This paper is a synthesis of the article, “Plan, Do, Study, Act Model to Improve an Orientation Program” that concerns the processes of employee orientation at work. Employee orientation is a process wherein the new employees at a workplace are taken “on board” and introduced to the various elements of the workplace including the culture of the organization as well as the expected mores of behavior from the employee.
The article describes the process of employee orientation that goes on in the Franciscan hospital. The article details how the hospital’s training department evolved the employee orientation program by taking care of the methods in which employees can be oriented to the demands of the hospital. The structure of the employee orientation program is described in a quarter of the article whereas half of the article goes towards describing the shortfall from the previous programs and gaps in the same that were identified and necessary correctional action is taken.
Employee orientation programs are a necessary way of ensuring that the new employees on board in the hospital are introduced to the ways and methods of the hospital and its structures. The employee orientation programs teach the “why” of the processes and expected rules of conduct. Often, the employees retain the impressions that they have got from the orientation program and this subsequently shapes their attitude towards the workplace. As they say, first impressions are best impressions and hence the orientation programs go a long way in introducing the new employees to the workplace.
The article in question describes how the employee orientation programs in the Franciscan hospital were structured and the ways in which the training department took care to introduce various elements of training and methodology into the orientation programs. The data was collected from a wide variety of sources and the respondents were asked to state their preferences about the various facets of the orientation program.
The article goes on to describe the methods used by the training department of the Franciscan hospital in designing its employee orientation program based on the feedback that the respondents gave to the questionnaire and the departments own assessment of the changes that were required to be carried out for the program to be implemented successfully.
The Plan, Do, Study, Act model that was implemented was the result of a well-thought-out approach that arose out of the feedback loops and the structure of the program. The planning component of the program was to evaluate the options before the group on how best to achieve the objectives of the course and how to tailor it to the needs of the employees. Hence, there were significant indicators that came up during the discussion and this went a long way in assessing the changes that were needed to the program.
The rest of the model revolved around the ways in which the program was to be designed so that the employees attending the program benefited from it. The study component of the group was to hand out questionnaires to the participants and take their feedback into account for the design of further programs. This was necessary because the group wanted a statistical analysis of the program to be carried out and necessary changes to be incorporated into the program. Hence, the emphasis was on data collection in a rigorous and scientific manner.
The passage that I have chosen to paraphrase is the conclusion of the article. The conclusion states that the program met its desired objectives of having a decrease in employee turnover and increased motivation levels after the program. The effect of the program was also felt in the changed perceptions of the new employees towards their work environment and the expectations from them were also clearly understood by the employees. As stated in the aims of the research group, one of the goals of the program was to establish the link between the reasons for employee turnover and the orientation programs that they have undergone.
It is with some success that the sponsors of the study could claim that they have managed to pinpoint the reasons behind the high rates of employee turnover and the orientation programs that were designed to help them. Further, it was noticed that the employee turnover decreased after the program was implemented leading to the conclusion that the program could meet most of its stated objectives.
In conclusion, this paper dealt with the effects of employee orientation on the attitudes of the employees and the rates of turnover that resulted from the absence of a clear-cut direction on employee orientation. The article examined the key assumptions behind the employee orientation program and suggested methods of improving the turnover based on the ways in which the program could be tailored to meet the demands of the workforce. Hence, the study group met its goals and the Franciscan hospital can be a model employer for other players in the medical field and be an example for the rest.
Reference
Ragsdale, Mary Alice MSN, RN; Mueller, John MHA, RN. Plan, Do, Study, Act Model to Improve an Orientation Program. Journal of Nursing Care Quality: 2005 – Volume 20 – Issue 3 – p 268-272.