Home » Blog » So what should be in an Induction Process?

Most of us, arriving nervously at a new job, want to feel people have thought about our arrival – there’s nothing worse than turning up and nobody knows you’re coming. But of course the manager is a busy person and will in all likelihood be busy doing her/his own job as well as covering the vacancy that the new starter is there to fill. So it is going to take company and planning to make sure that something is ready for them when they arrive. Make sure the process of starts before they arrive. So have you told them

• What time they should arrive?
• Who should they ask for?
• What should they bring with them?
• What the dress code is.

Then the moment the employee walks through the door on day one and you need to think about:

• Who will go to reception and welcome them
• Where they will sit
• Desk, chair, phone, laptop and any extras like a mobile phone that they may need
• Email address and logins to important systems.

Communicate the culture

If you value your company’s culture and have spent time developing it with your current staff, then it is important to communicate “the way we do things around here” to your new recruits. And it must be done within the first day or two or they will develop their own habits and resent changing. So someone needs to take time to explain to the new employee what the company’s values are, and how these are expressed in everyday life in that environment, this could be a ‘buddy’. This may cover things like:

• How to behave in the office
• How to treat customers and suppliers
• What is important at times of crisis
• Attendance and promptness at company or team meetings
… and any other cultural behaviours you have established

Acceptable behaviours

People in general will follow accepted behaviours if they are told what they are. So a meeting with HR should cover details like:

• Working hours
• Rules for booking holidays
• Lunch time cover
• What to do when sick
• Dress code
• How and when they will be paid
• Use of car for work
• Email/web use policies
• Smoking policies
• Where to find tea and coffee and use of a kitchen
• Rules for expenses
• Rules on parking

… and whatever else is needed to function within your company. An employee handbook can contain all this information for them to take away with them.

The job environment
Before you get into the functional bit of how to do the job don’t forget that time with their manager may need to cover:
• Their job description
• What is required of the job
• Key people in the company they need to communicate with
• Key suppliers or customers
• Expectations for their success
• KPIs and targets
• Reporting structure
• Perhaps a tour of the company being introduced to as many people as possible.

The job itself
Then, when all the above is covered, you are ready to actually train them on the job itself. This could be done by several different people each with particular specialisms, perhaps co-workers as well as the manager. And it is often best done in several sessions over days or weeks because it can be impossible to take in a lot of new information in one go.

If you think this is all too much, put yourself into the newcomer’s shoes and feel how it might be to arrive to disorganisation, being ignored and not knowing what is expected of you. You will have spent money on recruitment and that could be wasted if the induction process is done badly enough for the employee to leave a few days in. A useful tip is to make a list of all the elements that need to be covered with a new member of staff and allocate a person to each different section. Then pass the list round with the new recruit until all parts are ticked off.
If you want help setting up this process please contact us on enquiries@HRBusCons.co.uk.

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