New employees typically participate in an orientation session to learn about the company, but too often they don’t learn some things that would help their performance.
Liz Ryan provided some valuable tips on forbes.com regarding what employers need to include in these sessions to improve employee performance. In most cases, the tips pertain to existing employees, as well.
1. Let employees know how your company compares with its competitors and encourage them to network. They then will better understand your company’s unique features and how it fits into the bigger picture.
2. Explain to workers how their work fits into the overall organization and its goals. This helps them to clarify their areas of responsibility and focus on them.
3. Make sure employees know that they need to report any inappropriate activity. Companies with 100 or more workers might consider making a confidential hotline service available.
4. Provide employees with a means of communicating needs for change in your organization. Make sure they understand that everyone—not just managers and supervisors—are welcome to suggest improvements.
5. Find a clear way to communicate what your company is trying to accomplish this year. Don’t make them wade through a sea of complicated material containing loads of numbers; rather, make your presentation visual and concise.
6. Let workers know what they need to do to succeed and be promoted, and then give them opportunities to move up. Your company culture suffers if you hire more outside people than current employees for positions.
7. Familiarize employees with who the company leaders are and what is important to them. Leaders should be instantly recognizable by their staff, and known as people rather than simply as bosses.
8. Make workers aware of any legal issues that might arise in their job, and how they should handle them.
9. Be sure that employees have means to communicate if their boss displays inappropriate behavior.
10. Give employees some flexibility when handling customers’ problems. Too often, workers are given too-strict guidelines, thereby preventing problems from being quickly resolved.
