Best Practice Induction

A good induction process will help you to get the most from your new employee. It's an opportunity for a new starter to engage with the company, learn who is who and start to understand the work environment. Inductions are particularly necessary if you are employing an apprentice, trainee or young, first-time employee.

Before your new employee starts, use the induction checklists below to make sure your business runs best-practice induction processes to get your new hire ready to hit the ground running.

Before your new hire arrives

Read the questions below. If you answered ‘yes’ to all of them, then you’ve created a great space in which your young employee can start. If you answered ‘no’ to any of the questions, then there’s more work to do.

1. Have you prepared an induction pack?
2. Have you printed and sent your induction pack to your new starter, or run through an online process with them?
3. Are all the materials and tools they need available and ready to use?
4. Have you prepared a schedule for the first three months? This should include a structured plan for week one outlining when and where they'll be working, the meetings they need to attend, how they will get to know key people, and one-on-one opportunities for discussion and feedback with you.
5. Have you contacted your new employee to see if they have any questions before they ‘officially’ start?
6. If you are employing someone under the age of 18, have you spoken with or met their parents to make sure they are on board and supportive?
   
   

Induction - The first three months with your new employee

The following elements are essential for a successful start to your induction program.

1. Meet with your new starter in week one to talk through the contents of their induction pack and to answer any questions.
2. Discuss the ways-of-working agreement.
3. Talk through the week one schedule and your expectations for their first week.
4. Take time to get to know your new employee during their first week.
5. Schedule a time in week two to revisit the ways-of-working agreement and address any areas of concern.
6. Schedule in a non-work activity to get the new person to meet the team (e.g. a quick team lunch at the end of week one).
7. Schedule a regular meeting to see how they are going in their new job.

Creating and implementing a positive employee induction process will make a new employee feel part of a team and encourage them to learn and grow. This forges more productive, longer-term working relationships.