A New Employee Orientation Program: The Vital Water Supply to Create Unity and Improve Quality in the Workforce of Local Public Health Departments

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LAC DPH) employs near 4000 employees, and hires about 400 new employees every year. For the departments' success, it is imperative to provide a workshop to engage new employees in the department's mission and strategic plan. As a result, a unique New Employee Orientation (NEO) training program was designed and implemented. NEO allows new employees of all levels and disciplines to be immediately informed, connected, and engaged in public health and the Department's mission through a 4-part class. First, The Public Health Trends of Los Angeles County, provides an engaging learning session on countywide morbidity and mortality statistics. Understanding current health trends in the communities employees serve is an essential base for understanding how their work supports improving health outcomes and supports their ability to become ambassadors for public health. Second, The Core Functions of Public Health teaches the 3 functions and 10 NACCHO standards that become our common language and glue connecting our multidisciplinary family together. Third, HIPAA Privacy and Security, teaches the aspects and legalities of HIPAA that affect daily public health practice using an interactive audience response system for post-testing. Fourth, Customer Service, teaches knowledge and skills to provide excellent, responsive, and high quality service for all our internal and external customers to ensure public health irrigates our communities with high functioning systems that meet their needs. Each part will be discussed in detail as well as evaluation results that support NEO's positive impact on employee engagement and effective onboarding.