Chapter 4

Orientation Program
Employee orientation is the process of introducing newly hired employees to
their new workplace. It provides the basic organizational information employees
need to feel prepared for their new team, department, and role within the company.

HR is much more than just recruiting people. Once employee selection is

completed, a proactive HR department helps the new hire become a productive and
satisfied employee. The process of becoming a productive and satisfied employee
is important to the organization and to the employee. This initial turnover is
common. The new comer often wants to know, “ Will I be able to do the job? Will
I fit in around here? Will the boss like me? Employees are likely to quit during
their first few months than any other time in their employment. Orientation
program familiarizes new employees with their roles, the organization, its policies,
and other employees. It is a process of helping new employees adapt to their new
organizations and work responsibilities. It is a process of adaptation. New
employees suffer from anxiety. Anxiety is high at entry and new employees want
to reduce that anxiety very quickly. Stress is high because the new member feels a
lack of identification. Loneliness and a feeling of isolation are not unusual
response. New employees need special attention to put them at ease. This means
providing an adequate amount of information to reduce uncertainties and
ambiguities. Through this program, personnel department can reduce employee
turnover. It can reduce turnover by meeting personal objectives of employees. Cost
of turnover is very high. Costs are associated with recruiting, training and
developing new employees. When employees quit, the loss may be high because of
training, skills that they take with them.

Who will responsible for orienting the new employees? This can be done either by
the new employee’s supervisor, by the people in the personnel department or some
combination therefor. Formal orientation programs usually depend on the
personnel department and the supervisor. In many medium and large organizations,
the personnel department takes charge of explaining such matters as overall
organizational policies and employee benefits.
In most small firms, new employees will receive their entire orientation from their
supervisor. The orientation program may be formal and informal. New employees
may be put directly into their job, with not effort made to differentiate them from
those who have been doing the job for a long period of time. Such cases represent
examples of informal orientation- it takes place on the job and the new employee
gets little or no special attention.

The issues covered in an orientation program fall into two broad categories:
general topics of interest to most new employee and specific, job-related issues of
concern only to specific jobholders. Topics covered in employee orientation
programs are as follows:

Organizational issues: It includes such items as:

 Organizational background, history and market standing.

 Organizational mission, objectives and philosophies.
 Organizational policies and practices.
 Names and titles of key executives,
 Employees’ titles and department
 Lay out of physical facilities
 Probationary period,
 Product line or service provided,
 Overview of production process,
 Company policies and rules,
 Safety procedures and enforcement.

Employee benefits:

 Pay scales,
 Vacation and holidays,
 Rest breaks,
 Training and education benefits, counseling,
 Insurance benefits, retirement benefits, employer provided services to
employees, rehabilitation programs.
Introductions to

 Supervisor

 Trainers
 Coworkers

 Employee counselor

 Job duties

 Job location

 Job tasks

 Job safety requirements

 Overview of job

 Job objectives

 Relationship to other jobs.

Orientation is someone knowing where they are, the direction someone is facing
or the way someone tends to go. An example of orientation is a person attending
a training session for new employees. An example of orientation is a person
facing west. ... Awareness of one's environment as to time, space, objects, and
persons.
Benefits of orientation programs: Flippo (1990) and Davis (1996), have pointed
out the benefits of a good orientation program:

 Reducing the employees’ anxieties

 Reducing cultural shocks.

 Providing opportunity to develop favorable attitudes of new employees toward
their new employment and surroundings.

 Increasing employee commitment.

 Higher self-confidence and satisfaction

 Convincing the new employee that what is good for the company is also good
for the employee.

 Improving performance as well oriented workers need less attention from

coworkers and supervisors

 Reducing employee turnover.

 Helping the new employee understand the social, technical and cultural aspects
of the workplace.

Questions for discussion

1. Why is orientation program so important both to the employee and to the

organization?

2. What are the common issues usually included in the orientation program?

3. Who will be responsible for orienting new employees?

4. If you were the head of a business school, how would you describe your
organization’s orientation program?
Chapter 5

Employee Placement

What is placement? Placement is the assignment or reassignment of an employee to a new or

different job. Pigors and others have defined placement in the following words:

“Placement is the determination of the job to which an accepted candidate is to be

assigned, and his assignment to that job. It is the matching of what the supervisor has
reason to think he can do with the job demands; it is a matching of what he imposes
and he offers in form of pay roll, companionship with others, promotional
opportunities, etc.”

It includes the initial assignment of new employee and the promotion, transfer and demotion of
present employees.
There are three major classes of placement decisions:

 Promotion
 Transfer, and
 Demotion.
Promotion: Effective utilization of employees involves allocation of additional authority and
responsibility, as and when they acquire adequate expertise and competence. Secondly, good
work of an employee is to be recognized and rewarded. Thirdly, career development involves
vertical movement of employees. Finally, higher vacancies in the organization are to be filled up
progressively. Promotion serves the above purposes.

A promotion occurs when an employee is moved from one job to another that is higher in pay,
responsibility and status. It is a vertical move in rank and responsibility. Strauss and Sayles
define promotion as a movement to a position in which responsibility and prestige are increased.
It is a job with more prestige and income.

Promotion is different from upgrading. It means advancement of an employee to a higher status

while upgrading means an increase of pay on the same job or moving to a higher scale without
changing the job. Some regard it as a limited promotion.

Open and closed promotional systems: A company is said to have an open promotion policy if it
considers all employees within the organization as potential candidates and also announces
internally such vacancies.

When an organization does not announce vacancies or where the openings are not open to all
employees within the organization for the promotion, the company has a closed promotion
policy.

Basis of promotion: There is a controversy as to what should be the criteria for promotion-the
seniority or merit. Trade unions prefer seniority while management prefers ability or merit.
Promotions usually are based on merit and \ or seniority.

Seniority basis of promotion: Unions demand seniority as a basis of promotion because layoff
and discharges are frequently based on seniority. Seniority refers to the relative length of service
of employees. The seniority promotion plan is as old as civilization. The oldest son succeeded
his father as king. The method of calculating seniority or length of service is an important part of
a seniority plan. It should provide for the following factors: a) when seniority starts to
accumulate b) effects of various interruptions to employment and c) the effect of promotions
upon seniority calculation. Seniority begins to accumulate as soon as an employee is hired. In the
case of union contracts, it is important to note whether or not new employees have seniority
rights during their period of probation and whether or not the probationary period will be
included in the calculation of seniority. Again, when a large numbers of employees are hired on
the same date, a question of seniority may arise unless a basis for priority is established. In such
cases, priority may be established upon such an arbitrary basis as alphabetical listing. There are
merits as well demerits of considering seniority as the sole criteria for promotion. The merits are:

 Easy and simple.

 Focus on individual career prospects and security.
 Avoid favoritism and arbitrariness by management.
 Risk is reduced.
 Policy is more acceptable to majority of employees ad unions.
 Reduce employee turnover.

Demerits are:
 Merit is devalued. Capable young people are likely to become impatient about waiting –for-
dead- man’s shoes” and will quit to look for better prospects elsewhere.
 Promote mediocre performance and inefficiency. Consequently this may mean that the
company comes to be managed by second-grade people who have stated because they have
no enough caliber to make a move.
 Limit the influence of manager as their evaluation of performance of individual employee
has little effect on their performance.
 There is no guarantee that past experience or length of service increase ability.
 No incentive for training and development by employees.
 Inability to attract talented hands from outside.
 Ability to learn reduces as age catches up.
 Goes against obtaining and sustaining competitive advantage.
Merit as a sole basis for promotion: In principle, it is agreed by all that promotion should be
based on merit. Merit-based promotion occurs when an employee is promoted because of
superior performance in the present job. The use of merit as a basis for promotion causes
difficulties because what management regards as merit union may consider as favoritism and can
distrust the sincerity of management when it claims the right to promote solely on merit. When
management adopts merit as a basis for promotion, it must evolve controls to recognize merit
objectively, which will refute the allegations of favoritism. As far as possible, merit rating or
employee evaluation should be based on operating facts. The plan of employee evaluation should
include an arrangement for consultation and perhaps vocational guidance. By discussing a
person’s strong and weak points before vacancies occur, a two-edged weapon is employed.
Those who are ambitious can get suggestions on how to improve themselves. And a record of
such discussions can be cited to those who did not get a desired job because they failed to follow
suggestions. What is important is to discuss the standards before as well as after application.

Seniority and merit bases: Seniority cum merit should be the basis of promotions where merit
can be objectively tested. Merit is term which includes efficiency, skill, aptitude etc. When a
combination of merit and seniority is desirable, the play of discretion in the matter of selection
cannot be overlooked. A sound management will pursue a policy of properly balancing these
factors. The policy can derive strength if worked in consultation with the workers. The policy
works in the following manner:

 As between two employees with equal merit, the one with the greater seniority will be given
preference.
 If two employees are of same seniority, give weightage to ability in promotion.

 A set of job and employee specifications should be carefully prepared so that claimant for
jobs can be shown that requirements are objective and not capricious.

 A complete and thoroughly understood promotion plan should be promulgated.

 A good system of merit rating should be installed. Performance standards should be set as
objectively as possible so that measurement of employee productivity and cooperation may
be more readily acceptable by all.

Promotion Policy: A policy is guidelines for action. It varies with organization. Promotion
polices must be clearly stated and widely circulated and explained to all employees since it is a
sensitive issue. A comprehensive and realistic promotion policy should be evolved covering the
following points:

 Lines and ladder of promotion should be made clear to all employees so that the employee
know where the possibility of promotion lies.
 Policy must specify rules regarding the proportion of internal and external recruitment for
each grade.
 Prescribing training and development programs prior to promotion.
 Promotion from within the organization should be encouraged.
 Top management must clearly lay down their policy regarding weightage given to seniority
and merit. Both merit and seniority should be considered.
 Weightage given to the recommendation of immediate superior is very important policy.
 A method of assessing the potentials of employee must be introduced.
 It must be fair and equitable.
 It must be consistent.
 Promotional plans require follow up.
 Service records must be maintained to avoid confusion and misunderstanding.

Benefits of having a promotion policy

Generally the following reasons for promoting employees are advanced:
 Promotion from within fosters inbreeding.
 Promotion may increase the effectiveness of the organization in attaining its service and
profit objectives.
 It creates an inside market for talent and experience which is sheltered from competition and
readily available as a resource to the company.
 It increases interest in training and in self-development as necessary preparation for
promotion.
 It creates a feeling of content with the present conditions and encourages ambition to succeed
within the company.
 It promotes employee morale and stimulates efficiency.
 It increases job satisfaction Promotion Practices in Bangladesh: By and large merit and
seniority are both considered for promotion in Bangladesh. However, their exact mix of
weightage varies with organization to organization. In government civil service, more
preference is given to seniority. Outside recruitment is non-existent except in exceptional
cases. In the private sector, more weightage is given on merit. As the level goes up, merit is
the main criteria for promotion. Outside recruitment is encouraged to inject new blood to the
organization, normally, at the higher level. For example, in the case of Dhaka University, any
one having required qualification can apply for any position. The family-run private sectors
often do no follow any well-laid down policy on promotion. Promotional decisions are made
on subjective factors (whims and fancies of the chairman).
Transfer: Transfer occurs when an employee is moved from one job to another that is relatively
equal in pay, responsibility and status. A transfer is a lateral movement of an employee, not
involving promotion or demotion. A transfer may require an employee to change his work group,
workplace, or organizational unit. Personnel department must be able to reallocate their human
resources to meet internal and external challenges.

Transfer may be beneficial to jobholders. The main benefits are

 The broadening experience of a transfer may provide a person with new skills and a different
perspective that makes him a better candidate for future promotions.

 By moving people into jobs, managers may be able to improve the utilization of their human
resources.

 Transfer may even improve an individual’s motivation and satisfaction, especially when a
person finds little challenge in the old job. The new position may offer new technical and
interpersonal challenges. In turn, these challenges may prove to be a growth oriented
opportunity for the transferee.

Objectives of transfer: Transfers are generally effected to achieve the following objectives:

a) To satisfy the needs of an organization arising out of change.

b) To meet the request of an employee.

c) To suit the age and health of an employee.

d) To train the employee for lateral advancement and promotion.

e) To supply creative opportunities to deserving employees.

f) To correct erroneous placement.

g) To replace an employee.

h) To utilize the service of an employee in a better manner.

i) To incase versatility of employee.

j) To adjust the workforce of one plant or department with that of another when one is closed
down.

Transfer policy: A good transfer policy should have the following features:

i) Specify the types of transfers and the conditions under which these will be made.
ii) Locate the authority in some officer who may initiate and implement transfers.

iii) Indicate the basis for transfer-whether it is based on seniority or any other factor.

iv) Transfers should be in writing and duly communicated to all employees.

v) Transfers should not be made frequently.

Demotion: Demotion occurs when an employee is moved from one job to another that is lower in
pay, responsibility and status. Demotion seldom holds positive outcomes for the individual.
Usually they are associated with discipline; the individual is demoted for poor job performance
or inappropriate behavior such as excessive absenteeism or incompetence.
Separations : A separation is a decision for the individual and the organization part. Separations
are choices made by the employers and \ or employees to terminate employment relationship.
Disciplinary, economic, business or personal reasons may motivate it. Regardless of the reasons
behind the decision, the personnel department’s role is to find the most satisfactory method of
conducting the separation in a way that minimizes the harm to the organization and to the
individual. Separations may take different forms such as attrition, layoffs, and termination.
Attrition is the normal separation of people from an organization as a result of resignation,
retirement, or death. It is initiated by the individual worker and not by the company.
Resignations are separation decisions initiated by the employee. They include quits and
retirements. Quits occur when employees choose to leave the organization for reasons other than
retirement. Many researchers and professional use the term turnover to signify employee quits.

Layoffs occur when employees are put on unpaid leaves of absence. Layoffs are the
separation of employees from the organization for economic or business reasons. Layoffs occur
because of the need to reduce the size of the work force. Employees are seldom directly
responsible for the conditions leading to surpluses. Work force reductions through layoffs are
one response to employee surpluses. Layoffs are unpleasant for both workers and management.
Employers often go to great lengths to avoid layoffs. The first defense is to cut overtime. Next
the company dismiss part-time employees. Then the company dismisses poor performers.
Company considers attempts to share work and reduce normal work hours. Company may use all
these programs before laying off full-time employees.

Terminations is broad a term that encompasses the permanent separation from the organization
for any reason. An employee may be fired as a form of discipline. Employees may be terminated
for business reason and employer has no plan to rehire them. In these cases, the employee may
receive severance pay and outplacement assistance. Outplacement is a group of services
provided to displaced employees to give them support and assistance. Layoffs and termination
or dismissals are separations decisions initiated by the employer. Separations and programs to
manage them can be costly.