General education and training given to new hires is organized, especially in large firms, by the human resources department; management will be involved from time to time to give information on basic internal operations. Generally, this activity is undertaken by an experienced employee who has been specially trained for the purpose of giving direction to new employees.
Whether it takes the form of mentoring, a learning plan or a simple presentation, general education and training for new hires will be dispensed individually or in a group. Some firms develop a welcome protocol with supporting reference documentation for both the trainer and the new employee. Other firms organize activities in the form or courses lasting a few hours in each of the departments to provide a "practical" understanding of the organization. The recent trend observed by Bélanger et al. (2004) in Quebec is increasingly to improve the structure of ALT activities for new employees, especially in the area of occupational health and safety and quality control standards in the food-processing and biopharmaceutical sectors.
On-the-job education and training for a new position enable newcomers to learn the necessary skills and abilities to master their jobs requirements so that they can become operational more quickly.
This on-the-job ALT tends to be defined similarly across organizations: similar protocol, comparable tools and the same trainer profile. In most of these cases, on-the-job training is designed to integrate new employees into their position through mentoring by an experienced employee. The mentor must, for example, show the actions to be taken in accordance with prescribed procedures, explain the operation of equipment, answer questions, suggest adjustments, observe and re-explain, etc. Thus, the mentoring focuses on the requirements for performing the duties of the position in question. In sectors where production is regulated (e.g. biopharmaceuticals), Bélanger et al. (2004) in particular note that on-the-job training given to new hires includes an intensive segment on quality control as it specifically applies to the position in question.
The mentorship process observed by Bélanger et al. (2004) shows that, as a rule in both industrial sectors and in services sectors such as the retail sector, a new employee will accompany his or her mentor or be accompanied by the mentor in performing his or her duties for several days (sometimes weeks or months). Subsequently, whenever necessary, the relationship with the mentor will continue in an informal manner for the purpose of longer-term monitoring. Once the training given to new hires is completed, some companies evaluate the employee's satisfaction and his or her suitability for the position.