The Importance of New Employee Orientation and Employee Relationships

Starting with the orientation meeting, excellent employee relationships can make or break a small business.  That's because when you're running a small business you must run a 'tight ship' to succeed.  It seems there's never enough time or money, and you may not have the resources that larger businesses have developed and enjoy, so it's important to identify the various elements of your business that directly affect your bottom line. One essential factor is employee relationships. 

In the small business environment, employee relationships may seem more like family relationships than they do in larger corporate settings. Whether you have a few departments or several, your employees usually know each other fairly well; they have regular interaction and awareness of how their own responsibilities impact each other and the organization. How your employees relate to one another becomes more critical to your success or failure. Cultivating good relationships between employees and departments can propel the business to new levels, and it can provide an effective solution to many problems that may arise. Let's see how this works.

As in any organization, when hiring new employees you probably assess personality characteristics and competence factors in an effort to make a good match between yourself, the new employee and the other employees. More than likely, candidates with a positive attitude, a friendly demeanor, and who are teamwork oriented possess qualities you look for in choosing an employee. You look for individuals who'll enhance your business and positively affect your bottom line.

Once you've screened new employees for qualities that suit your business objectives, you're ready to begin efforts to cultivate favorable employee relationships that will hopefully stand the test of time.  You want the relationship to be rewarding for you and your employees. Here's an important key to remember: the initial employee orientation helps set the stage for that success. In the orientation phase, employees should become familiar with the organization, departments, responsibilities and resources available to help them meet the company's and their objectives.

Issues related to compensation, raises, incentives and benefits will have probably been discussed in general during the hiring phase, so specifics on the topic may or may not be included in the orientation.  However, the company's policies and general performance expectations should be discussed at that time. Depending on the size of your organization, specifics concerning job performance expecations may or may not be discussed then.  This initial introduction to your expectations, company philosophy and objectives will go a long way toward nurturing good employee relationships by laying a foundation for the employee from the outset.

An important matter to be discussed at that time is the method for problem resolution.  Adopting an "open door policy" is an excellent step toward communication because employees who know they can resolve problems with the next level of management are thus empowered, knowing they will be treated fairly. Typically, employees in an open door environment tend to be judicious in their use of this system of resolution, making every effort to resolve the issue equitably with their peers or management before escalating the matter to the next level. However, be aware that the potential for abuse exists in an open door policy environment. 

Excessive access to supervisors lends itself to the possibility of playing favorites toward subordinates or the assumption of liberties by the employee; it's one sure-fire way that good employee relationships can sour. Be sure your management staff understands the pitfalls that the favorites game can cause when maintaining and an open door policy.

Another thing to be aware of is competition.  Between employees it can be a two-edged sword in establishing and maintaining successful employee relationships. On the one hand a competitive attitude can be necessary to meet deadlines and objectives. Conversely, employees should not undercut the efforts of other employees in order to gain favor or benefit for themselves. Again, using the employee orientation venue to convey this concept and caution helps set the correct tone for the employment relationship from the outset.

Following these guidelines from the start will help you gain many benefits from good employee relationships so that the entire organization will prosper.