The Importance of Orientation: Employee Orientation Pitfalls, Best Practices & Influence on Intent to Leave

• Main Authors: Shoemaker, J Adam, Gibbons, Sean, Adu, Henry
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: MBA programs & graduates
• ISSN: 2164-8832

Employee orientation is widely considered to be a distinct and critical early stage in the work cycle (Wanous & Reichers, 2000). Some research has illustrated that an effective orientation experience is a precursor to many important work outcomes including better performance, higher job satisfaction and improved retention (cf. Hacker, 2004; Koekemoer, 2014; Ward, 2009). This research utilizes a population of working adult (non-traditional) MBA students. Between November 2014 and October 2016, 228 students in different sections of the same online MBA course were asked to report and describe effective and ineffective orientation experiences at current or previous places of employment. A total of 17 cases were removed as unusable due to lack of specificity in addressing the questions (N = 211). Students also reported whether their orientation experience(s) impacted their decision to quit or stay with the organization. Responses were coded to allow estimation of comparative magnitudes of effective vs. ineffective orientation experiences, to establish incidence of specific effective and ineffective orientation strategies, to link orientation experiences to intent to leave, and to estimate incidence of these data by professional industry. Findings and recommendations for best practices that may minimize intent to leave are presented with emphasis on differences across industries.