Orientation process of new trainees : case: Tampere Chamber of Commerce

The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis was to improve the orientation process that takes place at Tampere Chamber of Commerce and produce an intern’s handbook that the organization can utilize in its orientation procedures. The reason behind improving the orientation process is that the employee turnover rate within the organization is high, hence there is a constant need to orientate new employees. Without an appropriate orientation structure and up to date written materials, the orientation process consumes a lot of resources. The data for the research were collected via interviews, personal experiences and the practical training advertisement currently used by the organization. The structured interviews were conducted with 3 former interns of Tampere Chamber of Commerce. Based on the data collected, an analysis was made for both the handbook and the existing orientation process. As an end result, a fully realized handbook was created to facilitate the orientation of new employees. The handbook includes most of the basic work procedures that an intern should learn. Due to confidential information the handbook contains, it is not included in this thesis. Additionally, an orientation schedule proposal, that gradually increases intern’s responsibilities, is presented. The findings of this thesis suggest that the existing orientation process needed a revision due to the large amount of information that an intern must internalize. Presenting a schedule that gradually increases the intern’s responsibilities reduces the chances of overwhelming or confusing them. Furthermore, the handbook eliminates the need to memorize or write down everything at once, thus saving time of both the mentor and the intern