The Human Factor

Most Neglected Function

Familiarizing employees to their workplace and jobs is one of the most neglected functions in many organizations. An employee handbook and a laminated plant evacuation map are not adequate when it comes to welcoming new employees. The most persistent complaints about new employee orientations are that that they are tedious and the new employee is left to sink or swim. The result is often a confused employee who is not productive and is more predisposed to leaving the organization.

Orientations should demonstrate that the organization values the employee and will provide the necessary tools to succeed. It serves as an important element of the recruitment and retention process. Some key values are:

• Reduce startup costs: Well-planned orientations can help the employee get up to speed much more quickly, reducing the costs associated with learning the job.
• Condense anxiety: Most new employees, when put into a new environment, will experience anxiety that can impede their ability to learn the job.
• Reduce employee turnovers: Employee turnover rates will remain high or increase if employees feel they are not valued.
• Save supervisor time: The better the initial orientation, the less likely supervisors and co-workers will have to spend time teaching the employee.
• Develop realistic expectations: It is important that employees learn as soon as possible what is expected of them and what to expect from others in addition to learning about the values and attitudes of the organization.

The foremost reasons new employee orientation programs fail are that is was not well planned or executed; the employee did not understand the job requirements; and the employee did not feel welcome.

All new hiring should be based on “at-will” employment with a 30-day performance probation period closely daisy-chained with the open option of an extension. At minimum, pre-employment criminal checks, Social Security checks along with pre drug testing and physical examinations should be performed during the pre-hiring process. By executing these four prerequisites, companies can condense fears of Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) visits and weed out potential rogue employees while concurrently saving bottom line monies.

The Critical Link

Supervisors are key for a productive work force. These critical links make management policies and procedures an integral part of operations. It is an important task of HR to act as a conduit for management to keep supervision up to speed with proper training and the likely harbinger of new policies and procedures. Management policy is not operations with people; rather it’s people with operations. It should be the duty of every supervisor to conduct operations under his jurisdiction in such a manner as to afford maximum attention for employees.

Supervisors have day-in day-out contact with employees and their work areas which creates the best opportunity to train, guide and influence them. The supervisor represents management to the employees, and his attitude has an enormous influence on their attitudes. Consequently what is said and done (or not said and done) is often taken as a direct reflection of management’s view.

Employee injuries have been traditionally high in the food industry. The costs of workers compensation can swiftly and surreptitiously steal company’s hard earned profits if not closely monitored. An ambient safety environment needs to be developed, established and maintained with its foundation based on a proactive safety program that includes well-planned safety incentives. A good starting point for any food and beverage company would be to apply the seven principles of HACCP to employee safety. The initial investment costs of a hands-on injury and illness prevention program will pay back huge dividends for the future.