by analyzing the specific behaviors and characteristics needed to adapt easily

to sometimes difficult changing circumstances – such as an ability to remain calm even in

stressful situations and to reach mutually beneficial outcomes during a time of change.

With the right assessment tool, employees at all levels of the organization can develop

an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses in how they respond to change. In

addition, managers can use the results to provide guidance to their team. In particular, when

employees impacted by the change initiative have the opportunity to assess their unique

behaviors and responses to change, the results provide a common language to use in group

discussions. At the organizational level, leaders can employ the information to understand

how the business will react to change.

Question 1:

The Human Resource manager’s job is a challenging task and requires certain proficiencies for success. Briefly explain these proficiencies which are important for a HR manager’s success.

(10 marks)

HR Proficiency: Employee selection, training and compensation falls under this proficiency. It represent traditional knowledge and skills in those areas.

Business Proficiency: A Human Resource Manager has lots of duties and responsibilities. To assist top level manager for formulating strategies a HR manager should be familiar with strategic planning, marketing, finance, production, etc. Those knowledge will help top level manager to formulate new strategies for the company.

Leadership Proficiency: A HR Manager should posses Leadership Quality. This is must for a HR Manager. They need to have the ability to control and manager a team and lead the workforce toward a specific goal. HR managers also need to aware about modern changes and will lead the team as it permits.

Learning Proficiency: Without learning nothing can be achievable. A HR manager must learn new things and need to be updated as time passes. Technologies are changing rapidly, learning proficiency will help to cope up with this changing environment and control the workforce in an effective way. He or she must have the ability to stay abreast and apply all the new technologies and practices affecting the profession.

Question 2:

Explain and illustrate the basic ways to classify selection interviews. Briefly explain how structured interviews, regardless of content, are more valid than unstructured interviews for predicting job performance?

What are unstructured and structured interviews?

Interviews can either be structured or unstructured, and the main issues which have to be considered when discussing them are reliability and validity. The unstructured interview is an interviewing technique whereby questions are not specifically limited and set, and the conversation can flow freely. The questions asked in an unstructured interview can change depending on how each individual responds, and questions asked are usually open-ended. During an unstructured interview several topics can be discussed. In these cases, the interviewer usually engages in lengthy explanations of the job, and asks questions which are not necessarily predetermined by the interviewer. After the interview, errors in the information gained from the applicant can occur and the final choice maybe determined based on unclear impressions. However, unstructured interviews can help gain information which was not planned and can be helpful in areas which need more explanation.

Previous research has shown that unstructured interviews have low predictive validities. For example, Hunter and Hunter (1984) found the reasons as to why predictive validity was low during the selection process is because the questions asked where not really related to the job or were unable to be scored reliably. Interviewers can also base their information on appearance, instead of performance on the job. Similarity influences also occur (e.g. tendency to hire someone who is similar to the interviewer). Another problem with unstructured interviews is that it can be time consuming and because the information gathered from all the respondents is different, it is difficult to have a base for comparison, which affects reliability and validity.

Structured interviews involve questions which are set out and followed thoroughly. Each candidate is presented with the same questions and this ensures that each respondent has had the opportunity to respond to each question. Structured interviews have higher predictive validity. Structured interviews are better at predicting job performance if they are appropriately and thoroughly based on job analysis and trained interviewers are used. Structured interviews assume that intentions and actual behaviors are strongly linked. Structured interviews can also involve multiple interviewers and use well-defined rating scales with specific rating procedures. Asking candidates the same questions (standardized questioning) and taking down relevant notes during the process can also improve validity and reliability of the interview.

For an example, PsyAsia International’s registered psychologists provide professional training workshops in Behavior-based Interviewing. The workshops take delegates through the entire process of job examination/analysis to consideration of what are the right and wrong questions to ask when attempting to elicit job-relevant responses from the candidate. The workshops teach delegates how to conduct reliable and valid structured behavioral-interviews in line with international best practice.

Question 2:

In your opinion, can companies do without a detailed job descriptions?

Defend your answer.

(10 marks)

Job description is a detailed list of specific duties and tasks in their order of significance (the most important duties should appear at the top of the list). This list should cover every activity that will take 5% or more of the employee’s time and include any accountability the employee may have for meeting certain objectives.

We must have a job description in the company. A typical method of Job Analysis would be to give the incumbent a simple questionnaire to identify job duties, responsibilities, equipment used, work relationships, and work environment. The completed questionnaire would then be used to assist the Job Analyst who would then conduct an interview of the incumbent(s). A draft of the identified job duties, responsibilities, equipment, relationships, and work environment would be reviewed with the supervisor for accuracy. The Job Analyst would then prepare a job description and/or job specifications.

The method that you may use in Job Analysis will depend on practical concerns such as type of job, number of jobs, number of incumbents, and location of jobs.

Job Analysis should collect information on the following areas:

Duties and Tasks The basic unit of a job is the performance of specific tasks and duties. Information to be collected about these items may include: frequency, duration, effort, skill, complexity, equipment, standards, etc.

Environment This may have a significant impact on the physical requirements to be able to perform a job. The work environment may include unpleasant conditions such as offensive odors and temperature extremes. There may also be definite risks to the incumbent such as noxious fumes, radioactive substances, hostile and aggressive people, and dangerous explosives.

Tools and Equipment Some duties and tasks are performed using specific equipment and tools. Equipment may include protective clothing. These items need to be specified in a Job Analysis.

Relationships Supervision given and received. Relationships with internal or external people.

Requirements The knowledges, skills, and abilities (KSA’s) required to perform the job. While an incumbent may have higher KSA’s than those required for the job, a Job Analysis typically only states the minimum requirements to perform the job.

Question 3:

a) Description the reasons on the importance of new employee orientation. What are

some benefits of properly conducted orientation programme to an organisation?

(15 marks)

THE IMPORTANCE OF NEW EMPLOYEE ORIENTATION

Ever hear the expression “common sense isn’t so common anymore”? This phrase certainly has many workplace implications. All too often, managers incorrectly assume that other workers have the same work ethic and knowledge of the workplace that they do. We take it for granted that people know what is expected of them. The fact of the matter is, employees need to know not only the specifics of how to carry out their duties, but also the company’s rules and expectations, before they can succeed in the workplace.

The ideal time to set forth expectations of an employee is at the time he or she is hired, through some type of new employee orientation. In addition to providing a road map to workplace success, a thorough orientation has the added benefit of creating a positive first impression on the employee. The sense that he or she is important to the company will go a long way toward building a productive work relationship.

The temptations to skip the orientation process are many. Lack of time in already brimming schedules probably tops the list. Other possible reasons for omitting orientation are high turnover which results in seemingly constant orientations, and the fact that repeating the same information many times over is, frankly, boring for the presenter. Unfortunately, this boredom generally results in presentations that are lackluster at best and can result in incomplete or inaccurate information being presented to new hires. The use of technology can circumvent these problems; videos and computer software lend themselves well to the presentation of routine information that doesn’t change often. Further, utilizing technology ensures that the same information is presented in the same manner every time, which can be important for legal reasons. Handouts of printed material are another useful supplement to the orientation process. One caveat, however – in a quest for efficiency, don’t totally remove human interaction from the process. The opportunity to ask questions of another human being is critical to a successful orientation program and to effective relationship-building, which is another objective of the orientation process.

When designing an orientation program, don’t forget topics that may seem self-explanatory; things as simple as knowing how to transfer a phone call seem trivial, but are vital for employee productivity. Following are some topics to include in a new employee orientation program: company history and philosophy; information about what the company does and its industry; customer or client profiles; an organization chart; pay, hours of work, and other Prime Resources, Inc.

items such as overtime requirements, breaks or rest periods, lunch, etc.; overview of the employee benefit package; description of the performance appraisal process – how, when, and by whom are employees evaluated; opportunities for training and advancement; employee handbook and policy/procedure manuals; companywide safety rules; and a tour of the facility. The presence of top management is important as well. The company president should at least make an appearance (via video if he or she is at a distant location). As with all company programs the commitment of top management sends a positive signal to employees.

Although implementing an orientation program may seem a daunting and costly task, no company is too small for new employee orientation, even if it is as simple as assigning a veteran employee to mentor the new employee and to “show him the ropes”. There is no doubt that properly orienting employees to their new workplace is time consuming process, but a wise investment of time that will reward the company with more productive, satisfied employees.

Why and what are the benefits of conduct a staff orientation program?

An orientation for new staff can be a boon to both those staff members and the organization. Some specific advantages to such a program include:

It allows new staff members to hit the ground running. If they have a clear understanding of the organization, their positions, and the community, they can jump into their jobs immediately and start to make a difference.

It instills new staff with confidence in both their own ability to be effective – because they know they have the information and contacts they need – and the organization which has had the foresight to provide them with that background, and made them feel a part of the operation.

It improves the possibility – through facilitating a good start and providing appropriate background – that people will do a good job over the long term…and stay longer with the organization.

It makes life easier for others in the organization, by eliminating the need for new staff members to ask them constantly for information and advice.

It enfolds the new staff member into an existing social structure, thereby helping him to feel comfortable and to bond with others, and at the same time helping to improve the organizational climate (the way the organization “feels” to those who work in and have contact with it).

It formally welcomes new staff to the organization, and makes them feel that they have support for doing a good job.

By familiarizing new staff members with the organizational culture (see below ), it increases the chances that they will fit well into the organization, and absorb and become part of that culture.

By making staff knowledgeable and better-prepared, it builds the organization ‘s reputation in the community, leading to community support and better services.

A well-conceived and well-run orientation can thus address all the factors – logistical, professional, social, and philosophical – that can help a staff member fit into the organization and do the best job she can.

Question 3:

b) In your opinion, can job rotation be the best training method to use for developing

management trainees, in a bank? Defend your answer.

(10 marks)

Job rotation is a management technique that assigns trainees to various jobs and departments over a period of a few years. Surveys show that an increasing number of companies are using job rotation to train employees. There are both positive and negative effects involved with job rotation that need to be taken into consideration when a company makes the decision to use this technique.

Job rotation is also a control to detect errors and frauds. It reduces the risk of collusion between individuals. Organizations dealing with sensitive information or system (e.g. bank) where there is an opportunity for personal gain can benefit by job rotation. Job rotation also helps in business continuity as multiple people are equally equipped to perform a job function. If an employee is not available other can handle his/her position with similar efficiency.

PART B – MINI CASE STUDY

Carefully read the news article below and then answer question 4 at the end of the article:

Enterprise ICT industry reactions to Malaysia’s Budget 2013

ComputerWorld, Malaysia

By AvantiKumar | Oct. 1, 2012

Addressing the talent gap

“On the issue of knowledgeable, creative and innovative human capital, training

programmes will be developed to hone new skills in line with future needs of

industry in a high-income and developed economy. For this purpose, RM3.7

billion [US$1.21 billion] will be allocated in 2013 to train students in technical and

vocational fields,” said Najib.

He said the government would establish the Graduate Employability Taskforce

with an allocation of RM200 million [US$65.38 million] to strengthen employability

of unemployed graduates under Graduate Employability Blueprint by end-2012.

“The government will allocate RM440 million [US$143.84 million] to the Skills

Development Fund Corporation (PTPK), to provide loans for trainees to undergo

skills training,” he said.

HP Enterprise Group, South East Asia (SEA) vice president and acting general

manager & HP Malaysia managing director Narinder Kapoor noted the

Government’s continued and expanded focus on talent and human capital

development. “Incentives provided under Budget 2013, such as reducing the cost

of learning, enhancing teaching skills in core subjects through the Higher Order

Thinking Skills approach, the New Entrepreneur Foundation and the Graduate

Employability Blueprint will not only help develop an entrepreneurial spirit, but

also set the foundation and churn out more knowledge-based workers.”

“Developing a bigger pool of local ICT talent with the right set of hard and soft

skills that meet industry expectations will certainly help enhance Malaysia’s

global competitiveness,” said Kapoor. “While the education sector focuses on

improving proficiency in core subjects, more concerted efforts are needed at

higher learning institutes to include course that focus on sub-specialisation within

the ICT industry. Developing the right talent and human capital in ICT becomes

even more important now as Digital Malaysia initiative targets to create more

than 160,000 high-value jobs by the year 2020.”

Microsoft Malaysia’s managing director Ananth Lazarus commended the

Malaysian government’s financial prudence while remaining focused on the

importance of transforming education and improving the quality of daily life.

“However, Microsoft Malaysia believes that more could be done to leverage ICT

to achieve these goals and commits itself towards transforming Malaysia

together into a high-income and developed nation,” said Lazarus. “It is clear that

the government places a premium priority on securing the future success of the

nation with more than RM41 billion [US$13.40 billion] along with various tax

incentives and other allocations committed to improving the quality of education

in the country. We certainly laud the government’s commitment to transforming

education by lending the necessary budgetary commitment to meet the

aspirations outlined in the recently announced National Education Blueprint.”

At the same time, the government’s incentives towards leveraging intellectual

property appear to signal the country’s recognition that it needs to move up the

value chain, he said. “This is certainly a step in the right direction in achieving the

country’s aspiration to become a high-income nation,” said Lazarus.

Autodesk Malaysia country manager Tan Choon Sang (CS Tan) said the

increased encouragement to use green technology was welcomed. “[In addition]

in order to raise Malaysia’s position as a competitive market, skill-sets need to be

well aligned and in order for this, the industry needs to produce a quality

workforce with the right skills such as those through our Autodesk Education

Community.”

“A talented local workforce is essential to meet the current needs of a growing

economy, and the future needs of a high-income and developed nation. We

continue to support the government’s efforts to look at human capital

development holistically, with initiatives and incentives to retain top talent and

develop fresh talent that are essential for the nation to remain competitive

regionally and globally,” said Dell Global Business Center, Cyberjaya, managing

director, Pang Yee Beng.

“[In addition], Malaysia is a strategic country for human resources for Dell, and

we place huge emphasis and investment on a people-focused strategy and talent

development” said Pang. “We continue to support the Government in building a

pool of knowledgeable, creative and innovative workforce. To this end, we have

recently launched the Dell Malaysia University [DMU] that offers industryrecognised

certifications and degrees in collaboration with local and foreign

universities, professional bodies and institutions of higher learning.”

Extracted source: http://www.computerworld.com.my/tech/industries/enterprise-ict-industryreactions-to-malaysias-budget-2013/?page=3

Question 4:

a) What is your general reaction on the Malaysia’s Budget 2013 in terms of training and

development? Justify your answer.

(10 marks)

Training and development refers to the practice of providing training, workshops, coaching, mentoring, or other learning opportunities to employees to inspire, challenge, and motivate them to perform the functions of their position to the best of their ability and within standards set by local, state, Tribal, Federal and licensing organization guidelines. Training and development activities provide all involved system of care parties with the tools they need to develop professionally, increase their knowledge, effectively work with families, and build their capacity to perform the tasks associated with their positions within the system of care.

Since a system of care operates within an existing human service agency, it is expected that most human resource issues, such as hiring, benefits, staff recognition, and performance appraisal issues, would be handled within the agency’s human resources department. It would be important to make sure that system of care principles are infused into the day to day practices of human resources personnel. It is worth noting that many systems of care have developed recognition and award programs for individuals who have exceeded expectations in their system of care efforts.

On my opinion for reaction on the Malaysia’s Budget 2013, a system of care training and development agenda necessarily will have to involve families, community agencies, the faith community and other community partners. It will have to look at the various needs and requirements of all stakeholders involved. Some of these factors can be addressed through specific agency trainings, but in many cases new methods of training will have to be developed that go beyond any one agency’s agenda or curriculum. For example, training may need to be created that addresses the family involvement aspect of a child and family team meeting.

In today’s social media driven world the way in which training can be delivered is much more varied than in the past. For example, Webcasts, Webinars, and computer-based trainings are the order of the day to ensure maximum participation in a cost effective manner. Another aspect of a modern training and development effort within a system of care is that of ensuring that all events give participants the ability to evaluate and offer feedback. Data is then analyzed and, if necessary, future training and development activities are modified, enhanced, or eliminated. A number of evaluation forms are listed as resources in the Continuous Quality Improvement Section of this toolkit.

Moving from a traditional training program that is focused on the employees of one agency to a more dynamic interagency and family involved training program can be challenging. A system of care requires reevaluation of how to go about building a training and development program that is open to all involved partners. With one of the systems of care focuses being on family and youth involvement, your local system must think about new presenters and co-presenters, assuring cultural diversity in your presenters and cultural competence in your presentations. Inevitably you will have to look at policies that prevent interagency partners from participating in more department focused trainings and look to find solutions to those issues. This toolkit will provide you with some answers to these difficult issues as you begin to build your system of care training and development program into the daily operations of your work.

The following are just a few ways systems of care principles and values might be evident in training, development, and human resources in our community:

Staff members of systems of care agencies and organizations regard children, youth, and families as priorities within the community.

For certain positions within systems of care, life experience is considered equal to, or in some cases more important than, a degree or other credentials.

Outcomes are developed that measure and identify changes generated from systems of care principles into training, development, and human resources functions.

A culturally, linguistically, and ethnically diverse and competent staff is evident in training, development and human resources activities.

Family and youth involvement is evident in positions (employees or contractors) within the system of care.

An interagency training and development committee with family membership creates a cross-agency training and development agenda to address system of care personnel needs.

Ongoing training and development occurs across all systems of care partners to enhance performance of interagency teams.

Question 4:

b) If you are the HR manager of your organisation, what would be the important

criteria in recruiting and selecting of a potential talented candidate that

you would recommend to include in Graduate Employability Blueprint that

(going to) offers by the government? Discuss in detail the reason(s) for the

criteria you set forward are crucial for new and unemployed graduate in

Malaysia.

(15 marks)

The key importance of recruitment and selection in successful people management and leadership. An awareness of issues and concepts within this area is an important tool for all those involved with leading, managing and developing people even. A recognition of the importance of this aspect of people management is not new, and ‘success’ in this field has often been linked with the avoidance of critical failure factors including undesirable levels of staff turnover and claims of discrimination from unsuccessful job applicants.

It has been argued here that it is also possible to identify aspects of recruitment and selection which link with critical success factors in this 21st century context, differentiating organisational performance and going some way to delivering employees who can act as ‘thinking performers’. It is proposed, for example, that a competencies approach focusing on abilities needed to perform a job well may be preferable to the use of a more traditional matching of job and person specifications. In addition, many organisations may increasingly wish to identify qualities of flexibility and creative thinking among potential employees, although this may not always be the case; many contemporary jobs do not require such competencies on the part of jobholders. It is also the case that organisations should be preoccupied with the question of validity of selection methods, ideally combining methods which are strong on practicality and cost, such as interviewing, with other measures which are more effective predictors of performance. It is maintained, finally, that a managing diversity approach, welcoming individual difference, may enhance organisational performance and create a climate in which thinking performers can emerge and flourish.

However, it is maintained that a contingency approach to recruitment and selection, recognising that organisational policies and practices are shaped by contextual factors, remains valid, and that ‘effectiveness’ in recruitment and selection may vary according to particular situational factors. In this regard it is noted that cultural differences could be an important factor in predicting the relative success of recruitment and selection measures.