Register now or log in to join your professional community.
Employers today understand that productive employees are the main stone of any successful business. Therefore, when a new team member comes on board it is vital that they participate in an Employee Induction Program.
AnEmployee Induction Plan ‘Sets the Scene’
An effective Employee Induction System showcase’s the company’s history, its mission statement, the direction its heading, company policies, training programs, and the culture within the organisation.
Having good induction programs get new people up to speed faster, have better alignment between what new people do and what the organization needs them to do, have happier employees, and have lower staff turnover rates.
Tips for New Employee Induction
Planning
Important things are important to plan
What does the new employee need to know about this work environment to feel comfortable and confident?
What impression do you want new employees to have on their first day?
What policies and procedures should new employees learn about on the first day or the first month? This vital information must be included in the orientation process.
How can new employees be introduced to their coworkers without feeling overwhelmed and intimidated?
What special things (desk, work area, equipment, special instructions) can you provide to make new employees feel comfortable, welcome, and secure?
How can you ensure that the new employee's supervisor is available to assist him or her on the first day; and provides enough time and attention to let him or her know that he or she is valued an important addition to the work team?
Ask for feedback from recent hires.
Execution
Before they start
Make sure the new employee's work area is ready and comfortable.
Make sure key co-workers know the employee is starting and encourage them to come to say "hello" before orientation begins.
Name cards on top of your computer monitors can help new people learn names in their own time.
Assign a mentor or partner to show the new person around and make introduction
A good first day should include all of the following:
• It’s important that the manager/supervisor has time to spend with the intern on the first day,
preferably straight away, and that there is time to find out more about them and them about you.
• Going through the necessary paperwork and documentation. Remember to ask in advance for
anything you may need them to bring in, including qualification certificates, drivers licence, etc.
• An indication of how their next few days/weeks will be structured.
• Basic health and safety information for your business. You can go into more detail at a later stage,
but you need the new intern to be aware from day one of any particular health and safety issues.
• Where everything is – the toilets, canteen, etc.
Induction Programme
Welcome
Inform existing staff of new arrival and their role
Welcome new person and introduce to staff
Facilities (as appropriate)
• Car parking
• Kitchen/canteen facilities
• Fire extinguishers
• First aid boxes
• Health and safety notices, procedures
• Utilities, e.g. lighting, heating, water
• Access to buildings, security
• Incoming and outgoing mail points
• Notice boards
• Computer system, internet access
• Photocopier
• Toilets, cloakroom, etc.
• Smoking areas
The Organisation
• What we do
• History of the organisation and future plans
• Organisational structure
• Other aspects of the organisation, as relevant
• Products/services
• Significant customers
• Where/How to find more information
The Intern’s Role
• The role will have been explained at interview stage but should be reiterated.
• Explain areas of accountability and responsibility
• Specific training for the rplacement, e.g. using certain equipment such as the till, credit card
machine, equipment, tools, computer, etc.
Policies
• Health & Safety
• Code of Practice
• HR
• Environmental awareness
• Grievance Procedure
• Counselling & Disciplinary Procedure
• Internet and e-mail usage
• Etc.
Systems and procedures
• Office systems - computers, telephones, filing
• Courtesies - protocol, etiquette
• Hours of work, timesheets, etc.
• Absence from work - holiday leave, Bank Holidays, sickness
Personal Development
• Training
• Performance appraisal
• Individual review
• Mentoring, where appropriate
ORIENTATION AND SHARING OF THE PROJECT CONCEPT
Before they start
Make sure the new employee's work area is ready and comfortable.
Make sure key co-workers know the employee is starting and encourage them to come to say "hello" before orientation begins.
1-Company Profile
2-Policy
3-Management Sytems
4-Procedure
5-Duties and Responsibilities of each workers of the company
History of the organisation and future plans, Organisational structure and Rules and Regulation.
Organizations can provide several induction packages based on its nature and the job requirements , usually organizations schedule the induction program within the first week for example;
Day 1 ; Provide welcome letter , employee hand book ( if not available HR Department is responsible of providing HR & Administration induction which should cover medical coverage policy , sick leave & emergencies procedure , introducing team members ( hiring dept. manager is responsible to introduce new joiners to the team and to provide a quick brief of job ) and premises tour.
Day 1 Or Day 2 ; Provide organization overview of mission , vision & values .
Day 3; Health & Safety induction ( based on job nature ).
organization with high recruitment rates can provide group induction programs .
The Induction program should be tailor made so that the employee is made aware of the policies, culture, values and goals of the organization.
Induction Training is absolutely vital for new starters. Good induction training ensures new starters are retained, and then settled in quickly and happily to a productive role. Induction training is more than skills training. It's about the basics that seasoned employees all take for granted: what the shifts are; where the notice-board is; what's the routine for holidays, sickness; where's the canteen; what's the dress code; where the toilets are. New employees also need to understand the organisation's mission, goals, values and philosophy; personnel practices, health and safety rules, and of course the job they're required to do, with clear methods, timescales and expectations.
On the point of values and philosophy, induction training offers a wonderful early opportunity to establish clear foundations and expectations in terms of ethics, integrity, corporate social responsibility, and all the other converging concepts in this area that are the bedrock of all good modern responsible organisations. See also love and spirituality in organisations: trainers and new starters - anyone - can bring compassion and humanity to work. The starting point is actually putting these fundamantal life-forces on the workplace agenda.
Professionally organized and delivered induction training is your new employees' first proper impression of you and your organization, so it's also an excellent opportunity to reinforce their decision to come and work for you.
Proper induction training is increasingly a legal requirement. Employers have a formal duty to provide new employees with all relevant information and training relating to health and safety particularly.
As a manager for new employees it's your responsibility to ensure that induction training is properly planned. Even if head office or another 'centre' handles induction training - you must make sure it's planned and organised properly for your new starter. An induction training plan must be issued to each new employee, before the new employee starts, and copied to everyone in the organisation who's involved in providing the training, so the new starter and everyone else involved can see what's happening and that everything is included. Creating and issuing a suitable induction plan for each new starter will help them do their job better and quicker, and with less dependence on your time in the future. Employees who are not properly inducted need a lot more looking after, so failing to provide good induction training is utterly false economy.
As with other types of training, the learning can and development can be achieved through very many different methods - use as many as you need to and which suit the individuals and the group, but remember that induction training by its nature requires a lot more hand-holding than other types of training. Err on the side of caution - ensure people are looked after properly and not left on their own to work things out unless you have a very specific purpose for doing so, or if the position is a senior one.
As with other forms of training their are alternatives to 'chalk and talk' classroom-style training. Participation and 'GAAFOFY' methods (Go Away And Find Out For Yourself) can be effective, particularly for groups and roles which require a good level of initiative. Here are some examples of training methods which can be used to augment the basics normally covered in classroom format:
Be creative as far as is realistic and practicable. Necessarily induction training will have to include some fairly dry subjects, so anything you can do to inject interest, variety, different formats and experiences will greatly improve the overall induction process. There are lots of ideas for illustrating concepts and theories relating to induction training on the acronyms page(warning: contains adult content), and also the stories page.
Induction training must include the following elements:
And while not strictly part of the induction training stage, it's also helpful to refer to and discuss personal strengths and personal development wishes and aspirations, so that people see they are valued as individuals with their own unique potential, rather than just being a name and a function. This is part of making the job more meaningful for people - making people feel special and valued - and the sooner this can be done the better.
For example the following question/positioning statement is a way to introduce this concept of 'whole-person' development and value:
"You've obviously been recruited as a (job title), but we recognise right from the start that you'll probably have lots of other talents, skills, experiences (life and work), strengths, personal aims and wishes, that your job role might not necessarily enable you to use and pursue. So please give some thought to your own special skills and unique potential that you'd like to develop (outside of your job function), and if there's a way for us to help with this, especially if we see that there'll be benefits for the organisation too (which there often are), then we'll try to do so..."
Obviously the organisation needs to have a process and capacity for encouraging and assisting 'whole person development' before such a statement can be made during induction, but if and when such support exists then it makes good sense to promote it and get the ball rolling as early as possible. Demonstrating an true investment in people - as people, not just employees - greatly increases feelings of comfort and satisfaction among new-starters. It's human nature - each of us feels happier when someone takes a genuine interest in us as an individual.
Including a learning styles self-assessment questionnaire or a multiple intelligences self-assessment questionnaire within the induction process also helps to 'draw out' strengths and preferences among new starters, and will additionally help build a platform for meaningful work and positive relations between staff and employer. Ensure that new starters are given control of these self-tests - it is more important that they see the results than the employer, although it's fine and helpful for the employer to keep a copy provided permission is sought and given by the staff members to do so. Line-managers will find it easier to manage new starters if they know their strengths and styles and preferences. Conducting a learning styles assessment also helps the induction trainer to deliver induction training according to people's preferred learning styles.
So much of conventional induction training necessarily involves 'putting in' to people (knowledge, policies, standards, skills, etc); so if the employer can spend a little time 'drawing out' of people (aims, wishes, unique personal potential, etc) - even if it's just to set the scene for 'whole person development' in the future - this will be a big breath of fresh air for most new starters.
Use a feedback form of some sort to check the effectiveness and response to induction training - induction training should be a continuously evolving and improving process. Free examples of training feedback forms and induction training feedback forms are available on the free resources section.
Take the opportunity to involve your existing staff in the induction process. Have them create and deliver sessions, do demonstrations, accompany, and mentor the new starters wherever possible. This can be helpful and enjoyable for the existing staff members too, and many will find it rewarding and developmental for themselves. When involving others ensure delivery and coverage is managed and monitored properly.
Good induction training plans should feature a large element of contact with other staff for the new person. Relationships and contacts are the means by which organisations function, get things done, solve problems, provide excellent service, handle change and continually develop. Meeting and getting to know other people are essential aspects of the induction process. This is especially important for very senior people - don't assume they'll take care of this for themselves - help them to plan how to meet and get to know all the relevant people inside and outside the organisation as soon as possible. Certain job roles are likely to be filled by passive introverted people (Quality, Technical, Production, Finance - not always, but often). These people often need help in getting out and about making contacts and introductions. Don't assume that a director will automatically find their way to meet everyone - they may not - so design an induction plan that will help them to do it.
Organization Culture Training
Team Building Session to increase the bond between co workers
Buddy Group - To assign a Buddy for each and every new joiners so that they can be more comfortable to socialize
First of all on-boarding is very important. Secondly the person needs to be provided with a mentor - small things like we forget (where is the toilet).
The induction programme should cover policies & procedures, a walk-around, introduction to top managers. You must get their buy-in from day one. Too many companies employ the person and on their first day of arrival nobody knows who they are, the tools are not set up for them yet and they just sit while everybody continues in their own vein.
Remember that person got the job by being on the market - somebody can still phone them and if you have not "warmly" and "accurately" welcomed your new family member into the team - they will not last longer than 2 to 3 months.
Do you need help in adding the right keywords to your CV? Let our CV writing experts help you.