7 Responses

1. More info
   Hi Claire

   Is the induction just a generic induction to the business or an induction into core job roles and their processes? I have recentley implemented an induction programme for all core roles. Please feel free to email me if you want more informtion

   Sinead

2. Induction
   Hi Claire

   My induction process has the following steps.
   1 Be told by HR there is a new starter
   2 Give the starter access to the company Intranet so they can read things like policies, objectives, etc.
   3 Discuss the induction with their manager, what are critical areas, who to see
   4 Arrange a programme based on peoples availabilty and the inductees timetable as invariably the more senior people will already have a filling diary.
   5 Draw up a programme including the essential 1st week items, HR, Health & Safety, Fire evacuation, hygeine etc
   6 Add generic essentials, finance, phones & voicemail, IT. Book rooms and equipment
   7 Publish the programme to all involved
   8 Ensure someone is there to meet and greet on day 1
   9 Usually let them spend day 1 with their colleagues and begin the full induction on day 2.
   10 Keep checking that all is going well, is there any additional training required.
   11 Consider producing an Induction guide for all new starters including essential information on where the photocopiers are, layout of the building, fire assembly areas etc.

   This is for an office based job, factory and warehouse ones will be different.

3. Induction should go beyond day 1
   Claire,

   I believe that a good induction programme will go way beyond day 1. A well-designed induction training programme that involves different sections of the organisation in its delivery, delivers great results. I believe that a good induction will not only familiarise new employees with their company, their rights and responsibilities, but also ensures that they quickly become a part of the team, are able to complete all key aspects of their role to the basic standard required. I have helped to introduce this style of programme to a number of companies, and have seen that this approach helps to reduce turnover, increase engagement and develop a coaching culture throughout the business.

   A flexible, self-directed approach where new starters complete a series of clearly defined activities, and are supported by line managers and experienced colleagues, means that new employees can become trusted, competent team members in all key aspects of their role in just a few short weeks. An added bonus of this approach is that time ‘off the job’ is kept to a minimum for both the new starter and their manager, meaning that operational issues need not suffer, and the new employee is kept busy during the first few weeks when they may otherwise be sat ‘twiddling thier thumbs’ and wondering what is going on all around them.

   Sorry for going on, but induction is one of my specialisms and I truly believe that a poor or ‘minimum requirements’ induction is a massive wasted opportunity. Feel free to contact me if you want to chew over some ideas.

   By the way, this is a copy of a response I put up for a very similar question on 30th march – you may find more useful tips if you track down that thread.

   Good luck,

4. Great Induction Processes
   I have found over several decades, as both an employer and an employee, that the first few weeks of any employee in any new organisation are absolutely critical. I am sure you know the same?

   It certainly grieves me how badly this proccess is delivered, at any level in so many organisations. (Just this week for example, I visited one company where the Receptionist in their third third day of work didn’t know yet where the visitor-meeting rooms were; and another where a newly apppointed Director after one month had no idea who the
   Chairman was… Extreme examples you may think? Hmmm. I fear not!

   If all members of staff don’t know of their own *organisation’s* view of its core goals, objectives, traditions, values, disciplines, processes, procedures, policies, performance, structure, key staff and contacts, business partners, customers, prospects, suppliers and even competitors, and much more, within at least their first few weeks and months of employment – how can they ever be expected to embrace them?

   This isn’t only about new-starter ‘induction’, at any level, but further team briefing, 360-degree communications, appraisal, listening and much more.

   Claire: I hope the check-list above is a good start? It is primarily strategic, beacuse I assume the tactical essentials of where the loos are, how telephone and email facilities work, what people do for refreshment and breaks, how to get to work and even where to park for example, and above all, a planned personal intro programme to all the relevant key contacts/colleagues, are ever so obvious, in being no more than you would have wanted yourself?

   As it happens, I am about to write a ‘best-practice’ note on this very topic as a goodwill gesture for an exclusively technically-driven employer-sector that is great at doing what it does, but has no tradition of understanding what drives its people, and least of all newcomers.

   If you want to share responses with me on key points arising from this thread, I’d be delighted to include them. If you would like a copy of the finished article – let me know!

   Best wishes

   Jeremy
   Jeremy@JeremyThorn.co.uk

5. Induction Review
   Hello Sinead

   What is your email address? If you prefer you can contact me on claire.youd@btinternet.com or claire.youd@genesis.co.uk.

   Kind Regards

6. Induction Programmes
   Hi Claire,

   Good induction programmes I have been involved with have been split into four areas:

   – The Joining Experience: pre-start information, contracts, letters, arrival details etc. Tends to be done by HR or recruitment.

   – The Legal bit: Day one stuff on Health and Safety, loos, fire exits, policies, vetting their ID etc. Tends to be done by L&D or the line manager

   – Functional induction: introduction to the role, department, key contacts, stakeholders etc. Setting expectations, personal performance objectives, PDPs, training plans etc. Tends to be done by the line manager, with input from HR on the process if required

   – Corporate induction: presentation on culture, values, company history and objectives. Tends to be done by L&D or a member of the senior management, or both.

   In my experience, you have to get all four right for the first few weeks’ and months’ employment experiences to be good.

7. Induction Thoughts
   Hi Claire
   I agree with other contributors in saying that the first few weeks of a new employee’s service are really important – they are most impressionable, and most mouldable into the culture of the organisation.

   An impactful, enjoyable, fun induction programme will help sell key messages about the organisation, its values and its key operating processes that will affect them.

   Just some suggestions…
   1. Engage with key departments in the preparation – get them to ‘sell their wares’ by nominating key speakers to attend, to brief new starters.

   2. Introduce an element of fun into health and safety (rather than death by powerpoint) by designing an exercise where they have to find the answers e.g.provide a load of health and safety information on a table. They compete in small groups to win a quiz about the topic (all the answers are on the table or they’ve got to visit another part of the building to retrieve an answer). Have a box of chocs for the winners.

   3. Provide magazines and company brochures; prit stick; flipchart paper to design a poster that best captures the values of the organisation (or perhaps the target customers, as I did in one high street retailer I used to work for). Get the M.D. to visit and judge the posters and say a few words to reinforce the ‘message’

   4. Have a test at the end to promote commitment during the induction. Have a pass mark for the test and insist they must pass it BUT!! tell them they can’t fail because you will allow them to take it as many times as they need to. So you have a balance of getting commitment but ensuring that the learning has happened.

   5. Make it easy for the employee’s department to do their part of the ‘on-job’ induction by providing information and checklists of what they need to do (e.g. off-job employee learns about fire evacuation procedures; on-job the department must ensure that the inductee knows the evacuation route from their work area, location of fire extingushers). I designed a checklist process for a leading insurer based on this principle. Let me know if you would like a sample page(bryanedw@aol.com).
   Hope that helps
   Happy Days!
   Bryan
   http://www.abctrainingsolutions.biz