Employers tell us they need people who are enterprising, productive and fully equipped with the skills to compete in business. There are a variety of organizations and resources available to help employers meet the challenge of recruiting, training and developing staff. There is also a key role for business to play in supporting education and skills to ensure we have a system that works for everyone.

Employees to their workplaces and their jobs are one of the most neglected functions in many organizations. An employee handbook and piles of paperwork is 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 a confused new employee who is not productive and is more likely to leave the organization within a year.

With an ongoing labor crunch, developing an effective employee orientation experience continues to be crucial. It is critical that new hire programs are carefully planned to educate the employee to the values, history and who is who in the organization. Organizations that have good orientation programs get their people up to speed faster, have better alignment between what the employees do and what the organization needs them to do, and have lower turnover rates.