Induction Process

Planning an induction process for new employees is designed to ensure that the new employees settle into their employment easily to enable them to become effective as soon as possible.  According to research, effective induction processes encourage closer identification with the employers and also assists to reduce employee turnover.

Staff Induction Process

Most employers will have an induction programme but to ensure that it is working well it is useful to have a review of it with those employees who have passed through the process and have been in their jobs for a reasonable period of time.  An effective induction programme should be applied to new recruits as well as employees moving from one job to another.

Elements to include in an induction programme

A typical checklist of elements to include in an induction programme is:

1. The greeting of new employees – the new employee should have someone designated to meet them on arrival, to carry out the necessary personal information checks and to put in place any necessary security arrangements.

2. Information – the new employee should be given information about the company including an overview of the company’s structure, history, products, services and other aspects of the business.

3. The job – in terms of its content, how the department fits into the company as a whole, the expected key performance indicators, how these are evaluated and an explanation of the employee’s work colleagues including the line of reporting.

4. The main terms and conditions of employment – a Written Statement of the Main Terms and Conditions of Employment should be issued to new staff during the induction process to include the fundamental elements of the employment relationship i.e. pay, hours of work, holiday, sickness and notice of termination.

5. Company rules – an Employee Handbook is normally developed by professional organisations and the rules, policies and procedures within this document should be thoroughly explained to the new employee.

6. Security – in relation to access to the workplace, passwords, document authorisations etc.

7. Health and safety – giving the employees skills and knowledge needed to do their job safely. This will include any risk assessments for employees who describe any physical or other issues which will affect their ability to do the job in a particular way.

8. Data protection – an explanation of the information and documents kept in relation to the new employee should be explained.

9. Training and development – should include an explanation of any performance appraisal systems in place. Employers should assess whether the new employee needs any short, medium or long term training for them to successfully perform their job to the highest level.

10.  Employee benefits and facilities – will include information on any company benefits, such as private medical insurance, death in service benefit etc.

11.  Employee representation – to include any information on any Trade Union recognition or membership procedures that are in place.

12.  Layout of the workplace – to include a tour of the offices and an assimilation of the facilities within the building.

On some occasions employees will have particular requirements especially if they are school leavers, female employees returning after maternity leave, someone moving to a completely new position, employees who are disabled or employees returning to work after a long period of unemployment.  In such cases specific attention should be paid within the induction process to the individual requirements of these categories of employee.