What is an induction, and why do we need them?
Employee induction is all about enabling an employee to acclimatise to their new job and working environment. It’s an important period in which the new starter has the opportunity to:
- Get to grips with the requirements and expectations of their new role.
- Learn more about the organisation and how their job contributes to its objectives.
- Integrate into the more social side of organisational life.
- Participate in training to meet legislative and job requirements.
It’s important for all organisations, regardless of their size, to invest in the induction process.
What happens if we don’t have an effective employee induction?
Without an effective induction you could find yourself faced with:
- Poor productivity because the new starter doesn’t really understand what they should be doing.
- Lack of integration into the team.
- Low morale for both the new starter and the existing team members if they are picking up the pieces of a de-motivated new team member.
- The new starter will not achieve their potential.
These can lead to higher levels of absenteeism which of course is costly to your business.
A non-effective induction may also lead to the new starter leaving which is incredibly costly and can be negative in the following ways:
- Your recruitment costs are at least doubled.
- The other team members will be under more pressure whilst you recruit another new starter.
- It can impact the reputation of your organisation.
- Time and money will have been spent on recruiting and inducting the new starter with no return on that investment.
The psychological contract
Remember that whilst employees sign an employment contract with you when they start, they will also have a ‘psychological contract’. This consists of each individual’s set of expectations, hopes and fears for the new employment relationship. Whilst you may not know what this is, if it’s breached the employee can become disengaged. An effective induction helps to ensure this doesn’t happen.
What should an induction include?
Every organisation’s induction will look different and there may be a requirement to tailor induction programmes to the individual employee as well as take into account the complexity and requirements of the job. However, there are some fundamental elements to every induction which include:
- Clearly outlining the requirements of the job including responsibilities and accountabilities.
- Clearly outlining where the job fits in the immediate team as well as the wider organisation.
- Clearly outlining relevant procedures that the new starter will need to be aware of to carry out their job.
- Building an understanding of other teams within the organisation and their purpose.
- Meeting with relevant people across the organisation who the new starter will be working with regularly.
- Meeting with senior managers.
- Building an understanding of the organisation’s history, purpose, values, products and services.
- Showing new starters where key facilities are.
- Practical information such as hours of work, dress code, how to get IT support etc.
- Health and safety information (legal requirement).
Induction timetable
There are lots of ways in which you can design an induction to include the things listed above. An induction timetable is a useful way to ensure nothing is missed. Spend some time preparing for your new starter’s arrival. Putting together a timetable for the first couple of weeks will make your new team member feel really welcome and will enable them to have set things to do in their first couple of weeks. This would include details of people they will be meeting, training they will be attending and documents they should read.
Meetings with line manager
On day 1, if you are the line manager, make sure you are as free as possible to spend time with your new team member. Introduce them to the team, show them round the building and ensure they know where the facilities are. Make sure they know the basics like how to use printers and photocopiers and where to get help if they are not working. Also on day 1 talk to them about the requirements and expectations of the job and talk through their induction timetable.
Training and development
Draw up a development plan which addresses job specific training as well as mandatory training. Depending on the size of your organisation, you may have certain induction modules that all new starters are expected to attend. Make sure they are booked on to these.
In addition to looking at the core skills required for the role, we need to consider how we can further develop individuals when they join. Most individuals want to progress in the future.
Once a new starter has had time to work through the core induction, it is recommended that the development plan is re-visited and for managers to include ‘the future’. What larger goals do they have, what do they want to work towards? What barriers do they feel are in the way of achieving this?
This enables managers and individuals to create smaller ‘stretching’ targets to take someone out of their comfort zone and slowly expand their skill set.
When a new employee sees that you are committed to supporting their future development, you are more likely to retain that employee and keep the newly gained skills in the business.
Team support – Buddy system
Identify someone in your team who can buddy up with the new starter. As their line manager, you may not always be around to answer questions and therefore having a buddy will help the new starter integrate into the team. Make sure the buddy is one of your star employees who will help communicate your values, coach the new employee effectively, and give a great introduction to your business.
What can we do to help?
If you’d like support with employee induction and ensuring you have the necessary HR documents in place, contact our team.
