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CHAPTER 7 • Managing Human Resources 233
responsibilities as well as how his or her performance will be evaluated; and (3) corrects any
unrealistic expectations new employees might hold about the job.
Work unit orientation: (1) Familiarizes an employee with the goals of the work unit; (2)
clarifies how his or her job contributes to the unit’s goals; and (3) provides an introduction to
his or her coworkers.
Organization orientation: (1) Informs the new employee about the organization’s goals,
history, philosophy, procedures, and rules; (2) clarifies relevant HR policies such as work
hours, pay procedures, overtime requirements, and benefits; and (3) may include a tour of the
organization’s physical facilities.
Managers have an obligation to make the integration of a new employee into the orga-
nization as smooth and anxiety-free as possible. Successful orientation, whether formal or
informal:
• Results in an outsider–insider transition that makes the new member feel comfortable and
fairly well-adjusted.
• Lowers the likelihood of poor work performance.
• Reduces the probability of a surprise resignation by the new employee only a week or two
into the job. 22

::::::: Technology and the Manager’s Job :::::::
SOcIAL AND DIgITAL HR

23
HR has gone social and digital. Mobile devices are increasingly 13 percent of new tellers and call center associates in their first
being used to provide training in bite-sized lessons using videos and 90 days. After implementing the virtual assessments, that number
games. For instance, the 75,000-plus associates of realty company dropped to 4 percent.
Keller Williams use their smartphones and tablets to view two- to Another area where IT has had a significant impact is in
three-minute video lessons on sales and customer service. Then, training. In a survey by the American Society for Training and
there are the few tech-forward marketing firms that are using Development, 95 percent of the responding companies reported
tweets rather than the conventional résumé/job interview process. using some form of e-learning. Using technology to deliver needed
These “Twitterviews” are used in talent selection. One individual knowledge, skills, and attitudes has had many benefits. As one
said, “The Web is your résumé. Social networks are your mass researcher pointed out, e-learning can reduce the cost of training,
references.” Many other firms are using social media platforms to but more importantly, can improve the way an organization func-
expand their recruiting reach. Not only are social media tools being tions. And in many instances, it seems to do that! For example,
used by corporations to recruit applicants, they’re being used to al- when Hewlett-Packard looked at how its customer service was
low employees to collaborate by sharing files, images, documents, affected by a blend of e-learning and other instructional methods,
videos, and other documents. rather than just classroom training, it found that its sales repre-
On the digital side, HR departments using software that sentatives could answer customer questions more quickly and ac-
automates many basic HR processes associated with recruiting, curately. And Unilever found that after e-learning training for sales
selecting, orienting, training, appraising performance, and storing employees, sales increased by several million dollars.
and retrieving employee information have cut costs and optimized If your professor has assigned this, go to the Assignments section of
service. One HR area where IT has contributed is in pre-employment mymanagementlab.com to complete these discussion questions.
assessments. For instance, at KeyBank, a Cleveland-based finan-
cial services organization, virtual “job tryout simulations” have tAlk About it 5: Does the use of all this technology make
been used in order to reduce 90-day turnover rates and create HR—which is supposed to be a “people-oriented” profession—less
more consistency in staffing decisions. These simulations create so? Why or why not?
an interactive multimedia experience and mimic key job tasks for tAlk About it 6: You want a job after graduating from col-
competencies such as providing client service, adapting to change, lege. Knowing that you’re likely to encounter online recruitment and
supporting team members, following procedures, and working effi- selection procedures, how can you best prepare for making yourself
ciently. Before using these virtual assessments, the bank was losing stand out in the process?