Guidelines and Aids for Developing Regional/Washington Office Orientations

1.1 What is the purpose of this exhibit? General guidelines for conducting Regional and Headquarters orientation, the third component of the New Employee Orientation Program, are in section 2.8A of 230 FW 2. The chapter recommends that Regional and Headquarters orientations be held for all new permanent employees to provide new employees with an overview of Service activities from the respective office perspectives.

The Regional Directors (in Regions 1-8) and the Director of the National Conservation Training Center (in Headquarters) determine what office will develop and implement the Regional/Headquarters orientations.

1.2 Who should participate? New permanent employees, who meet the following criteria should participate:

A. Employees hired from outside the Federal Government (i.e., from Office of Personnel Management certificates and direct hires).

B. All conversions to career-conditional appointments from non-permanent appointments (e.g., temporary, term, etc.).

C. All transfers from Federal agencies outside the Department of the Interior (Department).

D. All reassignments from other Departmental offices and bureaus to the Service.

E. Service reassignments from one Region to another if:
(1) Employees have been with the Service for less than 6 months, and
(2) They have not attended an orientation program in the Region from which they transferred.

1.3 What are the objectives of a Regional/Headquarters orientation? The objectives of the Regional/Headquarters orientation are to:

A. Give the new employee a sense of belonging within a well-ordered and structured organization.

B. Give the new employee a comprehensive understanding of how their work contributes to the mission in the Region/Headquarters.

C. Impart an understanding of Regional/Headquarters organizations, programs, and current key issues.

D. Impart an understanding of the Region’s/ Headquarters' culture, history, work force, values, ethics, and vision for the future.

E. Communicate to the new employee the work habits and attitudes needed to pursue a career with the Service, to include personal presentations by successful higher grade managers.

F. Provide an opportunity to meet members of the Regional/Headquarters Directorate.

G. Provide an opportunity to meet with their respective managers and their staff, and/or personnel office staff, to discuss and resolve operational or personnel questions and issues.

H. Provide Federal employee rights and benefits information (e.g., key information to employees hired outside the Federal system and conversions from temporary/term or cooperative appointments).

I. Provide Regional/Headquarters budget process overview and impact on field offices.

J. Explain the training and career development opportunities in the Region/Washington (e.g., mentoring programs, etc.).

Regional and Headquarters orientations should be designed to address these and any other objectives specific to the Region or Headquarters.

1.4 How is an orientation program developed? Some things to consider and build on when developing a New Employee Orientation Program for the Region/ Headquarters are listed below. Keep in mind that the topics will be from the Regional/Headquarters perspective:

A. Presentations that will teach new employees about Regional/Headquarters programs, operations, organization, and issues.

B. Introduction of new employees to Regional/Headquarters Directorate and staff members with whom they will interact in their jobs.

C. Presentations that will teach new employees what work occurs at hatcheries, refuges, law enforcement, and ecological services field stations.

(1) Structured visits to program offices
(2) Tours to nearby service installations

D. Presentations on training and career development, which may include career talks by employees who have risen through the ranks, describing their experience.

E. Examples of how the Region/Headquarters does business effectively in-house and with partners.

F. A grass-roots discussion on personal and business ethics/integrity.

G. Use audio-visual aids and interactive learning to reinforce or teach any of the above subjects.

An example of the agenda for developing a Regional/Headquarters orientation follows.

An example of how Wednesday's major timeframes can be structured (see 1:45 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. for Ecological Services above) is as follows:

THURSDAY:

New employees will meet with their respective divisions from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to discuss specific aspects of their programs. Meeting rooms will be assigned.