Does your business have a formal induction plan for new hires?
An induction plan will help ensure that the initial impressions on the first day of a new job are positive, and the new employee starts off productively.
Develop an induction plan for your business
1) Identify key current employees to be ‘buddies’ with, or provide hands-on training to the new hire. You want to be proactive in freeing up time and resources for the ‘buddy’ to be effective and train the new hire to be productive as soon as possible.
2) Have a checklist of items to have ready when they get to work on their first day, as an example:
- Computer
- Email account setup
- Locker
- Uniform, phone, supplies
- Clean desk
- Clean truck
3) Provide access to training items, safety rules, passwords and keys ready for what may be applicable.
It may seem like a little thing, but imagine the impression a new employee would have upon arriving for their first day and hearing, “Oh, is today the day you start? Let’s look around and find you a place to work.”
Compared to, “Here is your clean desk, and your email account is set up. Let me introduce you to the team and make sure we give you a great first impression.”
Depending on the significance of the hire, you might even consider arranging a social event for the team to meet and greet the new member.
Consider the cost to replace employees
When compared to the cost of turnover to replace any employee, the initial investment in making sure the new hire will become productive quickly is well worth it.
If your business doesn’t have a formal process now for new hires, consider starting a system for this process. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect from the start, but you should review it and tweak it with your team after each new hire to make sure the process continues to improve and evolve.
