When a new person joins your team (just like our lovely new colleague, Philippa!), you’ll need to start their induction process. While this might sound like a tick-box exercise it should be anything but, as a great induction benefits both your employees and you as the employer.
A good induction makes sure your new recruit integrates well within and across your organisation. To do that, they need to understand your culture, its people and your expectations of them as an employee.
For you as an employer, setting the right tone and expectations from the start increases employee commitment and wellbeing, strengthens your recruitment process, and reduces staff turnover and absences.
There are many integrated parts to a well-designed induction programme. But here are five top tips to get you started and guarantee your induction process is smooth and successful:
- Don’t provide too much information at once
You’d be forgiven for thinking you need to give your new employee every detail about their role and the organisation on day one. Yet, this can be really overwhelming. Tell your new recruit the most important details first so they don’t feel overloaded. Then you can build their knowledge and confidence over time.
- Introduce culture, not just compliance
Starting with a list of admin rules and compliance procedures can be uncomfortable and alienating. Instead, make sure your new recruits understand your organisation’s culture. Introduce them to the people they’ll be working with (so they can get to know their new colleagues and learn from them) and their roles (so it’s clear how and where they fit into the wider team).
- Set fair expectations
No one wants to start a new job feeling conflicted or confused. Avoid that by setting expectations that are both clear and reasonable. That way, your new team member will feel confident about what you expect from them and comfortable they can meet your needs (and they’ll know who to ask for support if they’re unsure about anything).
- Let them know you’re here to help
An induction isn’t just about going through the motions, so you shouldn’t simply stop offering support once the official process ends. Though you might have hired a brilliant employee who you trust to do a great job, you still need to put steps in place to show you’re there for them. Scheduling fixed one-to-one catch-ups is a really helpful way to make sure you’re providing ongoing support, even if your diary is hectic.
- Make the process personal
Procedures and policies are, naturally, incredibly important. But that shouldn’t come at the expense of your new recruit feeling welcome. Showing them they’re valued helps them feel like part of the team from the start, and sets them up for a long, happy career working with you.
Having an induction process ready to put in place creates a great company culture, where employees feel really pleased they’ve joined you and are keen to stay as part of your team for a long time to come.
At McMillan & Associates HR, we use tried and trusted HR practices to build bespoke induction processes based on your organisation and your people. Take a look at how that works or email lucy@mcmillanandassociateshr.com.