INDUCTION MANUAL

We have all started working at places that just expect us to “hit the ground running” and
become productive extremely quickly. Many of us will have worked at places that regard an
induction as a waste of time, or think a quick tour of the building should be sufficient!

The benefits of induction training are vast and include: increased retention of newly hire
employees, improved employee morale and increased productivity. A properly crafted
induction plan will save you time and money in the long run that might have ended up being
spent on covering absences and hiring replacements.

An induction is the first point of contact between you and your new employee, so why not
spend some time making sure you get it right?

Ideally an induction should include:

a) Introduction to important staff (not just a quick hello but sufficient time to get acquainted
and identify their exact job role)

b) Tour of the building, pointing out fire exits, bathrooms, meeting rooms, boardrooms, useful
offices such as IT support staff, administration staff etc. Don’t forget to show them where to
find office stationery and the position of photocopiers / faxes.

c) Health and safety training as necessary dependent on job role; may include items such as
manual handling and where to find the health and safety notice board.

d) How to complete day to day tasks and where to find the necessary folders / files

The fourth task is the most important but often the most likely to be overlooked. It should take
place over a number of days dependent on the availability of the staff carrying out the training.
Ideally each task should be explained, then the trainee should be left for a short while to
practice. Following this, the trainer should then return to check progress, check
misunderstandings and then start the next task.

Induction Trainer Guidelines

1) Give the trainee your details to get hold of you by any method they choose – telephone,
email, face to face.

2) Provide training materials, at least a quick reference guide – ideally a full manual explaining
the task.

3) Call back regularly to check on progress. Just because you haven’t hear from them doesn’t
mean they are okay – they may just be the type that doesn’t like asking questions.

4) Ensure you ask your manager for sufficient time to carry out your role effectively – point out
you need to provide training materials and be available to answer questions at short notice.

5) Consider asking to attend a “train the trainer” course if induction training is something you
enjoy and would like to make it a bigger part of your role

Once the employee has completed their induction training, ask for feedback on how they feel it
went. What could be done to improve the procedure for future staff?

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1. What is the need for an HR in this communication?

In many orgs Hr is seen as a just a support organization that comes to the fray only when some
"people" based action/project needs to be implemented. It becomes hard for an employee to
know who are the people they can get in touch with hence its imperative that HR form a part of
the induction program not only as a presenter but as a convener!

2. As a new hire/new employee what are their expectations out of this session?

1) They should understand first about the company's values, vision, goals etd
2) they should be aware of the org. structure
3) They should be made aware of the people practices
4) they should be made aware of policies such as leave, medical, insurance, performance
management, promotion, job rotation, secondment, TDS, travel policy etc
5) Their appointment letter and break up of their Salary structure should be explained
6) They should be told of certain employee benefits e.g. Training programs, club,
compensations, holiday list, employee discounts, employee engagement practices

3. What are the new trends (apart from PPT, Word docs, Manuals) in this communication?

Have a good brochure designed!

Place important information on the desktop wallpapers!
Create a ready to use flash presentation that is self readable!

4. What kind of an experience are they expecting to go through during this induction?

they should find it as involving as possible!

they should be made to believe that they have made the right decision by choosing your
organization!
They should feel that they are aware of the culture and hence can easily blend in!

5. How/what is the best way of communicating to the new hires?

( Making sure its not an overload or they don't feel bored)

By way of a flash presentation!

But face to face program is always great! Make it more like a facilitated training program with a
lot of activities like energizers, introduction sessions etc!

6. Who is the best person to communicate?

The HR Asst. Manager, HR Manager, HR exec! However make sure that if there is a group or
even a single person induction, then the head honcho viz president, CEO, CLO, CFO get to meet
the new employees!!

Thats it!

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You can keep a notepad, pen and a small folder in welcome kit.

First of all make the new joiner very comfortable, then you can give them the necessary
forms to fill up.

In the induction program you can tell them about company history and small introduction of
all departments, you can explain them all the HR policies.

If your company has many departments you can keep induction program of more than one
day and if your organization is small you can complete the induction in one day. Take them
around the company and introduce them to all managers.

The idea of quiz is really good, you can tell them in advance that after the induction
program you will be taking their test, this way they will be more attentive towards the
program. You can take one question from each topic, for ex. How many departments are
there in the company, how many personal leaves are there in one year, etc.

You can prepare a checklist for the induction program to avoid confusion and not missing
any point. Checklist can be somewhat like following

Date:
Time:

Welcome kit
Filling up all forms
Information Company History
Explanation of HR policies
Information of all departments
Test/Quiz