The art of inspiring a new starter through their induction

This post is written by Shanita Jetha, transformation culture, communications and engagement manager for rail at the UK’s Department for Transport.

• The problem: Many organisations fail to prioritise delivering impactful inductions, which has long-term consequences for the employee and employer.

• Why it matters: By planning and prioritising good inductions, employees are more likely to feel welcome, immerse themselves in the company’s culture, understand their work duties, are more likely to deliver on the work objectives early on – and are even more likely to stay in the organisation for longer.

• The solution: Ensuring a structured approach to designing and delivering inductions that is tailored to the needs of the organisation and the experience of the new employee.

Starting a new job is never easy, and the challenges of joining a new team remotely in January 2021 made it even harder for me. What I would soon discover however is that my line manager considered these all-too-common challenges when preparing for my induction. I was the first in my directorate to pilot a structured learning curriculum designed to build up my knowledge in trade policy, my organisation and directorate, and job-specific areas quickly… within six weeks to be precise. Given trade policy was new to me, you can imagine how relieved I was when I heard that!

Over the last year, I piloted the induction, worked with my team to develop it further, launched it across my directorate, and promoted and monitored its uptake. Not only did I become increasingly passionate about the need to invest in new starters right from the beginning, I quickly developed my understanding of what a good induction looks like and what we all should be striving for.

There’s a model to describe how we best learn – 70:20:10

Don’t let the numbers scare you – quite simply, the ‘70:20:10’ model describes the optimum ratio of how we learn and develop, i.e., through a mixture of on-the-job experiences (70%), interactions with others (20%) and formal learning (10%).

The different elements outlined in your structured induction should complement each other; some may be designed to understand _what _the theory is, whilst others are to understand _how _it is applied. Understand the purpose of why a particular element is included in an induction – if you don’t know why you have asked your new starter to do a particular e-learning, they probably don’t know either.

Plan, plan and plan

If you are designing what goes into your new starter's induction, there are lots of tools available to help you plan. A good induction will include dedicated time and resources for new starters to develop an understanding of the organisation and team’s objectives, values and policies; obtain job-specific knowledge they need to do their job, and understand the bigger picture and theory of the area they are working in. This should be through a mixture of readings, e-learnings, catch-ups, meeting key stakeholders and anything else that may be relevant.

Think carefully about how they can obtain this knowledge over their induction period; for example, the induction I piloted ensured that 100% of my time in the first two weeks was spent on my learning and development, and then my work tasks gradually increased after my third week.

Similarly, presentation also matters. Many of us may be used to receiving lots of emails on our first day – with lots of essential readings but little context on how best to approach where to begin. If you can compile all the induction activities in one document, this will make it a lot easier for new starters to digest their induction materials easily – first impressions are important.

Readings and e-learnings first, then catch-ups

During my six-week structured induction, my line manager provided me with recommendations of what reading materials to do before I met specific staff working in that area for an intro chat. This was very helpful as I went into my intro chats with an awareness of what the team does, the theory behind it, and specific questions ready. Good planning will make this a lot easier to do, and will let your new starter make the most of their induction period.

"Let’s put engaging inductions on the agenda and empower new starters to work independently, confidently and deliver on their objectives"

Allocate a buddy… even a mentor too

With hybrid ways of working more common, it can be difficult for new starters to find a buddy themselves if they are not regularly in the office. Allocating a buddy to your new starter from day one ensures they are well supported to clarify their understanding, build up knowledge, or even just have someone to chat to.

The power of a mentor shouldn’t be underestimated either. Signposting your new starters to potential mentors during their induction provides an opportunity right from the beginning for them to learn and grow through a mutual partnership as they navigate their career and learnings. No surprise if this has retention benefits too!

Be present, but also provide autonomy

The best inductions are adaptable to the needs of the new starter. Whether it is accommodating how they learn best or the flexible times they work, provide the resources your new starter needs for their induction and trust them to manage their time and resources. During their first week, you can have a chat about the frequency of check-in meetings to discuss their induction progress. This will show them that you care and value their time.

Let’s put engaging inductions on the agenda and empower new starters to work independently, confidently and deliver on their objectives as a result too.

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