Mastering Staff Development: A Guide to Effective Employee Induction Programs
Updated: Jul 27, 2023
Written by: Sarah Bailey | Training Solutions | Learning & Development | New hire induction training | Employee induction Program
What is an Employee Induction Program?
An Induction is the process of introducing a new employee to an organisation where new hires adjust or acclimatise to their new jobs and working environment efficiently, safely and in line with organisational procedures.
The first impression of an organisation has a significant impact an employees integration within the team and job satisfaction. An Employee Induction Programme is an opportunity for an organisation to welcome their new hire, help them settle in and ensure they have the knowledge and support needed to perform their role effectively.
An ineffective induction may affect turnover, absenteeism, brand and culture. According to the Resourcing and talent planning survey, conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in 2020, 42% of organisations are improving their induction process to enhance employee retention.
Who needs induction training?
It is important that organisations invest time in all new employees, regardless of whether they are full-time, part-time or temporary workers. Certain groups will require tailored inductions based on their role or circumstances, such as graduates, directors, technical specialists and employees returning from career breaks, long-term absence or parental leave.
Tailor-made programmes should also be available for groups such as job-sharers, temporary staff, promoted staff, transferred staff and remote workers. As more organisations are working remotely due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that organisations tailor their induction programmes so new hires have a positive onboarding experience and additional support to connect with new colleagues.
What to include in an employee induction program?
Instead of inundating new hires with an abundance of information in their first few days, it is important to create training that focuses on specific tasks and areas of key information that employees need to be successful during their first few days and weeks in their new role.
The features of an induction training programme would normally include:
1. Company overview
Culture and values: Include a description of the company culture. Is it a progressive, laid-back company or a serious, conservative workplace? You might also share your company’s core values, mission statement, and code of ethics or business conduct, if one exists.
Company history: Try to keep your company history short, concise, and relevant. An explanation of how, why, and when the company was started along with a brief timeline of key events in the company’s history should be sufficient.
Team structure: Let your new hires know how the company is structured. Consider providing an organisation chart as well as descriptions of the various teams and their core functions. You might want to include the name and contact information of key personnel.
Leadership: Your new employee induction training might include short bios of the high-level executives and leadership figures within the organisation.
2. Attendance and Leave
Hours of work: Clearly outline the hours of work. This will vary depending on if it’s an office job with core business hours or a retail environment with shifts and set schedules. You might also cover the overtime policy as well as details for clocking in and out, if required.
Time off: You’ll want to cover details about holiday allowances, emergency leave and , and sick days, if they are available. Describe the process for requesting leave or taking a sick day.
Miscellaneous: Consider also covering leaves of absence, absenteeism, breaks, meals, and any other policies or rules related to attendance and leave.
3. Compensation
Getting paid: Use this section to let your employees know how and when they get paid. What are the pay periods and the payroll deductions?
Expenses: Outline your company’s policy for expenses, such as travel, training and subsidiaries. Clearly explain the policies, as well as the process for submitting expenses or receipts.
Bonuses, commissions, and raises: If your company offers bonuses or commissions, you might want to outline the policies surrounding those and how and when employees will receive them.
4. Company Benefits
Insurance: If your organisation offers insurance benefits such as health, life, and disability insurance, provide information and details about the policies and how they should enrol.
Investments: Inform your employees about any, retirement, or savings plans your company offers. If they need to sign up, let them know what forms they need to fill out and how they should enrol.
Miscellaneous: If your company offers any other perks or benefits, such as gym membership, career development opportunities, paid training or education, employee discounts, preferential rates for products, or anything else, let your employees know how they can take advantage of this.
5. Systems and Applications
Communication tools: You’ll want to teach new employees how to use all the company’s communication tools, including email and phones. If you use any other communication tools such as Teams or Zoom, let your new hires know how they can get access and start using those tools.
Software and hardware: Instructions on how to use tools, websites, or systems that are used company-wide can be covered in the new employee training. The training can also cover how to use printers, copy machines, coffee machines, or any other equipment.
6. Company Policies
Safety and security: Cover anything employees need to know related to safety and security. Where to park, how to access the building, keycodes, or employee identification passes can be covered here.
Compliance training: If your company has any compliance training, such as anti-bribery and corruption, workplace harassment, data management, or computer security training, that all employees must complete, provide instructions for how and when to access that training.
7. Additional Information
Contact information: Include contact information in your training for key people that new hires need to know about. You should also provide details about who they should get in touch with in case of further questions.
As there is so much information for a new hire to take in, it may be helpful to provide an Induction Pack with all the relevant written information that can be gathered in advance that the new hire to refer back to at a later date.
In addition to all of the above, the induction pack would normally also include a welcome letter from the CEO, glossary of terms frequently used within the organisation and an organisation chart of all personnel.
Some organisations have this information pack printed, whilst others have it in electronic format. Whichever format you choose for your organisation, take care that the information provided doesn’t become out dated too quickly.
What to avoid
An effective induction programme should be engaging and assure the new hire that they have made the right decision to join the organisation. In the first few days and weeks there’s a much greater risk of losing people – don’t let them feel they’ve made the wrong decision in joining you.
Here are some tips on what to avoid when developing your induction programmes;
Overwhelming the new hire by providing too much, too soon. Keep it simple, relevant and spread it out over the first few days/weeks.
Throwing the new hire in at the deep end - Instead be supportive by gradually introducing the new hire to different tasks. This will help them gain confidence and understanding from the start.
If you are a smaller organisation, do not leave it all for local managers and HR. Try sharing the load with the team as this will help build relationships with the new hire
Overselling the job - This leads to over expectations resulting in disappointment.
Lack of structure - Plan your induction process carefully and ensure that those involved know what they are responsible for. Likewise, clearly communicate your induction to the new hire so they know where they are supposed to be and when.
Lack of ownership - Have one person responsible for overseeing and managing new hire inductions. Stressed or distracted staff will put new hires off from the start and undermine the induction process.
Delaying the induction as the new hire may start to pick up snippets of information and possibly miss key details in the process.
Text based training - Human beings are much more likely to learn and retain information through visual representation rather than reams of documented text. E-learning developers and instructional designers are experts in this field and can help new hires get up to speed and quickly become productive through the development of interactive and engaging onboarding and induction programmes.
Evaluation
The induction process should be evaluated to determine whether it’s meeting the needs of both the new hire and the organisation. This should include opportunities for feedback at the end of the induction process and allow new hires to highlight areas for improvement.