New team member? Here's your employee induction checklist

By Robert Half 19 May 2017

A good employee induction training program will familiarise your new recruits with the company, as well as ease them into their roles smoothly.

To conduct a successful induction training session for new employees, there are five essential parts to cover. However, before you start thinking ‘big picture’, cover all the basics of onboarding. These include providing new employees with building access from day one, setting up their desk and computer, and giving a site tour so they can make their way around independently.

1. Get to know the company

Start the day by giving new recruits a brief rundown of the business. How long has the company been in operation? How many staff members? What are the main business goals and competitive advantages? Who are the company’s key stakeholders or clients?

Give an up-to-date report of company news and projects, but keep the content engaging. You wouldn’t want them nodding off within the first 30 minutes of the employee induction program.

2. Company culture

Talk about how the company treats its staff, outline values that the organisation fosters and describe any incentives given to achieve goals. Invite a current employee to talk about their experience within the company and encourage them to be honest and allow questions.

If the business features a separate service centre or manufacturing plant nearby, take new employees to visit. They can gain an appreciation of how the other parts of the business functions and observe different aspects of working culture at play.

3. Who’s who?

Introduce the leaders of the business and outline the reporting structure. Explain how the various departments of the business work and interact. Place key team members and stakeholders in front of new employees so they can describe their roles in the business.

Ask the same question of new staff members: who are they? Show that you’re interested in them as people. Give them an opportunity to explain their work history, background and goals. Ask which aspects of their job they predict will provide the most job satisfaction and why.

4. Expectations

Whether this conversation occurs within the group or in private, what’s most important is that the ‘expectation’ conversation happens from the outset.

First, explain what the company expects of its staff. Outline whether the focus is on achieving KPIs and sales targets, or if the objective is meeting longer-term goals. Second, provide the timeline for performance reviews and advice on how staff can prepare for these evaluations.

5. Key policies, procedures and training

Advise timelines for staff training opportunities and system set-ups, and go through health and safety procedures. Always ensure that new staff is registered on the payroll system.

It can be embarrassing for a new worker to complain about not being paid within the first pay cycle. This advice seems obvious to do but often falls through the cracks.

Achieve the objective of an employee induction

At the end of the employee induction session, staff should feel less ‘new’ and more comfortable as a team member. Make the employee feel empowered to begin their journey with the company immediately, but with enough resources to help them along the way in case they don’t.

They don’t want to feel dependent on a manager to hold their hand every step of the way. Give them the initiative to get started in the business, and you’ll quickly see how resourceful they are.

If your new employee is a millennial, read our post on how to manage Generation Y workers for some additional tips on how you can get the most out of them.

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