Developing

What happens once an employee has been hired? This section discusses training and developing employees and the importance of having a diverse workforce.

Key Takeaways

  • The process of introducing new employees to their jobs and to the company is called orientation.
  • An effective approach is to take things slowly, providing new employees with information on a need-to-know basis while making them feel as comfortable as possible.
  • New employees will need initial training to start their jobs, and they'll need additional training as they grow in or change their jobs.
  • Off-the-job training allows them to focus on learning without the distractions that would occur in the office, but on-the-job training is more common.
  • In addition to having well-trained employees, it's important that a workforce reflects the broad range of differences in the population.
  • The efforts of HR managers to build a workforce that's representative of the general population are driven in part by legal concerns: discrimination is illegal, and companies that violate antidiscrimination laws are subject to prosecution.
  • But ensuring a diverse workforce goes well beyond both legal compliance and ethical commitment. It's good business, because a diverse group of employees can bring fresh points of view that may be valuable in generating ideas and solving problems.
  • Additionally, people from varied backgrounds can help an organization connect with an ethnically diverse customer base.