INTRODUCTION:

Recruitment and selection would become a fruitless exercise, if the employee is not maintained, developed and retained in the organization. This is possible only when orientation or induction program is considered as the last phase of recruitment and selection process. This program plays a vital role on the part of new joiners as well as on the development of the company. A new-employee orientation program includes formal presentations on company's policies and procedures as well as the sharing of other information that helps to promote a smooth transition to the workplace. Orientation helps employees become more comfortable with their new jobs. Employee development is crucial for customer satisfaction, retention and the growth of the company. A good employee orientation will ensure that the employees feel motivated and clearly understand his duties in the organization well in advance. Like the say, "first impression are unforgettable", the orientation process has to be carefully planned and executed to ensure that employee ends up knowing all about the company and the role he has to play in helping the organization to achieve its objectives.

New employee feel overwhelmed the first few days on the job. The purpose of NEO program is to provide the employee with limited and organized information to make the job seem more manageable and the environment more comfortable. It should also create an exciting, rewarding and manageable first few days for all new employees. NEO is a planned welcome to the organization that usually is shared by the human resources or training department and the new employee’s supervisors. The supervisor's role in NEO is clear and well executed with human resources department's or function's assistance. The human resources department or function is usually best equipped to share organization policy, history and benefits. Supervisors in turn prefer to explain safety rules, reporting requirements and job tasks. The sessions are usually made interactive so that organization can put light on its requirements, functions, processes, vision, and mission. It is the session in which the new employee feels ownership on the organization and made aware of what is expected from him.

A strategically designed NEO program can reduce turn over and save an organization thousands of dollars. One reason people change jobs is because they never feel welcome or part of the organization they join. A well thought out orientation process takes energy, time and commitment; however it usually pays off for the individual, employee, the department and the organization as a whole.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

According to Jean Barbazette, Chief Consultant for The Training Clinic and author of Successful New Employee Orientation: Assess, Plan, Conduct, and Evaluate Your Program, gives few tips for making the orientation program more effective. Managers should sit through the training program and make notes about what works, what is out of date and what could use a bit more fine-tuning. Feedbacks in a way of informal interviews or anonymous surveys should be solicited from recent trainees for making the orientation more effective. Identifying the most important things new employees need to know and dividing the training time accordingly will save the time and resources. He further added that by preparing a folder with all written training materials and giving it to the new joiners before the orientation session will provide a chance to get familiarized themselves with the organization's policies and procedures in advance. He concluded by saying that training program is the chance to make a positive first impression on new employees, hence it is necessary to make the most of it with a streamlined, exciting program that engages and inspires.

Tess. C. Taylor, an HR expert (2011) says that the purposes of an employee orientation program are to give new hires basic information about the company, orient them to the company initiatives, reduce first-day anxiety, and help the new hire to become productive right away. Therefore, designing a new orientation program that provides certain fundamentals which will in turn help to ensure that the employees stay on the board on the long run is the biggest challenge for any organization. He suggested three types of orientation program such as self-directed employee orientation program, mentored employee orientation program and formal employee orientation program.

Matthew Torren (2010) stressed the importance of Orientation Program by saying that it would help the new employee to get familiar with their new surroundings and allows them to understand that the organization care about their being comfortable and succeeding at their job. He further said that the orientation material should cover industry specifics, safety, company history, goals, and culture. The typical orientation should have three steps such as filling out taxes and personnel forms, employee handbook, which should include topics like benefits, policies, procedures, dress code, sick leave, punching in, work rules, and email policy and the final step is the coworker introductions by having interactions with the new employee.

Jean Schied (2010) in his study clearly brings out the top five benefits enjoyed by Fortune 500 companies by effective implementation of the employee orientation program. The first and foremost benefit is that fair due diligence ie., the new employee adapts to the new surroundings quickly, secondly an orientation program can help employer to assess the interpersonal skills of the new joiners by keenly observing how well the employee fits in with co-workers and with customers or clients. Thirdly the employee gets the chance to learn new things without any fear of pressure ie., the employee gets ample time period to get adjusted to processes or procedures. Fourthly, there may be skills or techniques and even suggestions a new employee may offer that organization doesn’t have currently, hence unknown skills may be developed and the final benefit is that new employees are not offered benefits until they successfully complete the orientation period. This will save the company money in the form of employee benefit cost while the new hire gets acclimated to his new position.

Max Messmer (2000) said that orientation programs can be a key to employee retention. He further says that the best orientation programs are well-planned, ongoing processes tailored to firm's corporate culture and its unique employee base. Objectives of orientation program include clarifying responsibilities for new hires, educating employees on firm's overall mission and business practices, providing an overview of corporate policies and procedures and giving new hires a sense of the prevailing culture in the firm, ensuring employees feel that they have the tools, which needs to be productive and can reach their full professional potential and engendering a sense of camaraderie and collaboration and making sure all employees feel they are part of the team.

Robin Thomas (2000) explains the priorities of new hire orientation. He explains about the seven steps on how to coordinate orientation and new hire legal compliance into a balanced process. The various steps are making new employees feel welcome and part of the group, providing an overview of all operations, Communicating information about the organization’s goals and culture, providing detailed information about the new hire’s position, assigning new employees meaningful work, reviewing carefully important policies and benefits, special training on some policies such as sexual harassment, drug and alcohol use and testing, and safety and finally completion of all necessary paperwork, but it should not dominate the orientation.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

Most employers spend a lot of time and money on the recruiting and hiring process: finding qualified applicants, interviewing, checking references, and creating an acceptable offer. But, the process does not end once the new employee has been hired. A program to assimilate the employee into the new job is a primary ingredient for reducing future employee performance problems and turnover. However, management attention is often diverted to all the necessary new hire paperwork needed to ensure compliance with today's maze of employment laws. Unfortunately, too many organizations become overwhelmed by the paperwork demands and neglect the fundamentals of the orientation process. A better approach is to put the focus on welcoming and integrating new hires and on laying the groundwork for improved performance and retention. Many of the past studies were related to effectiveness of orientation program, the benefits of NEO program, steps to conduct effective orientation program, consequences of bad NEO program, priorities of NEO program etc. Hence the present paper is an attempt made by the researchers to analyze the purpose of NEO program, the opinion of employees regarding the conduct of NEO program in their company and examines the satisfaction level of the employees on NEO program. The paper also highlights the relationship between NEO program and employee’s satisfaction or retention levels. In addition to objectives the following hypotheses were framed:

Hypothesis 1: There is no significant relationship between relevant topics covered and overall employee satisfaction towards NEO program.

Hypothesis 2: There is no significant relationship between tenure of the employees and overall satisfaction on NEO program.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The present study is of analytical in nature. Accordingly, data collection were done both by primary and secondary source. The primary data were collected with the help of pre-tested structured questionnaire from 75 respondents (employee) of Chennai city selected on the basis of convenience of the researcher and the secondary data were collected from various journals, reports, books and websites. The data collected through questionnaire has been tabulated and analyzed by using Simple Percentage Analysis, weighted average and Chi- Square Test.

Weighted Average: Weighted average method is used to analyze the degree of employees' satisfaction on new employee orientation program. The formula for weighted average method is as follows:

Weighted Average = [ ∑W_iX_i / ∑W_i ]

Where, 'x_i' are values of the quantity whose weighted average is being calculated, while 'w_i' are the values of the corresponding weights.

Chi-Square Test: It is a statistical test commonly used to compare the observed data with the expected data to obtain according to a specific hypothesis. In the present study, it is applied to test whether there is significant relationship between topics covered and overall employee satisfaction towards NEO program and also to test whether there is significant relationship between tenure of the employees and overall satisfaction on NEO program.

Formula: c2 = (O-E)² / E

O = Observed frequency

E = Expected frequency

c2 = Chi-square value

SPSS package was used for data compilation and analysis purposes.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS:

To conduct the present study, employees of some organizations of Chennai city were examined to know the purpose and their practices on conducting the New Employee Orientation Program (NEO) and to analyze the perception and satisfaction level of employees towards it.

The study revealed that among 75 respondents, 49 of them are male and 26 of them are female. The age classification analysis revealed that among 75 respondents, 33% of them were between the age category of 21-25 years, 39% belonged to the age category of 25-29 years and 24% of them were between 20-40 years and remaining 4% were above 40 years.

Table 1: Satisfaction Level of the Employees on NEO Program

S. No	Opinion	HS*	S*	N*	D*	HD*	W.A*
1	I am satisfied with the scheduling of orientation programs	23 (31)	45 (60)	7 (9)	0 (0)	0 (0)	21.07
2	Orientation Handbook is useful	9 (12)	45 (60)	19 (25)	2 (3)	0 (0)	19.07
3	Topics are clear and understandable	5 (7)	29 (39)	30 (40)	11 (14)	0 (0)	16.87
4	NEO covered the relevant topics	1 (1)	21 (28)	36 (48)	16 (22)	1 (1)	15.33
5	NEO helps to get to know co-workers	6 (8)	19 (25)	29 (39)	17 (23)	4 (5)	15.40
6	NEO gives information on employee benefits	10 (13)	28 (38)	19 (25)	12 (16)	6 (8)	16.60
7	Information on employee benefits were clear and understandable	14 (19)	27 (36)	22 (29)	10 (13)	2 (3)	17.73
8	Scheduling of benefits orientation were close to hire date	10 (13)	27 (36)	28 (38)	10 (13)	0 (0)	17.47
9	Queries regarding the employees benefits were handled	11 (15)	30 (40)	22 (29)	12 (16)	0 (0)	17.67
10	Welcome by immediate supervisor	16 (21)	31 (41)	15 (20)	13 (17)	0 (0)	18.33
11	NEO explains the department policies and procedures	8 (10)	32 (43)	29 (39)	6 (8)	0 (0)	17.80
12	NEO provides introduction of key contacts of the company	3 (4)	37 (49)	33 (44)	2 (3)	0 (0)	17.73
13	On-the-job training is useful	3 (4)	33 (44)	29 (39)	10 (13)	0 (0)	16.93
14	During training program, the required resources were provided	6 (8)	34 (45)	21 (28)	11 (15)	3 (4)	16.93
15	The content of training manual was useful	7 (9)	36 (48)	21 (28)	10 (13)	1 (1)	17.53
16	Training by co-worker and supervisor was helpful	11 (15)	37 (50)	19 (25)	7 (9)	1 (1)	18.33
17	The duration of training program was adequate	15 (20)	29 (39)	24 (32)	7 (9)	0 (0)	18.47
18	During the training program, feedbacks on progress were given	8 (11)	26 (35)	24 (32)	15 (20)	2 (3)	16.53
19	Overall experience in introduction and information meetings	2 (3)	34 (45)	27 (36)	12 (16)	0 (0)	16.73

(Source: Primary data) (Figures in the parentheses represents percentage to the total)

*HS- Highly Satisfied *S- Satisfied *N- Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

*D- Dissatisfied *HD- Highly Dissatisfied *W.A- Weighted Average Score

Weighted average method was used to understand the degree of satisfaction of the employees on NEO program on various aspects such as scheduling, orientation handbook, topics covered in the program, information on employee benefits, handling of queries by supervisors, welcome by immediate supervisors, explanation on department's policies and procedures, introduction of key contacts of the company, on-the-job training and its usefulness, resource availability, training by co-worker and supervisor, the duration of training etc, which is illustrated in the Table-1. It was inferred that the employees were highly satisfied only with the scheduling of new employees' orientation program, which showed the average mean of 21.07.

It was further understood that the employees were satisfied with the overall performance of the NEO program. On investigating the various features of NEO program, it was found that the handbook provided during orientation was ranked second with the average mean of 19.07. The third rank was given to duration of the training program (average mean = 18.47) which was normally a weeks time or so. Next rank was given to the acceptance by the immediate supervisor and training by co-workers of the same department which showed the average mean of 18.33. The respondents felt that training was extremely productive when it was given by their supervisors and co-workers as they could predict the expectations of the organization from the department. The explanation on department's policies and procedures was ranked fifth with the average mean of 17.80 and employee benefits information along with information on key contacts of the company were ranked sixth with mean of 17.73. The respondents further admitted that the NEO program helped them to get introduced with the key person and to understand the communication protocol of the organization clearly.

The respondents showed the least satisfaction towards the topics covered in the NEO program and understanding their co-workers during the NEO program. Hence, the organization has to strategically plan the NEO program which covers the relevant topics and frame the program in such a way that it brings the closeness between the coworkers and new joiners at the time of training.

Employees were asked about their total tenure in the present company and their response was tabulated and depicted in Table.2

Table 2: Extent of employee's association with their company

S. No	Duration	No of respondents	Percentage
1	Less than 1 Year	5	7%
2	1-2 Years	19	25%
3	2-3 Years	15	20%
4	3-4 Years	26	35%
5	Above 4 years	10	13%
	Total	75	100%

(Source: Primary Data)

It clearly indicates that among 75 respondents, 10 of them were working for above 4 years, 26 of them were working between 3-4 years, 15 respondents were with their present company between 2-3 years, 19 of them were found to be associated with their present company between 1-2 years, and only 5 respondents were working for the company less than a year.

Hence it was inferred that more than 75% of the employees were working in their present organization for more than 2 years which shows a positive sign for any organization to be successful in a increasingly complex and competitive global economic environment. In short it can be said that NEO program act as a tool for motivating, developing and retaining their employees in the long run.

Hypothesis 1:

H0: There is no significant relationship between topics covered and overall employee satisfaction towards NEO program

Ha: There is significant relationship between topics covered and overall employee satisfaction towards NEO program.

Table 3: Chi-Square Tests

	Value	Degrees of freedom	Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square	43.171^a	9	0.000
Likelihood Ratio	27.380	9	0.001
Linear-by-Linear Association	15.114	1	0.000
Number of Valid Cases	75.0

^a14 cells (87.5%) have expected count less than 5.

The minimum expected count is .04.

The table 3 shows the results of chi-square test applied to find out whether there is significant relationship between topics covered in NEO program and overall satisfaction of the employees towards NEO program. As the p = 0.000, less than level of significance of 0.05 at 9 degree of freedom, hence we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there exist significant relationship between the topics covered and overall satisfaction of employee on NEO program.

Hypothesis 2:

H0: There is no significant relationship between total tenure of the employees in their present company and overall satisfaction on NEO program.

Ha: There is significant relationship between total tenure of the employees in their present company and overall satisfaction on NEO program.

Table 4: The Chi-Square Test

	Value	Degrees of Freedom	Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square	14.609^a	4	.006
Likelihood Ratio	10.279	4	.036
Linear-by-Linear Association	6.992	1	.008
Number of Valid Cases	75

^a7 cells (77.8%) have expected count less than 5.

The minimum expected count is .08.

The table 4 shows the results of chi-square test calculated to find out whether there is significant relationship between total tenure of the employees in their present company and overall satisfaction on NEO program. As the p = 0.006, which is less than level of significance of 0.05 at 4 degrees of freedom, we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there exists significant relationship between total tenure of the employees in their present company and overall satisfaction on NEO program.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

Based on the present study, the following suggestions and recommendations were made:

· Human Resource professionals and line managers first need to analyze the key orientation area ie., relevant topics to be covered before implementing or revamping a current program.

· Though most of the companies in the present scenario offers orientation program to their new employees, only strategically planned and well structured program will help organization in retention, motivation and job satisfaction, enabling each individual to become contributing member of work team.

· Any employee when put into a new, strange situation, will experience anxiety that can impede his or her ability to learn to do the job. Hence it is advisable that the immediate supervisors or co-workers can have an interactive session during the orientation, which will help to reduce anxiety and feel comfortable, welcome and secure. Further, it can help the supervisor to ensure that he will be available to new employees on the first day to provide personal attention and to convey a clear message that new joiners are important additions to the work team

· Employee feedback on NEO program should be collected immediately after the completion of the program to find out how they perceived the orientation process and the organization should be ready to make changes based on their recommendations if necessary.

CONCLUSION:

Orientation program provides the employees with the first impression of their new work place. As the proverb says, "a good beginning makes a good ending", hence the NEO program gives the new employee the first and lasting impression about the working environment, which prepares him to serve the organization in the long run. Business success relies on employee retention level of an organization and effective management of employees is possible by successful implementation of NEO program. The present study revealed that there is a positive relationship between the effectiveness of orientation and the employees’ retention levels. Hence, if NEO program is strategically planned and well carried out, the advantages are just numerous which can be seen via the employees input in their increased productivity of the organization. Orientation will make a significant difference in how quickly an employee can become more productive and also has long term positive effects on the organization. Looking forward to integrate new ideas and fresh approaches into the program, studying other companies’ orientation policies as well as conducting additional research can further help organizations to effectively retain their workforce.

REFERENCE:

1. http://www.brighthub.com/office/human-resources/articles

2. http://findarticles.com/p/articles

3. http://www.ehow.com

4. http://www.hcareers.com/us/resourcecenter/tabid/306/article

5. http://www.workplace-communication.com/effective-employee-orientation.html

6. http://www.motivoperformance.com/pdf/Employee%20On%20Boarding.pdf

7. http://www.python-in-business.org/effective-employee-orientation.html

Received on 02.09.2011 Accepted on 29.10.2011

Asian J. Management 2(4): Oct.-Dec., 2011 page 173-177