Abstract:
With the rapid development of today’s global market, organizations are continuously
seeking ways to grow and keep competitive through deliberately planned,
implemented and monitored activities. One of these activities is induction programs
which is a form of training. However numerous studies conducted reveal that in spite
of the substantial benefits, induction programs can bring to an organization; many
managers do not give it the attention it deserves. This study therefore sought to assess
the effectiveness of induction programs on employee job performance in Eldoret
Water and Sanitation Company (ELDOWAS). The study objectives were: to establish
the existence and goals of induction programs; to examine the effects of induction
programs on employee job performance; to document the challenges of conducting
induction programs and finally; to explore the strategies of enhancing induction
programs and their likely impact on employee job performance. The study was guided
by Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT) by Falcione and Wilson (1988). The Study
targeted all the 215 employees of the company. Data was collected through
questionnaires and interviews and analyzed descriptively. The results were presented
in frequency distribution tables, graphs and percentages. The findings of the study
were that induction programs existed in ELDOWAS and their goals included:
providing new employees with information, conveying employees’ expectations and
relieving the new employees’ anxieties about the job. Challenges facing induction
programs included: lack of clearly stated goals for induction, failure to balance the
needs of the employees against the needs of the company, inability to deliver
appropriate and accurate information to new employees, lack of re-orientation when
employees are transferred to new stations or when they are promoted. Strategies for
enhancing induction programs included: giving the employees the information they
need about the organization, building workplace relationships, making induction
programs relaxing, allowing two way interactions, ensuring that the programs give a
healthy balance between the needs of the company and those of the employees. Based
on the above findings it was concluded that induction programs enhance employee job
performance. The study recommends that the immediate supervisors should be trained
and equipped with skills and knowledge necessary for conducting effective induction
programs, the employee handbooks should be given to employees at the time of
induction, managers should accord induction programs the seriousness it deserves.
The study is significant to ELDOWAS management and any other organization that
may wish to use it in policy and decision making.