the role of new hire orientation programs

journal of employment counseling • September 2009 • Volume 46 115

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© 2009 by the American Counseling Association . All rights reserved .

the role of new hire orientation programsStevenDunnDaleJasinski

Avitalcomponentofafirm’shumanresourcemanagementisitsnewhireorientation(NHO)program.Theauthors’reviewofextantliteraturesuggeststhatNHOprogramscanbeorganizedbasedonareconceptualizationofhumancapital.Usingtheirtypology,afirmcanorganizetheroleandscopeofitsNHOprogram,assignresponsibilityfortheprogram’sexecution,anddeterminetheappropriatelevelofresourcestocommittothisprocess.ResultsofanapplicationinalargetechnologyorganizationsuggestfirmperformancesufferswhenNHOcomponentsarenotalignedstrategically.Implicationsofthestudyformanagersandacademicsincareercounselingarepresented.

The sources of competitive advantage are increasingly dependent on the human capital within an organization and the topic of a growing number of scholars (Anderson, Cunningham-Snell, & Haigh, 1996; Autry & Wheeler, 2005; Delery & Doty, 1996; Gunnigle, Turner, & Morley, 1998; Kang, Morris, & Snell, 2007; Schuler & Jackson, 1987; Wright & Snell, 1998; Youndt, Snell, Dean, & Lepak, 1996) . In particular, the ability of a firm to retain and develop its employees is becoming increasingly important (Bernes & Magnusson, 1996; Holton, 1996; Koley & Slade, 2005; Sheridan, 1992) . Satisfaction, performance, commitment, turnover, intent to leave, and stress relate to the information and support an organization provides to its new employees (Chao, O’Leary-Kelly, Wolf, Klein, & Gardner, 1994; Fisher, 1985; Louis, Posner, & Powell, 1983; MacDuffie, 1995; McGarrell, 1983; Miller & Jablin, 1991) . The new contract between employees and employers is based on employability through continuous learning and development, and the ability to learn to perform new tasks quickly is considered important (Wright & Snell, 1998) . A review of this literature led Holton (1996) to assert that “well-managed and facilitated new employee development can be a powerful strategic lever when comprehensively implemented” (p . 247) . Moreover, the changing demographics of the U .S . workforce indicate that companies will face an unprecedented shortage of skilled, educated workers (Jamrog, 2004; Leibowitz, Schlossberg, & Shore, 1991) . Given that as many as 50% to 60% of new hires leave their jobs within the first 7 months of hiring, and given the increasing cost of hiring new employees, the high cost of turnover, and the need to retain knowledgeable workers, the importance of new hire orientation (NHO) becomes more evident (Holton, 2001; Jones, 1986; Wanous & Reichers, 2000) .

This article presents NHO as a vital component of strategic human resource management and proposes a contingency model of NHO or onboarding based on the firm’s conceptualiza-tion of its human resources in the overall strategic plan . After introducing our model, we demonstrate the application of the model through an extensive field study, present implica-tions to research and practice, and discuss direct outcomes from one firm’s application .

Steven Dunn, Department of Supply Chain Management and Operations Management, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh; Dale Jasinski, Department of Management, Quinnipiac University. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Steven Dunn, Department of Supply Chain Management and Operations Management, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Boulevard, Oshkosh, WI 54901 (e-mail: [email protected]).).

116 journal of employment counseling • September 2009 • Volume 46

the eVolutioN of Nho

To gain an understanding of the NHO process, we conducted a literature review encompassing both academic and practice-based journals from 1989 to 2005 . The search resulted in 50 articles that referenced more than 125 different organizations and their NHO practices . A review of the literature reveals a significant evolution in the basic elements and underlying concepts of NHO . This evolutionary change was a response from business to changes in the marketplace . As early as the mid-1970s, Texas Instruments began formal studies of orientation programs and, in 1980, Corn-ing Glass Works followed suit . By 1980, Corning was hiring 200 to 300 engineers, technicians, opticians, designers, and sundry other professionals each year . They spent between $30,000 and $40,000 per person to bring them on board and up to speed but then lost 30% to 50% of them within 3 years (Zemke, 1989) .

During the 1989–2005 period, organizations identified marketplace trends and constraints that placed high demands on their workforce . As competition in the marketplace increased, placing greater demand on companies for such things as in-novation, high productivity, and high quality, management looked to their workforce to meet these demands . This process was described by Meister (1998):

The emergence of the knowledge economy has created an urgent need for companies to update employees’ skills continually in response to new opportunities, new competition, and new technology . Organizations will call on employees at all levels to develop broader, deeper, and more specialized skills to meet the changing needs of global customers . Meanwhile, companies will continually assess their workers’ current skills, measure those against evolving business needs, and provide training and learning opportunities to close any gaps . (p . 52)

This recognition increased the perceived value of the workforce and spawned the development of new employee orientation, training, and support programs . This rise in value pushed responsibility for employee success up to top levels of management and justified a greater commitment of company resources to NHO and other employee support programs . The perceived value of the employee then led to other NHO concept changes . Changes in NHO were driven by changes in the perceived value of the individual employee and the workforce in general . Changing conditions in the business environment over the 15-year period of the literature review acted as drivers, increasing the perceived value of employees and generating a cycle of innovations in NHO practices . Costs estimated at $6,000 per new hire in 1989 increased to $30,000–$50,000 per new hire in 10 years time (Winkler & Jager, 1998) . At the beginning of the review period, turnover rates were high and new hires were drawn from an abundant labor pool . By the mid-1990s, a tight labor market made it difficult to find qualified replacements for many professional posi-tions . High turnover rates at this point cost a firm more than money . Rapid developments in the late 1990s in the information/knowledge economy upped the cost of turnover in both dollars and competitive advantage of new hire start-up time .

This dynamic increased management’s dependency on the workforce for strategic success as well as the cost of employee failure because of the potentially huge financial and strategic ramifications from product safety liability problems, damaged customer relations, fines from governmental regulatory agencies, and/or environmental damage liability . Obviously, the stakes for doing business had been raised .


In the first 5 years of the 21st century, despite the awareness of the impact of success-ful new hire programs, little movement was made in this area (Hacker, 2004; Messmer, 2000) . Poor NHO affects a firm’s performance for years . The first few weeks on a job are particularly critical, affecting impressions, feelings, attitudes, and job satisfaction (Hacker, 2004; Messmer, 2000; Sanders & Kleiner, 2002) . The best programs have all employees taking responsibility, quickly setting up the new hire for years of productive contribution quickly (Cirilo & Kleiner, 2003; Duguay & Korbut, 2002; Hacker, 2004) . Studies have shown clearly that orientation programs have a huge impact on corporate performance (Cirilo & Kleiner, 2003; Hayton, 2003; H . J . Klein & Weaver, 2000) and deserve to be a core strength of any firm (Duguay & Korbut, 2002) .

Nho ChaNge moDel

If the job industry builds these market environment changes into an example that demonstrates the NHO innovation process, it gets a model that rotates to generate change in NHO and other employee programs in response to environmental condi-tions (see Figure 1) .

Changes in NHO were used to mitigate the impact of workforce-related overhead expenses and to maintain or increase market viability . Understanding this, one can then look to these areas to assess the impact of the market environment on any particular organization . Measuring and tracking costs and constraints in these areas could provide a quantitative measure of market impact and could be the basis of managerial decision making .

figure 1

New hire orientation Change model

Note. OSHA=OccupationalSafetyandHealthAdministration.

Customersdemandhighqualityandlowprices

Environmentalregulations

Informationeconomy

Shrinkinglaborpoolforhighlyskilledemployees

Greaterdemandsforinnovation

Globalmarketplace:newcustomers

Rapidtechnologicaladvances

OSHAandsafetyregulationsincrease

Managementlookstoworkforcetomeetgoals,whichincreasestheperceivedvalueoftheworkforce

Managementsupportsworkforcewiththedevelopmentofnewprograms,orientation,andprogramming

Workforcerespondsandgoalsareachieved

Newmarketdemandsrequiremorefromcompanytomaintainoradvancecompetitivestrategicgoals


aligNiNg Nho with orgaNizatioNal obJeCtiVeS

We organized the data provided in the literature through a search by date of publi-cation, and a time line developed identifying changes in the business environment and subsequent concept and program changes (see Table 1) . This time line approach to the data shows a subtle, yet significant evolution of the key concepts of NHO programs . This evolution was not just about NHO, but also about a changing view of the workforce as a whole . NHO was just one component of this process .

This change, as it affects NHO, can be understood better by looking at the four elements central to the NHO process: (a) the perceived value of the new hire, (b) the perceived role of the NHO process, (c) responsibility for NHO, and (d) the commitment of company resources to the NHO process . The evolution of these concept develop-ment levels is, in turn, connected to broader, more universal concepts of the role of human resources in the business management of the organization: (a) production, (b) synergism, (c) integration, and (d) strategic planning . We contend that the elements of NHO need to be consistent with the conceptualization of human resources held by the firm . We do not normatively propose that one conceptualization is superior to another, merely that NHO programs be consistent with the firm’s conceptualization . The four components of the NHO process are summarized in Table 2 .

humaN reSourCe maNagemeNt: proDuCtioN

The first concept development level of human resources, production, suggests that the firm seeks production-based goals and focuses on the individual . The employee is valued as an element of production, a cog in the system . The role of NHO is to shorten the start-up time to get the new hire on the job and producing as quickly as possible . Responsibility for NHO is designated to either the human resources department or the new hire’s immediate supervisor . In the scope of the articles reviewed for this study, the commitment of company resources could only be evaluated in terms of manpower and program development over an identified time frame . Firms within the production typology generally evidenced resource commitments for very brief (typically 1 day) orientation programs . An early example of the production-based conceptualization cited several situ-ations where no orientation at all was given to new hires and the resultant problems this created . Supervisors were quoted as justifying lack of orientation because “We don’t have the time, we need them on the job now!” and “It will cost too much, be a waste of money” (Nelson, 1990, p . 8) . This author contended that a 4- to 8-hour block of time committed to orientation is necessary so the new hire is qualified to do the job properly .

humaN reSourCe maNagemeNt: SyNergiSm

The second concept development level, synergism, is where the firm seeks synergis-tic goals facilitating team efforts and focuses on the department or work group . As with the production concept, synergistic firms have production-based goals and are concerned primarily with the present or near future . At this concept development level, employees are seen as members of work teams, which are more productive than individual efforts . The role of NHO is to increase the overall success of a new hire’s transition to the work team . Top management assumes limited responsibility for NHO and ensures that there is some type of formalized program, but without having any direct involvement in the development process . Company resources are committed to the development of new programs with longer orientation periods .


table 1

Summary of literature review with Concept Development levels

Date

Training: HRD a

Industry Week a

Supervisor a

Training & Development Journal b

Training: HRD a

Industry Week a

Supervision a

Supervisory Management c

Business Magazine a

Business Magazine a

Business Magazine a

HR Magazine c

Health Care Supervisor c

Business Magazine a

Training & Development c

Personnel Journal a

Public Management a

Fortune a



HR Magazine b

Austin Business Journal a

Human Resource Development Quarterly b

Minneapolis St. Paul City Business a

Offshore a

Business Magazine a


Orange County Business Journal a

Orlando Business Journal a

Training a

HR Magazine c


Supervision a

Inc. a

Across the Board a

Public Personnel Management c

Nursing Homes a

Across the Board a

Inc.a

Health Care Management Review a

Strategy and Leadership b

Journal of Workplace Learning b

Training Strategies a

HR Management International Digest b

Reference Services Review b

HR Management International Digest a

Online Information Review a

The Leaning Organization a

HR Management International Digest a

Industrial and Communication Training a

19891989199019911991199119921992199219921992199219931993199319941994199419961996199619961996199719971997199719971997199819981998199819981998199819991999199919992000200120022003200320042004200520052005

empirical Value

Nho role

Nho resp.

resources

Journal/magazine

43243322122332333443334344444444444444444244342442

33243322122332333443334344444444344444444242342442

33143311122332333443334244444444344444444344342442

23143212122332333443334344444444344444444434342442

Note. NHORole=newhireorientationrole;NHOResp.=responsibilityfornewhireorientation;Resources=resourcescommittedtonewhireorientation;HRD=humanresourcesdirector;HR=humanresources.1=Level1(production):Seeksproductiongoalsandfocusesontheindividual;2=Level2(synergism):Seekssynergisticgoalsandfocusesonthedepartment;3=Level3(integration):Seeksintegrativegoalsandfocusesonthecompany;4=Level4(strategic):Seeksstrategicgoalsandfocusesonthemarketplace.aIndustryjournal.bAcademicjournal.cSocietyjournal.


An often-cited example of this category is the Baptist Memorial Hospital System in San Antonio, Texas, which instituted a new orientation program in 1993 to meet all regulatory training requirements and to standardize procedures throughout the lab . Their program sought to help new employees to become productive, efficient, integrated members of the staff faster and easier than ever before (Fisk, 1993) .

humaN reSourCe maNagemeNt: iNtegratioN

The third concept development level is integration, where the firm focuses on the company as a whole by aligning the goals of the workgroup and individual to the strategic mission of the organization . Literature representing this concept develop-ment level is identified readily by the promotion of a “designed” culture .

Employees now are seen as stakeholders in the success of the company and are capable of buying into the vision and mission of the company . The role of the NHO process, then, is to transfer culture and integrate the new hire into the social framework of the organization during the onboarding process . Responsibility for NHO is diffused to the immediate stakeholders in the success of the new hire . Company resource commitments are expanded with the addition of mentors and peer support for the new hire .

Integration is essential when there is a merger of two or more operations . For example, when E . I . DuPont De Nemours & Company, Inc ., and Merck & Company, Inc ., joined to form DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co ., they began operations with approximately 4,300 employees . The newly merged enterprise needed all its employ-

table 2

Concept Development levels in New hire orientation (Nho)

level1. Production

2. Synergism

3. Integration

4. Strategic

Asanelementofproduction

Asanelementofahighlyproduc-tiveworkteam

Asastakeholderinthesuccessofthecompany

Asacriticalfactorinthestrategicsuccessofthecompany

Togetnewhireonthejobasquicklyaspossible

Facilitateintegra-tionintoworkteam

Integratenewhireintodesignedorganizationalculture

Firststageofongoingrelation-shipwithnewhire

HRDand/orimme-diatesupervisor

Managementassumeslimitedroleensuringthereislimitedformalizedprogram

Management’sre-sponsibilitydeep-ens;immediatestakeholdersinsuccessofnewhireinvolved

Responsibilityfirmlywithtopmanagementbutwithfullrangeofstakeholdersinvolved

Verybriefprograms(ifatall)withim-mediatesupervi-sor’sinvolvement

Developmentofnewprogramswithlongerorien-tationperiods

Additionofmentorsandpeersupportfornewhire;largerstakeholderpool

Ongoinginvest-mentineducationandprofessionaldevelopmentprograms

Value of employees

role of Nho

responsibility for Nho

resources Committed to Nho

Note. HRD=humanresourcesdirector.


ees to hit the ground running with a clear understanding of their responsibilities . In addition, because 85% of the workforce transferred from DuPont, the new company needed to synthesize and rechannel the talents and energy of those employees, as well as those who came from Merck . To do this, the company developed an “orienteering” program to introduce new employees to their work units, divisions, and the company as a whole . This program contained several segments that extend during the first 90 days of employment . The program was developed to ensure that all employees adapted to the new DuPont–Merck culture (C . S . Klein & Taylor, 1994) .

humaN reSourCe maNagemeNt: StrategiC

The final concept development level, strategic, is where the firm maintains emphasis on long-term strategic goals and focuses on the marketplace . At this level, the workforce has become a key element in the company’s present market position and its long-range strategic planning . It is no longer assumed that there always will be an unending supply of people to fill vacant positions and meet growth projections . Now management’s focus is on the continuing training and education of its current workforce to ensure sustainability in the future . This is the reciprocating response to the synergistic organization where the company buys into the workforce and seeks not just to retain but also to develop its employees . The employee becomes a customer of the company with needs that must be met . Characteristics of this level include longer orientation periods, job-specific training, educational support, and professional development programs . Long-term programs in wellness and employee community involvement are characteristic of this stage . For organizations in the strategic mode, employees are seen as critical factors in the strategic success of the organization . NHO is the first stage of an ongoing relationship with the company . Responsibility for success is integrated throughout the company/department including a full range of stakeholders in the success of the new hire (H . J . Klein, 2001; Weathersby, 1999) . Resource commitments expand to include an ongoing company investment in education and professional develop-ment programs . All these efforts will affect the NHO and subsequent development efforts (Hitt, Keats, & DeMarie, 1998; Morrall, 1998) .

Ready access to computer engineers is one of the most critical issues facing the computer products industry, which competes for talent with Silicon Valley and high-tech hubs in less expensive locales such as Texas, Georgia, or North Carolina . Companies depend on attracting and retaining engineers for product innovations that are critical in their competitive industry . Many engineers are wooed by large multinational firms with higher salaries . Local companies with unfilled positions risk falling behind on projects, particularly in an industry where being the first to market is critical (Lyster, 1997) .

The need for continuing education and training for employees is so profound that many large corporations have created their own corporate universities . Oracle Uni-versity, the corporate university for Oracle Corporation, created for its employees and partner organizations a virtual campus that relies on Web-based learning . Reasons for the launching of Oracle University included the tremendous growth of new products and the employee population . With a product release cycle of only 8 to 18 months, Oracle’s global population of more than 32,000 employees and partner organizations must have a system to help them keep current on product knowledge .


Despite the logic and history of NHO development, Holton (2001) found that newly hired college graduates perceived that NHO programs were available only in limited amounts and varied widely in their effectiveness . Holton (1996) also concluded that organizational efforts must be ongoing, not just in the first few weeks following the hiring . The outcome of a strategic approach is employee advocacy for the organiza-tion in which loyalty, pride, and innovation are natural derivatives .

aSSeSSmeNt of the Nho moDel at a teChNology-baSeD firm

applying the Nho model

To test our conceptualization of the NHO process, we performed an extensive field study at a large technology-based firm we call TechCo (a pseudonym for an actual firm) . TechCo currently employs more than 6,000 individuals, with annual sales of approximately $600 million . It has both manufacturing operations and a high level of applied research and development . Both operations and research require a highly skilled technical workforce, so recruitment, retention, and development of personnel are considered strategic priorities by senior management .

The study was conducted over a 4-month period and included semistructured inter-views with more than 20 individuals identified as stakeholders in the NHO process . The personnel interviewed represented several departments at TechCo: senior management, strategic planning, human resources, training, personnel security, information systems, legal, diversity and compliance, professional development and employee education, and new hires and their managers . The interviews typically lasted approximately 1 hour, and questions that were asked concerned current involvement in the NHO process, desired outcomes from the NHO process, and measures of performance for the NHO process . Additionally, interviewees were asked for their “wish list,” for example, what they would like to see included in the NHO process that would better meet their needs . Finally, each person was asked to provide a mission statement for their organization .

TechCo’s current onboarding process is composed of three components . The first component is administered by the human resources department . It begins with posting job vacancies, continues through the hiring process, and ends at the completion of a 1-day (1st day of employment) NHO session . This first component is designed to get the new hire onto the job as quickly as possible and includes only the most essential training and orientation . Topics include security, computer services, environmental training, pollution prevention, ethics, sexual harassment, diversity awareness, records management, and payroll and benefits . TechCo’s training department administers the second component of NHO . Completion of the required courses and subsequent refresher courses are tracked in the master training database . The second component is similar in design to the first and ensures that the new hires receive all mandated training to be able to function on their respective work sites .

The third component of NHO is orientation to the job itself . This takes place in the departments and work teams of the new hire . The quality and success of this component depends highly on the new hire’s individual supervisor and department . Results are spotty, with some new hires receiving training and support from other members of their work group and many others being left much on their own to “sink or swim .” In sum, the onboarding


processes in use today reflect management’s concerns to keep the costs associated with NHO to a minimum and get new hires on the job as quickly as possible . Only those skills absolutely necessary to begin employment are included in the NHO program .

reaction to techCo’s Nho program

When new hires were asked what they remembered most about their NHO day, the most common response was that it was long, with lots of information . For the most part, they thought the presenters did a good job, but most found the whole process somewhat over-whelming . Indeed, something as straightforward as transportation became an issue because of information overload . Specifically, the item mentioned most frequently by the new hires, that they would have liked to know before they came on the job, was a better understanding of the transportation system . (TechCo provides a commuter system for its employees from selected pickup locations to the operations facilities .) One new hire said that he drove to work every day the 1st week because he didn’t understand the schedule .

When new hires were asked about additional orientation and support offered on the job site, some believed that they had adequate support, and others just did the best they could with little support . The more technical positions seemed to get more support than other positions, with formal mentors assigned to them . Those working in manufacturing were given additional supervision and training . The office support group seemed to desire more support and additional orientation than any other group . The most frequent response, when asked what they believed they needed now to perform better on the job, was more job-specific training, professional development, and an understanding of the resources available to them . Several wanted to know about the company in general and to understand how their department and job fit into the whole picture . As an overall measure of effectiveness of TechCo’s NHO program, new hires were asked to estimate their retention rates based on a scale of 1 to 10 of the information presented on NHO day and the usefulness of the information to their job . The mean response for both questions was 5 .4 .

When supervisors were asked what they know about NHO day, most relied on their own experiences and comments from new hires in their departments . Several mentioned that they had received many complaints . The general impression was that there was a lot of information shoved into a short time . Some individuals had misconceptions, and others admitted that they didn’t know much about what was offered on NHO day . The supervisors also wanted more practical skills for their new hires . The need for a TechCo overview and information about TechCo’s customers also was mentioned . In general, supervisors thought the information presented on NHO day was more useful than their new hires thought . The mean response of supervisors was 6 .2, whereas the average response of new hires was 5 .4 .

Computer registration was an issue with both new hires and supervisors . Neither group understood the processes involved in computer registration and thought it should move faster . It seemed to be a source of frustration that registration wasn’t complete and set up by the time the new hire got to his or her job site . A longer process of ori-entation and training was seen as valuable by some supervisors, particularly those in the technical fields . Some wanted mentoring to be more standardized so that everyone was assigned a mentor . “Soft skills,” such as networking with other professionals, was


mentioned . The perceived need was for more ways to help professionals understand a complicated system and learn how to function successfully in that system .

New hires and supervisors seemed to understand onboarding as a process, not just a one-time meeting . The time necessary for a new hire to become completely integrated into his or her position can range from 6 months to 1 year . Orientation beyond the 1st day is assumed to take place on the actual job site . Unfortunately, this occurred sporadically .

Classification of techCo’s Nho program

The assessment of TechCo’s NHO compared with our model was established by evalu-ating TechCo’s functioning programs based on the level of concept development they represent and goals they sought . This is similar to the process used to classify the reviewed literature . Generally, TechCo is functioning at the Concept Development Level 2 enhanced synergism level . NHO day, training, and the limited mentoring program all focused toward production-based goals in work groups and departments and regulatory compliance issues . The recently created professional development program attempts to move concept development forward to a strategic level . However, Concept Development Level 3’s focus on integration has not been accepted . Without the groundwork of the integration function, the acceptance of a common mission and vision throughout the workforce, is it possible for Concept Development Level 4 (strategic) to be accepted successfully? It is not enough that a particular level is accepted at the management level . It must be accepted (and believed) at all levels of the organization .

There is necessarily a difference between what is espoused and what is applied when goals are selected and measures are developed to achieve them . The introduc-tion of a Concept Development Level 4 program demonstrates TechCo’s commitment to moving toward their goals . For that reason, TechCo’s position relative to perceived value of the employee is placed at Concept Development Level 3 . The company has developed future-oriented concepts relative to its workforce, but now must develop them more fully and integrate these concepts throughout its workforce .

Market drivers peculiar to TechCo and labor market conditions combine to pro-duce a high degree of drivers for change (at a strategic level), yet the firm’s concept development is remarkably behind at production levels . This is a very weak response to strong market pressures and is likely a contributing factor to the lab’s current workforce demographic problems . Although it is apparent that the current NHO program is functioning well at its current concept development level, the question must be asked: Is this adequate given the market pressures that TechCo faces?

It was believed that TechCo enjoyed a fairly protected labor market and was not subject to the same market environment experienced by the rest of the industry . To assess the impact of market environment on TechCo, we looked at the areas that market environment will affect: costs related to turnover, employee support, and strategic advantage . We found that for the last 3 years, TechCo as a whole has enjoyed low turnover rates . However, one job class, technical professionals, represented almost one third of the TechCo’s head count, and experienced a turnover rate 9 times higher than the company average . More alarming was that members of the 20- to 35-year-old age group represented 21% of total turnovers . Those in this age group who left


the company took with them an average of 5 .9 years of experience at TechCo . The largest single age group was the 36- to 50-year-old age group, representing 47% leaving after an average of 8 .5 years at TechCo . The 51- to 65-year-old age group represented 30% and an average of 19 .9 years of experience . The final 2% repre-sented those over 65 years old, with an average of 10 .4 years of experience . This is especially critical given that an aging workforce is a big concern for TechCo . The average age of an employee at TechCo is 48, which bodes high retirement rates in the years ahead . Of the age groups leaving TechCo, 68% are in the most productive ages, that is, the 20- to 35-year-old and 36- to 50-year-old age groups . Finally, a large recruiting effort to increase the number of technical professionals at TechCo generated only one third of that objective . Recruiting costs in general were consider-ably higher in the last 2 years than they were previously .

The aforementioned statistics show that TechCo is not entirely unaffected by the market environment . Although past performance has not been affected significantly by staffing issues, the pressing need to increase the number of technical professionals in a tight job market could become a barrier to growth . Training and professional development budgets are increasing, as are expenses related to recruiting . This reflects not only the demands of the external marketplace but also an increased focus on their current workforce . Because of a shrinking employee pool, TechCo is at the point where it must compete with other large corporations on the open market for highly skilled professionals . What protection it was afforded from staffing issues in the past is fading away .

impliCatioNS aND reCommeNDatioNS

The increasing importance of human capital to an organization’s success places strategic human resources management as a critical concern to organizations . A vital component of this is the way in which new employees are oriented to the organization through a NHO program . Our review of the extant literature suggests that NHO and onboarding programs can be organized based on the firm’s conceptualization of its human capital along four concept development levels: production, synergism, integra-tion, and strategic . Using this typology, a firm can organize the role and scope of its NHO program, assign responsibility for the program’s execution, and determine the appropriate level of resources to commit to this process . Our findings indicate that there was a definite shift in approaches to NHO in the early 1990s . The emphasis was changed to incorporate a more holistic, long-term strategic approach as opposed to earlier efforts geared toward specific programs or areas of the firm . This shift should continue with the emerging emphasis on sustainability and the triple bottom line approach of people, planet, and profit . (This approach emphasizes the social and environmental impacts on both profit and risk to an organization, in addition to the typical focus on the economics alone [see Elkington, 1999] .)

Company managers can use the model to describe their current system and to as-sess the impact of business environment drivers for change . Big, expensive programs are neither feasible for all companies nor necessarily required . Organizations need to make sure that their NHO processes are consistent throughout and appropriately responsive to their particular business environment .


Academic research can use this model not only for theoretic development but also to guide research, especially action research within organizations to address such issues as the impact of NHO on retention of key employees; the impact of NHO on employee motivation, productivity, and turnover; and the relationship between NHO and firm performance, productivity, motivation, and factors associated with successful implementation of NHO programs . The development of specific goals and services in the NHO process also is essential .

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Documents

the role of new hire orientation programs