Staff Induction

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Staff Induction Policy and Practice
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Karen Legges HRM Rhetorics and Realities, 1995
recommends a theoretical critique for studying
"HRM philosophies and functions. Induction
training as a policy and practice may be
evaluated from the four perspectives of

• Normative
• Descriptive-functional
• Critical-evaluative
• Descriptive-Behavioural

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Descriptive-Functional View

• Familiarisation system at point of entry to or
  movement within organisation (environment and job
  role)
• Standardisation for consistency and safeguard
  risk reduction - briefing, motivation, HS,
  quality
• Socialisation into culture, expectations and
  relationships
• Differentiate between general and job-specific
  induction
• What are the requirements at organisational
  job levels?
• Is induction strategic or just an operational
  matter?
• long term investment vs. 40 new staff starting
  Monday
• Who designs and delivers induction?

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Normative view?

• How we induct new existing staff into new
  situations reflects managerial commitment and
  culture.
• Equal or different greetings for core,
  peripheral, and sub-contracting staff?
• Inductees as passive or active learners?
• Induction content - pre-packaged or tailored with
  employee?
• Corporate maintenance of culture, values and
  expectations. A manifestation of Investors In
  People?
• Orientation to competitive forces in labour
  market?

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Talk to Training - not to Me

• Line manager responsibility vs. "Training" doing
  it?
• Planning follow-through. Evidence?
• Proactive inductee? Swim or drown
• Reception preparation.
• Design, implementation evaluation.
• Transaction processing - pay contract, OT
  queries, holidays, P45s
• Mentor role in familiarisation - loos,
  photocopying, lockers, canteen, computer account,
  expenses, office
• Job induction - must to know, should know, nice
  to know
• Learning curve (n.b. potential for induction
  crisis).
• Nurturing membership - problems motivation

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Induction Costs

• How would you
• calculate the costs of a policy?
• survey induction experiences outcomes?
• How would you calculate
• the benefits, the pay-offs?
• consequences of inadequacy/failure?
• strategic contribution?

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Descriptive-Behavioural

• How does induction actually happen? How is it
  received? Does it work? How do managers, trainers
  and existing staff feel about it? Consider
• Lip service
• The ubiquitous, boring one-day or 3-5 day
  induction course - (been here for 3 months?).
• Induction content - tangential to the job of
  little interest?
• Processes of membership acceptance
• Forming, storming, norming performing

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Critical Evaluative

• Induction as an organisation initiation ritual
• Joining and absorbing the rhetoric
• Reliability utility (cost effectiveness and
  VfM)
• A best practice model for induction?
• Compare actual delivery with textbook
  prescriptions
• Are activities techniques reliable, valid, cost
  effective?
• Induction processes/objectives woolly
  assumptions?
• How do learners and the firm actually benefit?
• improved knowledge, orientation, attitudes,
  skills? What criticisms do participants make?
• HRM/personnel role in induction - support,
  delivery evaluation or just going through the
  motions?

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Descriptive Behavioural

• Construing the induction process
• Socialisation, presentation and "face"
• On-stage, back-stage, off-stage
• Meeting the "good guys" the "bad guys"
• Encountering trouble spots organisational
  politics
• The Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde organisation

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HRM Boundary Management
Nature of induction activities and expectations

• Induction
• At point of entry
• On promotion or movement between jobs
  departments

DIY for senior professional roles? The learner
manager?
Junior Levels Induction courses? Departmental
induction? Computer-aided induction?
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Why Induction?

• brisk labour market (external and internal)
• New starters existing staff who acquire new
  roles/positions.
• Short-term, part-time or contract staff
• Significant Impressions in recruitment
  induction period
• AIM smooth job entry bring up to a level of
  mastery/independent functioning (competent in
  performance) ASAP/TDQ.
• Socialisation into norms, values, behaviours and
  expectations.
• Adaptation of the individual to culture of the
  firm.
• Employment obligations and induction?

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Is there a phenomenon such as an Induction Crisis?

• Staff shortage - new starters join and leave
  within the first few months
• Demoralising Waste of time and .
• Tendency for high turnover amongst recently
  employed staff. Acute with young workers
• Recruitment and training costs
• What if the training programme only accepts a new
  cohort every six months?
• Long-service staff carry extra loads must
  support new staff until they master their duties
  (the notion of competence).
• The notion of an induction crisis relates to
• people still making up minds about the job
  (journey to work), interpersonal chemistry (group
  socialisation) and adjustment (job/culture shock)

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Induction stages?
This is a generalised Picture . Does it happen?
Crisis
Transitional attachment
Staff Turnover
Mature membership
2 months
3 - 9 months
gt 9 months etc
Time
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Induction Schedule
Day 1
Rest of the week
The rest of the month
The rest of the year
corporate matters policies imperatives
job matters over and above
What preparation? What content? What process?
generic competencies prior experience
progress review with line manager HRM
the learning-event
cycle of the job
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Who to induct? Who needs it?

• Assumption new starters are recruited
  effectively with
• existing know-how (generic competencies
  relevant experience)
• ability to adapt and learn quickly
• What will the following need to know?
• new starters with little or no experience your
  industry, products and customers?
• women re-entering employment after a career
  break?
• youngsters straight from school or college?
• internal promotees or transferees?
• experienced senior staff who are joining, say,
  from a rival?
• How will induction vary by job level,
  age/experience, sex, ethnic background,
  qualifications/prior training?

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Example

• A City department store is taking on extra staff
  for the Christmas peak period and January sales.
  A large cohort of new people have to be inducted
  into the store and introduced to everything from
• Knowledge from staff restaurants to their new
  departments
• departmental merchandise, cash-handling and
  return of goods procedures etc.
• Further briefing on their terms and conditions of
  employment, company rules and policies
• introductions to boss, work colleagues and
  interdepartmental network
• Other Company policies. Which?

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Hidden tensions

• Effective induction delivers a message to new
  employees that "we support our staff. Welcome to
  the "family. But
• Newcomer anxiety - strange new environment.
• Information absorption overload?
• Confusion exclusion. Mistakes seen to be slow
  on the up-take.
• The period of socialisation - needs to run its
  course as new employees pick up the norms and
  behaviours that colleagues and body corporate
  expect.
• New-comers must cope adjust to a new schedule
  including journey to/from work, job start and
  end-of-day procedures, personal breaks.

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Assignments

• How would you research the image of the
  corporation that new starters develop within
  3-months of starting work?
• Evaluate the proposition that existing staff and
  managers take too much for granted and
  under-estimate the range of items that newcomers
  need to become familiar with.
• In what way might an induction programme
  reinforce the socialisation of the new employee
  into the accepted (presumably ethical) modes of
  behaviour required by the organisation?
• The induction crisis is a myth? How would you
  prove or disprove it?

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Induction Briefings Need to Know
What might they be expected to do for themselves?

• New starters need full briefing about
• workplace geography (where things are),
• job related procedures and methods duties,
  routines/non-routines, terms and conditions of
  employment
• opportunities to settle down with work colleagues
  - friendship formation
• company policies and standards, and, history
• corporate legends
• previous post-holder's unfinished business plus
• the schedule for continuity.
• Personnel matters - health and safety,
  disciplinary codes, payroll administration.

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A new starter is due to start on Monday. What
can (should) be covered in the first week?

• The job tasks, cycles, routines, non-routines?
• Key stages, pointers - the methods, the risks,
  the calculations?
• Priorities and back-logs of work and priorities?
• Backgrounds/histories, clients/suppliers?
• Policies, procedures, standards, imperatives?
• Detail requires understanding the job in
  action. We need
• a programme of introduction to Key, non-generic
  aspects.
• if no systematic programme - then danger of
  confusion frustration in. "Bring thrown in at
  the deep end".
• Order predictability vs. too much stifling
  prescription.

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Other Induction Content

• Role network
• the boss, other dept/project functions,
  co-workers, groups, external contacts - supply
  chain, customer contacts etc. Decision points.
• Conditions of employment
• full contract familiarisation hours, physical
  conditions - the office, the locker, the keys,
  the car park. Hours, holidays. Staff facilities
  and entitlements. TU membership, medicals,
  licenses to operate. Health, safety, fire etc
• Company Function Overview
• the firm's products, services, policies
  programmes. Strategic imperatives. Development
  opportunities. IT facilities software - user
  account, EMail, general bespoke systems etc.
• Legislation in relation to job?
• HSafety, Data Protection, Equal Opps?

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Timetable/Programme

• Put "things-to-be-learnt/absorbed-now" into a
  timetable (days/weeks/months). Re-useable code.
• New starters even on first day need to connect
  with their new tasks.Too much talk and chalk?
• Achievement contribution. "I feel that I have
  started to contribute".
• Guide, coach, mentor at different points?
• From induction briefing to engagement with work
  sections.
• Preparation of local supervisors/staff to -
  continue induction at job level.
• Differentiate between off-the-job on-the-job
  elements.

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http//sol.brunel.ac.uk/bola/jobs/mediajob/mediare
l.html
Self-study Assignment - the Media Relations
Officer

• Who will carry out the induction?
• What coaching/information communication will the
  following undertake
• chief executive? Why?
• department managers? Why?
• the team leader/supervisor
• experienced staff
• personnel and training officer
• health and safety representative
• staff/managers from client and suppliers internal
  external
• other?
• What time scales are involved for the programme?
• When will induction be at an end?

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Self-study Assignment - Loft Shop Manager
http//sol.brunel.ac.uk/bola/jobs/loft/loft.html

• Consider the Loft Shop Manager job. What
  induction might usefully take place at each of
  the following stages?
• prior to joining the organisation
• on the first day
• in the first week
• the first month
• within the initial three months
• thereafter?
• How, as a new training officer, would you
  research the induction requirements?

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Self-study Assignment

• If you started a new job recently, review this
  experience and evaluate how effective your
  induction was. What was successful? What was
  missing and how could it be improved?
• Alternatively
• Interview a recent, new starter in your
  workplace. Obtain feedback on their induction
  experiences and attitudes.
• Given the feedback you have obtained, what
  recommendations would you make for change to
  induction policy and practices?

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Self-study Assignment

• Investigate your company's overall current system
  of induction for groups of staff?
• How many inductees are welcomed each year/month?
  What is the volume?
• Who runs it? Why them?
• Examine the elements of the programme. Consider
  the materials paperwork, checklists, methods and
  practical work etc that are used. Gather
  together all the paperwork.
• How much do induction activities and structures
  cost?
• How well is the transfer from the induction
  training room to the job department managed?
• How could the induction approach be improved?
• Obtain the reactions/experience of supervisors,
  trainers, newcomers

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Young, new starters

• Consider the special case of young people
  starting work for the first time. They are new to
  the world of work.

• What adjustments will they have to make?
• What may come as a shock?
• How will you support them as they make
  adjustments?
• How will you secure and maintain their interest
  and enthusiasm?
• What is the scope for using computer-aided
  instruction for basic, routine induction?

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Evaluate

• Instructional methods that are used in induction
  programmes
• The contribution of computer aided learning for
  induction in large organisations? CD Rom or via a
  company Intranet?
• What Computer-aided learning is being used . by
  whom and with what effect?
• Which organisations would use computer-aided
  learning? What is holding them back?