Effects Of Orientation Programs On Employee Performance, A Case Of Kenol/Kobil Petrol Stations In Nairobi

Orienting employees to their workplace and their jobs is one of the most neglected functions in many organizations. An employee handbook and piles of paperwork are not sufficient anymore when it comes to welcoming a new employee to your organization. The most frequent complaints about new employee orientation are that it is overwhelming, boring or that the new employee is left to sink or swim. The result is often confused new employee who is not productive and is more likely to leave the organization within a year. Supervisors sometimes find themselves too busy to devote the necessary time to orienting the new employee properly. Yet neglecting the details of orientation can have dire consequences in the long run. Employees who are inadequately oriented are more likely to be less productive than expected. For example, there are many cases of employees failing to obey work rules, claiming the rules were never explained to them in the first place (Crane 1982) . A poor orientation program can quickly sour a new employee's attitude towards the job and the organization. Most people come to a new job with a positive attitude. However, if a new employee is made to feel unimportant by the lack of an orientation program, this attitude can quickly change. Good well-planned orientation programs reduce job learning time, improve attendance, and lead to better performance (Rue, 1993).The new employee naturally has personal anxieties about the new or changed work setting. Hence, the need to reduce unknowns by helping the new employee learn about his/her job, supervisors, and co-workers (Crane, 1982). According to David (2004), it is indeed strange that some organizations fail to see the value of proper orientation procedures.