Page 151 - Retaining Top Employees

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Making the Difference with Orientation 139

Asynchronous In this context,any form of training that
can take place without the trainer and the employee having
to be in the same place at the same time.
CD-ROMs are a good example of asynchronous training. Intranet
and Web-based training may or may not be asynchronous,depending
on whether or not there’s any real-time element (like an Internet chat
facility) that requires the trainer and the employee to be online at the
same time.
Induction,with its linear,mechanistic elements (choosing 401(k)s,
completing medical details,etc.),is ideal for asynchronous delivery.
Orientation,with its more individual,“soft skills” emphasis,is not yet
well served by the relatively clunky restrictions of asynchronous train-
ing design tools.

to orientation. (And, on a more superficial note, induction is
mostly boring, while orientation can be fun.)
The more induction you can place on an asynchronous,
self-guided platform (CD-ROM, intranet, Web-based), the better.
It’s worth spending time to find ways to make induction asyn-
chronous, so that more time can be spent on the much more
profitable activity of orientation.
Remember: you have three weeks during which your new
employees will decide if they feel at home with you and will
stay. Don’t spend it all showing them how things work (induc-
tion); induction emphasizes how “new” they are, that they’re not
“at home.”

Give Your Employees Permission to Feel at Home
The second immediate impact of an orientation program
designed for the retention of top performers should be to give
the new employee what he or she needs in order to feel at home
as quickly as possible.
Effective orientation helps new hires feel at home by making
sure they know four things:
• What is expected of them
• How to add value in your company
• How best to communicate with their colleagues