How good is your new starter induction process?

Whether it be a temporary staff member or a new permanent member of your team, making sure that the new starter is fully inducted is a crucial part of the post-recruitment process that a lot of employers seem to neglect.
You’ve been through the painstaking process of shortlisting CV’s, interviewing candidates, deliberating over which person you want to hire and then you have to wait for a month for someone to work their notice period before they even step foot in the door as one of your employees. At this stage, a lot of people feel as though the work is done and the candidate is fully on board and committed to working for you and the company.

However, this is not always the case as a lot of candidates feel nervous about starting with a new employer, or are not 100% confident that they have made the right decision. Or they may be making their first move for many years so become very apprehensive about what to expect. Maybe the candidate had plenty of job offers and various companies are still trying to entice them with a better offer.

When a candidate starts with your business you want to create the best impression to help that new employee feel welcome and a part of the team as soon as possible and these are the simple things you can do.

Permanent staff

  • Make sure all the team know when the new starter is coming and that they know the individuals’ name.
  • Introduce the new starter to the full team when they arrive.
  • Ensure that their desk is set up as you would expect it to be if you were a new starter, that all materials the newcomer will require are prepared in advance, such as IT equipment, company literature, badges, passes, employee hand book, health & safety information etc.
  • Show the new starter around the office so they know where basic things are such as kitchen, toilets, reception etc.
  • Have a full work plan for their first week or two so they know exactly what to expect and they can see you’re organised with a full criteria of what you are going to train them on.  Examples of this can be what KPI’s or targets they are working to initially, an hour by hour plan of what they are doing throughout each day, what training they will be participating in and who with.
  • Ensure you sit down and go through general house rules so they know what to expect concerning, start and finish times, lunches, breaks, dress codes etc.
  • Explain promotion targets if applicable.
  • Assign the newcomer a mentor/buddy that they can turn to regarding matters they don’t necessarily want to speak to their manager about.

Temporary staff

With a temporary staff member, of course you can’t do all of the above but there are still elements of it you can put in place. Temporary staff are often neglected and not integrated within the team so being inclusive with them is important. Temporary staff often receive calls regarding other temporary vacancies that pay slightly more money, so if you can make them feel part of the team that may be the difference between losing them and retaining them.
If you’re doing all the above as part of your new induction for permanent new starters then you are giving yourself a real advantage of getting buy-in from your new staff for them to feel as though they have made the correct decision joining your organisation, as well as looking after your long-term goals. 
New starters are the future of your department, so why wouldn’t you invest in them?
If you would like a further discussion on implementing a new starter induction process, please contact Chris Crawford.
T: +44 161 829 0356 /+44 151 255 3776
M: +44 7810871790