Inductions: a warm welcome

First Line Managers / 22 July 2011

Want your new starter to hit the ground running? Then make sure their induction is about more than fire exits and folders full of information. Laura Johnson explains how to make your new recruits feel welcome and ready to work

It’s your first day in a new job. After some confusion at reception, you’re finally greeted by someone with a brow so furrowed you can only imagine they had no idea you were arriving today. You follow them through a sea of gawping faces to your desk, leaving a cloud of whispering curiosity in your path. Unfortunately, your laptop hasn’t arrived yet and your line manager has got caught up in a meeting. Never mind, that bulging lever arch file of induction information should keep you busy until they have a window of opportunity to say hello.

Without the warm welcome of a well-prepared induction, all the positive excitement, motivation and anticipation a new starter feels about a job can quickly evaporate. On day one, a new joiner will have certain ideas about the organisation based on the interview process and their own research. This will have informed their decision to accept the role – and how this compares to reality will influence how long they stay.

“The induction process needs to have clear objectives,” says Nicola Deas, head of career management at talent and career management consultancy Right Management. “It’s about ensuring the individual has all the information they need to do their job, but also helping them understand the organisation they are now in so they can almost delight and congratulate themselves for making the right decision. In those early few days and weeks people will question lots of things, so part of the induction has to involve reinforcing messages and helping the individual to love the organisation they’re in.”

But it’s not always love at first sight. Good inductions aren’t just one-off occurrences that take place only in the first week – they’re designed to guide, support and inspire newcomers throughout the ups and downs of their first few months in a role.

Make it personal

Employees are rarely engaged and inspired by trawling through an intranet. “Rather than just giving new starters a checklist and telling them to ‘go off, read those and get on with your job’, we like to take a more personal approach,” says Louise Sobierski, development consultant at property consultancy GVA.

There can be a fear factor among existing employees. What’s this new person like? What’s going to change? Are they going to alter my working methods?

Nicola Deas, head of career management, Right Management

The firm’s three-tiered approach to inductions (every new starter is taken through corporate, office and divisional level processes) has personal touches scattered throughout, with opportunities to meet fellow newcomers, peers and the company’s leaders.

Preparation is key

The little things matter. A manager does not want the positive mindset of a new employee to be quashed by careless preparation. “It’s essential that on day one everything is ready for the new starter, so they don’t have to wait for a password to be set up or a laptop to be ordered,” says Sobierski. “And make people aware a new starter is joining, so they can be integrated into the team as quickly as possible.”

The importance of this last point should not be underestimated. “There can be a fear factor among existing employees. What’s this new person like? What’s going to change? Are they going to alter my working methods?” says Deas. Introducing a new person in advance will crush any gossip-exaggerated mystery and pave the way for a much warmer welcome from the team.

Hands-on experience

A good induction process does not rely solely on getting everyone in one room for a bland, routine corporate session. Smart employers give newcomers the chance to do a more informal, hands-on exploration of the business in their first few months. 

“Somebody joining a company can actually feel quite isolated,” says Deas. “When they understand how they fit into the process, there is an improvement in productivity and morale.”

A good example of this approach is logistics company DHL’s Follow the Supply Chain initiative. “We get the goods into our warehouse and what new joiners can do is follow the supply chain,” says Ruth Stone, global talent manager at DHL. “For example, one day they’ll go out with the drivers and see what they do as they drop off the products picked up from the warehouse. Then on another day, for example, I worked at Boots’ chilled foods division, so I went to where they make all the sandwiches. You see the full supply chain.”

As a result, rather than newcomers spending their first few months scratching their heads and wondering why something isn’t working, they can understand where a problem may arise in other areas of the supply chain and know who to approach to resolve this.

Buddy up

There are some more practical aspects of an induction that line managers are best to delegate. This is where buddies come in. “A buddy is generally a peer with no line management responsibility for the new starter,” says Stone. “For example, it may be someone on the same lunch break, so they’ll go to lunch with them, introduce them to their friends, show them where the canteen is and so on.”

But introducing the uninformed to an organisation’s cultural nuances isn’t the only purpose of a buddy. “Within the buddy process we have buddy reviews,” Stone adds. “At the end of every week, the buddy will sit down with the new starter and ask ‘How are you getting on?’ and ‘Have you got any questions you need me to speak to people about?’ After this, the buddy will give a summary to their manager.” Having a buddy they feel comfortable talking openly with is one way to identify and resolve any teething problems at an early stage.

Quick wins

When it comes to setting development goals, focusing on helping a new team member to secure some early successes is a sure-fire way to boost their confidence. “Make sure you’re celebrating quick wins,” Deas advises. “But praise all of those involved, not just the new person. And let the business know about these quick wins – it shows it was the right recruitment decision.”

Getting someone off to a good start not only reflects well on the new team member but also on you as a manager. So although inductions may seem like a lot of additional hard graft, it is definitely in your best interests to work with new employees to get things off to a positive start.

Nicola Deas, head of career management at Right Management, gives her top three tips for running a successful induction:

No distractions
If you want someone to be a change agent, you’ve got to help them be a change agent. If you’ve brought them in to do a role, let them do it. Don’t set them off on other tasks that don’t impact on their role and responsibilities.

Don’t do it alone
Quite often an induction is designed by one person, when actually it should be designed and contributed to by a number of people in the business. By inviting people for input into the design of the induction process, you’re bringing in a network of people with whom the individual can be in touch straight away.

Smoothing the way
One of the best induction processes I’ve seen is when organisations ask people to spend time in the business before they start on day one. It’s a working day, spending time with the team and the people they’ll be working closely with. It helps an individual get up to speed before they join, but it also helps confirm they’ve made the right decision.