Page 149 - Retaining Top Employees

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Making the Difference with Orientation 137

Your Computer Is in the Mail
I once worked with a software design company that took
eight weeks on average to provide each new programmer
hired with the desk,chair,telephone,computer,software,e-mail
access,and appropriate passwords that the employees needed a
as
minimum to do their job effectively.
That’s a long time to leave a new employee unproductive,even
ignoring the considerable implications for the new employee’s motiva-
tion,integration,and retention.

There’s No Such Thing as “No Orientation”
When I talk with managers about what they do to retain their
top employees, they’re often surprised when I ask about their
orientation program. They often tell me, “Oh, we don’t have an
orientation program at that level—orientation is only for our
entry-level employees (or shop floor employees, or production
staff, or…).”
Here’s a surprise: there’s no such thing as having no orien-
tation.
When you take on new employees and then you do noth-
ing—from the start you ignore them—that is your orientation
program. “No orientation” is orientation—it’s the worst possible
type of orientation.
When an organization does this, are the employees going to
feel at home? Are they going to think, “Gee, I’m staying here—
The Spurned Celebrity Syndrome
A particularly painful version of the organizational snub
is what I call the “spurned celebrity syndrome.”
In this all-too-frequent scenario,the organization,in recruitment
mode,woos a hot prospect,perhaps someone with a stellar track
record or great qualifications.The prospect is wined,dined,courted,
maybe even fawned upon—made to feel like a celebrity.
After a while,the celebrity succumbs to all this flattering attention
and accepts the organization’s enticing job offer.Then,the new hire
arrives,with high expectations of being treated like a celebrity—only
to walk straight into the “no orientation” snub … with predictable
consequences to the person’s morale and commitment.