Onboarding Program
Early career Stage
The transition of individuals to career life is one of the most crucial stages in life. Most people comprehend who they are and their purposes by the careers they indulge themselves. Many theories have explained the importance of work in the transition of a child to an adult. According to Donald Super, a person should ensure the implementation of self-concept while making choices on the career path. The four stages of careers entail the exploration stage which involves self-examination period and schooling, establishment stage which is a duration where an individual finds a job gap and gets employed, maintenance stage that consists in improving on skills and positions in the job market and disengagement stage which is a phase towards retirement. The exploration stage is part of the early stages of any career.
In New York Downtown Hospital, old career models have led to the organization’s success. The linear career stage model’s use depicts an organization’s rise, the forms and structure, and how the firm can dominate in research and the market. In some cases, early failures, disruption, and deviation by medical practitioners cause long term negative impacts in their career life. In non-linear career models, the organization’s success is wholly dependent on individuals, and the focus on continuous learning(Kent, Budds, Skipper & Williams,2017). Counselors, mentors, and educators can sensitize newly employed nurses in their early stages in nursing practices. Nurses should develop skills and ensure that they concentrate on their success to increase positive health outcomes. New employees may find it hard to adapt to new cultural practices in the organization; hence, they need to be guided through their first years. Some of the methods that enhance early career development are guidance and counseling programs in high school that allow students to explore different options and set goals and standards. In the hospital, the nurse leaders ensure that medical practitioners can upgrade their education levels to be more experienced and skilled in their areas of interest. The nurses are given experiential learning opportunities, indulging in decision-making, interactions with other professional workers, workshops, and leadership activities.
Anticipatory Socialization
Anticipatory Socialization happens when individuals begin to learn about new norms and values in preparation for roles they will carry out in the future. When individuals start making gradual adjustments to new positions, they get an easy time transitioning to a new working environment((Kent, Budds, Skipper & Williams,2017). Trying to adapt to new values and practices gives nurses in the organization time to evaluate whether the new approach is suitable for them and the organization at large. For instance, a nurse who is about to start their duty at night will work hard to change their sleeping habits before the time comes. She will ensure that she changes her sleeping schedule to be competent in her workplace. This helps the organization be cautious of time and offer quality health services by providing they reduce medication errors. By following such organizational programs, employees are assimilated to the organization’s goals, structure, policy, and mission before ultimately joining the organization as a regular employee. Anticipatory Socialization ensures that new employees are exposed to the organization’s informal structure and helps in bridging the gap between the old and new workers. This helps in the organization’s positive development and reduces the cultural shock employees have when they get full-time employment. While New York Downtown Hospital is hiring employees, it benefits from anticipatory socialization programs because they use a risk-free method for hiring their employees and ensure that they cut on the expenses on wages by hiring full-time employees. The hospital has also gained the right image to the public due to its recruitment process. This has led to the availability of a pool of skilled medical practitioners in the organization. Most of the organizations have accepted anticipatory Socialization, and this shows that the activities will be prevalent soon because it prepares for a better and committed workforce for the organizations.
Socialization Practices
Organizational socialization refers to the procedure where individuals learn and adjust to new skills, attitudes, knowledge, and behavioral changes in the organization(Staunton, 2017). The practices mainly focus on organizational membership. Socialization is a process that entails inheritance and dissemination of norms, customs, values, and different ideas that help individuals develop skills and habits that support the co-exist with other people in the community and organizations. In any organization, socialization is practiced so that it can lead to positive outcomes. For example, in New York Downtown Hospital, the views on race and economics are influenced by the organizational culture. The workforce tends to follow guidelines that are acceptable in society. In the organization, employee onboarding begins during the pre-employment stage, which is between acceptance to the job and the first day at work. During this stage, all the hired employees have the right information about the workplace culture and should have adapted mentally to the new work environment. Most of the time, the hospital updates its career section on their official website with specific details on the opportunity and frequently asks questions by their clients. The organization helps new employees in the workplace to normalize with their new duties.
Debasement Activities
Debasement Activities are events that lead to an individual feel less about themselves and leads to lower self-esteem. In psychology, debasement activities are linked to guilt and shame and a feeling of deserving less respect from other people in the organization. In an organization, there are many reasons people take the blame for each other; for example, an individual might have developed a sense of sensitivity while an employee is being punished. Other employees feel obligated to be shamed and humiliated on behalf of others. Employees mustn’t judge before they understand the reasons behind some behaviors in individuals. At times, employees desperately need a sense of affiliation and grow some insecurity when they do not achieve specific goals. The organization should come up with a strategy of dealing with all employees regardless of their personalities.
Functions of Orientation Programs
Orientation programs are designed to offer new employees with information about the organization and the duties they should carry out. It plans to introduce new hires to the modern workplace, co-workers, and the company’s environment. The main idea is to make employees feel at home and reduce anxiety while entering the new organization. In New York Downtown Hospital, inductions are carried out to make employees know how to perform in their jobs, feel more adequate in comparison with more experienced employees, and ensure that the organization shows the new workforce(Harder, Hodges & Zelaya,2017). For an orientation program to be effective, the organization works on reducing anxiety among the hires and ensuring that leaders and other co-workers can interact with them freely. New employees are encouraged to engage in asking questions so that they can quickly adapt to the new system. The orientation program increases the productivity of hired nurses and exposes them to different areas of the organization. Employees expectation about their new job always affects the ease to adapt to the new environment. For instance, if the expectations are realistic, it is easier for all the goals to be achieved. Quality orientation programs in any organization always create the right image and impression of the workers, leading to the creation of good work relationships. If the induction programs are less effective, the company could suffer from employee absenteeism and low turnover.
Stereotyping
Stereotypes are conclusions made on a specific group of people, their personalities, and backgrounds. Stereotypes in an organization may be positive or negative and always serve as a learning lesson for the employees. In New York Downtown Hospital, some stereotypes are based on worker’s ethnicity, race, age, gender, politics, and sexual orientation. Sometimes the stereotypes lead to poor interaction and rivalry among the workers because other employees feel more unique. For example, nurses in the organization may differ in ideas because of assumptions on their race, which leads to an unfriendly working environment(Meyer & Bartels, 2017). Political differences based on ethnicity may also cause many toxic differences in the organization leading to enmity among employees; hence, slowing the process of services offered to the patients. Positive stereotypes are comments such as employees of certain ethnic groups are smart and hardworking. Though this may create high expectations for the group members,it is a source of motivation and boosting their ego.
Affirmative Action and Work-Life
Affirmation action refers to a policy that fights for equal employment opportunities in an organization that requires leaders to provide similar opportunities to all job applicants and employees without looking at their background, color, age, gender, and race. Practices of the company are monitored to ensure that the organization does not discriminate against any employee(Harder, Hodges & Zelaya, 2017). In New York Downtown Hospital, the minority candidates skilled for the job vacancies are given a chance to work in the company with adequate training and accommodation. The organization ensures that all nurses working in the organization are in good mental, emotional, psychological, and physical conditions to improve their health services. The medical practitioners are treated equally by the leaders and stakeholders.
Changing work-family culture
In New York Downtown Hospital, change in culture starts from the top leaders. Leaders in the organization act as a pacesetter and give a reflection of what the employees below them should emulate. The leaders ensure that the employees are sensitized on the importance of creating a healthy working environment to improve the medical assistants’ health and wellness. Nurses are frequently encouraged to take breaks to reduce fatigue and making errors. Employees should often get involved in physical exercises away from work and get enough rest. The company supports employees and gives them extra days off work and for vacations. Employees should cultivate a culture of giving themselves a break away from work to interact and spend more time with their family. Work should not be the center of people’s life. The organization practices a culture that encourages a healthy balance of work, fun, and quality productivity priorities.
References
Harder, A., Hodges, A., & Zelaya, P. (2017). What Is Professional Development Worth? Calculating the Value of Onboarding Programs in Extension. Journal of Extension, 55(1), n1.
Kent, A., Berry, D. M., Budds, K., Skipper, Y., & Williams, H. L. (2017). Promoting writing amongst peers: Establishing a community of writing practice for early career academics. Higher Education Research & Development, 36(6), 1194-1207.
Meyer, A. M., & Bartels, L. K. (2017). The Impact of Onboarding Levels on Perceived Utility, Organizational Commitment, Organizational Support, andc. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 17(5).
Staunton, E. (2017). An exploratory study of employees’ perspectives on the value of onboarding programs (Doctoral dissertation, Capella University).