In blog one we started our new starter induction journey. We asked for ideas, feedback and experiences for the new induction from around the business. We categorised the importance of the feedback for the new induction. In this blog we move onto the next part – what is a ‘need to have’ and what is a ‘nice to have’ using our feedback to start the process of designing your induction.
Below is a list of typical subjects that are often included within new starter inductions. It does not mean you have to include them. It’s all about putting the best information together that helps your new starters get comfortable from day one.
Useful tip: we often use a meeting room, loads of flip chart paper, pens and post-it notes to build the content and structure of the induction as a group. It also helps to identify the areas where you will need support from other parts of the business.
Consider how to incorporate new technology into your induction that adds value and saves new starters time and reduces the amount of tell information often contained within inductions. Examples are e-learning sites that can cover off basic information using temporary passwords before new starters join. Using video, podcasts, games and activities to give a great first impression even before they arrive for day one. Then there are the forms to fill in, paperwork to complete, policy, procedures documents to read, H&S policies and more. Think about how these can be designed and presented and maybe put into online portals that reduce HR paperwork and are then not required within the induction.
Here are some of the subjects that could go into a typical new starter induction:
-
Welcome & Intro to the company
-
Getting to know everyone
-
What we do (company history)
-
Meet the team & company structure
-
What everyone gets (benefits)
-
How we do things around here (brand, values & culture)
-
A tour of head office / company premises
And here are some subjects that can be added to benefit specific roles or requirements within your induction:
-
Products & services training
-
Sales training
-
Customer service training
-
Systems training
-
Compliance training
-
Health & safety training
-
Assessments / knowledge tests / role plays & practice
-
Call listening / video examples
-
On the job training/mentoring/coaching
This is not an exhaustive list…
Often we find every business has specific requirements that will need including (found out in the research time from blog one). It all depends on how you categorised its importance, even specific skills based training or specific job role training. Remember the four sections from our feedback in blog one.
Section 1
- Info that helps all new starters – would be agreed by all as important to include in your induction.
Section 2
- Info that is ‘nice to have’ not ‘need to have’ – depends on time available within the induction and what value it adds to all your attendees can it be done using an online portal/e-learning system.
Section 3
- Job specific info that may need to be covered by managers – helps you to decide if it’s something that a manager would cover after the induction for their specific employees/department, or if all induction attendees would benefit across your business, again some elements could be standardised and done through online or e-learning platforms.
Section 4
- If money was not an issue – we know this is dictated by your budget, time and available resources – unless it also falls into section 1 and everyone agrees the value & return on investment outweighs the cost. The important thing is not to drop it because of cost, inductions are long term investments, and higher upfront costs are often shown to have long term value and a return on that investment.
The aim is to get all the elements written up (displayed on the wall) and then to start adding the detail around each subject.
An example:
Here we have a flip chart example of the ‘Welcome and introduction to the company’ content section. This would probably be one of the first subjects to include in our induction. Here we have broken the subject down detailing what content we want covered, what media to use, the support and resources required and any other elements that could make it fun, relevant and interesting. At this stage all ideas are added without rejection. Once every subject has had similar detail added then you can use the four sections (shown above) to identify its importance, relevance and cost of production.
Once you have exhausted each subject, you can start to add which people or departments may need to help you or support you and then allocate who is responsible to complete the actions/tasks. We will talk more about in-house support and the idea of outsourcing in blog three. For now it is useful to identify the skills and resources that you know you have within your team.
You can also colour code or prioritise the ideas on your flip charts based on the importance it has to your new starters, how much cost in time/money is required to complete it and if it is likely the business will allow you to do it if it comes at a cost.
The art of designing & delivering a great induction is balancing how much time you have and/or need, the quality of materials and resources and skills available to you within your agreed budget.
In blog three we will look in more detail at budgets for creating and running your inductions.
In the meantime you have enough here to start your induction project plan, you have an idea of the subjects and the content and for those of you who love to use excel, an opportunity to create a beautiful project plan that allocates responsibility for the workload, sets timescales and expectations. Or if you’re lucky, you might have some project management software like Dapulse or Wrike that can make it even easier for you. There are lots of project management software tools available that are designed to simplify running projects – some are free; some will be chargeable. However Excel is just as easy to use in our opinion for occasional projects. Either way it will help if you create a project plan so that no elements are missed during the project and progress can be monitored and updated by all involved and the leadership team can be kept updated and budgets tracked.
If you’re thinking about putting a new starter induction together and need support and resources to get it done, why not get in touch today and talk to us about your ideas.
