Drivers and Challenges of the Employers? Orientation Training; The Case of Graduate Quantity Surveyors in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania

Orientation Training Programs, are being implemented by Employers to Graduate Quantity Surveyors, by both Contractors and Quantity Surveying Consulting firms, in Dar-Es-Salaam. This is to train the newly hired graduate quantity surveyors on the firms policies and performance procedures which are different in every firm. Basically, the objectives of this study were to examine the drivers that attribute the employers orientation training to the graduate quantity surveyors, to investigate the challenges of the training, and to propose the possible methods of enhancing the orientation training to the graduate quantity surveyors. This study was designed to acquire information from both employers and Graduate Quantity Surveyors on how the training is conducted, drivers and challenges of the training, and finally possible ways to enhance the training. Three sampling techniques were used in this study namely, purposive, snowball and stratified sampling, whereby a sample of 79 contracting and consulting firms located in Dar-Es-Salaam were selected. Microsoft excel was used in analyzing the collected data and data presentation was done by tables and charts. Literature review, interviews, and questionnaires were used to collect data for the study. Findings show the most important drivers that attribute the implementation of the orientation training included, introduction to the organization as a whole, understanding departmental relations, promoting effective communication, motivation and confidence, teamwork, increase productivity and performance and improving competence. Findings also reveals the challenges that have been faced during the orientation training to a great extent included poor training methods, lack of enough training duration and lack of motivation to training. It is recommended that, the Orientation training should involve the use of proper training methods to ensure its effectiveness, also the top management should support the training to ease the transfer of knowledge and skills to the newly hired graduates. Trainers should be competent for the training and deliver the training on time with increased motivation to raise the morale and the increased number of trainers with proper supervision and training equipments will help smooth the process of implementing the orientation training