MANAGER'S TOOLBOX: Orientation for New Employees
It is Dan's first day and his supervisor, Bonnie, meets him
when he comes in.
"Hi, Dan. We're all really glad you're going to be
working with us. Come into my office and let me go over a
few things with you. First of all, here is your job
description, " she hands him a copy. "You can keep
that. I wanted to go over it with you and find out if you
had any questions and make sure you understood what we
expected. I also wanted to give you a heads-up on what you
can expect the first few weeks. So, basically, you are
responsible for keeping the supply room stocked. I have a
procedures memo that the last person who had your job was
good enough to write up for you. He was moved up to
supervisor over in another department. It is pretty much
just a list of activities. Each morning you should go over
to the loading dock and see if we have received any
shipments. Bring over anything they have and put it away.
Check this against the order list. If there is anything
that was ordered that did not come in, notify the
supervisor.... " Bonnie hands him the list and goes
over the daily routine point by point, stopping after each
one to see if he has any questions.
"Okay, here is our policies and procedures manual. We
don't expect you to spend your whole first week reading,
but we did set aside time to pay you this morning just to
read through this manual, review your job description, meet
with me and fill out some forms. We also set up a lunch
with you with your in-house mentor. Lunch for both of you
is on the company. Of course, we only get 45 minutes for
lunch, so you will be eating at Luis' cafe or in our
company lunchroom! That's an important thing for you to
know - what is and isn't a big deal around here. Dress code
- not a big deal. Whatever you wear is up to you as long as
it is safe - that is, no sandals because boxes can get
dropped on your toes, is probably the main thing. Coming
late is a really big deal. People from the factory line
come over here to get supplies, so if you are back from
work late and people are standing around for 15 minutes
waiting for you, we fall behind on production, it costs us
money and that is a big deal. You need to punch in and out
on a time card. It may not seem like a big deal to have
someone punch in or out for you, but don't do it and don't
do it for anyone else, either. I hate to say it, but
sometimes people take advantage of a new guy. It's
something you can get fired for doing, punching in someone
else. Allen is your mentor. That is just a person who has
worked here for two years or more who gets paid a little
extra to help new people settle in for their first few
months. He worked in the stock room for a while and now he
is over in paint and processing. He will take you to lunch
today and will meet you for lunch every day for your first
week, unless you have other plans. Any time you have any
questions, be sure to ask me, or ask Allen. It is not a
problem. Mentors get paid a little extra to be available
for you. After you have been here for two years, maybe
you'd like to apply to be a mentor.
That reminds me - promotions. Usually, if someone has been
here for a year or longer, we start looking at him as
someone who could be promoted. That depends on your
interests. Maybe, like Allen, you would like to stay
working in the factory on the line and help other people as
the come into the company. Maybe you are interested in
becoming a supervisor in your department or some other
department. After a year, when you have shown us that you
are someone reliable, who can be counted on to come to work
on time, get your work done, learn new information, then we
really need to start talking about promotions and what your
goals are. If you want to talk about that sooner, come to
me, even next week! I can let you know what kinds of things
you need to do to get promoted. We really do want to get
enrolled members into management, so, anything I can do to
make that happen, if that's what you want to do, let me
know, or talk to Allen. Even though he didn't choose to
move up into management himself, he can still give you a
lot of suggestions, since he has been here for a while and
seen a lot.
As far as what to expect, it will all seem a little - okay,
a lot - confusing your first couple of weeks. You won't
know where anything is. You'll have to memorize fifty new
names like composites, grommets, male connectors and all
kinds of other stuff. You'll forget where the re-order
forms are. Don't stress about it, just ask. If you forget,
ask again. Believe me, you won't be the first person in the
history of this company to have forgotten something. It
will take a while to get everything down, but then, after a
while, someone will come in, ask for 1/4 inch steel bolts
and you'll automatically know where they are.
Here is the other thing that is going to be a big
adjustment. Up until now, since you got out of high school,
you've had a lot more flexibility in your life than you are
going to have as an employee here. You could stay up as
late as you wanted, and if your grandmother wanted you to
come over and visit her at ten o'clock in the morning, you
could do that. If you are going to succeed here, you need
to report to work every day. I can tell you right now that
making that adjustment in life is the reason most people
fail here. For every 20 workers we hire, there are only
four left at the end of the first month. It takes a lot of
strength and courage to change your lifestyle. I know there
are going to be days when that alarm clock goes off and you
think, 'The hell with it. I don't want to get up.' That is
the key difference between success and failure here. The
people who will make it are the ones that have the strength
and discipline to make those changes to go home when
everyone else is still out, to get up when they really
don't feel like it and it's twenty below outside. Well, I
see Allen is here to take you to lunch. After lunch, he'll
walk you over to the human resources office where you can
fill out the forms you need, and then she'll walk you over
to your work area. I have meetings the rest of today, but
I'll stop by at 8 o'clock tomorrow just to see how your
first day went. Welcome to the company!"