You probably spend weeks, or in some cases months, screening, shortlisting and interviewing job seekers.
You’ve finally made up your mind of an applicant that fits best with your organisation’s cultures and job role. You induct them as soon as they accept your offer. So, how can you make sure that your new recruit sets off on the right foot? Here is a brief checklist for a smooth induction before the day new hire joins till a month, eventually.
After that, not even two months down the line, they resign. Now, you are back to square one. And all your efforts, the time, and money you spent on recruitment and processing their employment visas have fallen between cracks.
Regrettably, this happens more frequently than you might think. And this can happen for a number of reasons. It could be, that they’ve realised after joining that the job doesn’t meet their expectations or needs, or a toxic work culture is keeping them at bay.
Nevertheless, another major factor that is adversely affecting your new hire turnover is the absence of onboarding or induction structure.
The first few weeks in the office for new staff can be very crucial. This is the time when your new recruit is finding their groove and trying to become confident in the job. Due to the lack of an adequate process of induction in place, your new staff may start to think about their decision and may decide to leave because the opportunity doesn’t fit them.
Upon the acceptance of the offer before joining the office.
Once an employee has accepted an offer. It takes some time to get their work permit and visa in place. Make sure you take advantage of this time for the successful induction of new staff.
Here’s what you can share before they join.
1. Share Employee Information Pack.
Share your information pack that should provide a brief overview of the organisation, induction process, and timeline.
2. Send Forms and Collect all necessary information.
Successful induction of new staff generally involves a lot of paperwork. From references to emergency contact details, your new staff will need to share a lot of information.
For a smooth induction, you can share all the necessary information and paperwork you need to initiate the work permit and visas in the UAE. This will not only allow them time to fill in all the information but also collect additional information if required as per your company’s requirement.
You can be even more efficient by opting for digital documents. Both the Ministry of Human Resource & Emiratisation and General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs accept digital documents. It is also a good idea to share an instruction manual with the forms so that new staff can easily refer to the instructions if they need some help.
- Background Check Forms – You need to get authorisation from the employees if you wish to conduct background or references check.
- Employee Information Forms – Contains essential information of the employee, name, parents name, DOB, emergency contact name and details, contract type, notice period, etc;
- Emirates ID Form – This form contains employee’s personal details, contact and residential details of both UAE and home countries.
3. Get their office, equipment, email, and stationary ready.
You don’t want your new staff to come in for their first day and do nothing. Getting their equipment and supplies ready and waiting for them can allow them to start smoothly.
You may have to arrange, order, or purchase a few equipment or supplies depending on the job you’ve hired your new staff for. Which could be anything from a computer, a uniform, name tags, pens, a notebook, new machinery, or a vehicle. You can test-run, pre-install software, or check the workability of the equipment if you already have before your new staff starts working.
Joining Day Checklist For Successful Induction of New Staff
Checklist to follow on the joining day or the first day of the new staff.
4. Share Organisation’s Corporate Policies.
The first day at the office of your new staff can be overwhelming. It can sometimes be stressful regardless of the fact that new staff knows a lot about the organisation. You can make it pleasant for them by following Successful Induction tips.
- Share the latest version of company policies, and benefits so that new staff can get a glimpse of the company’s culture.
- Let them know about working hours (flexible working hours policy, if you’ve one), and working days.
- Health insurance plans, and other benefits they are on.
- Dress Code
- Breaks
- Cost reimbursement policy and procedures
Ask them if they would like to know anything specific about the company. If your organisation has any routines that new staff should know then share it with them so that they can feel confident and welcoming.
5. Take new staff for the office tour.
You may start the new staff’s day with an office tour. Show them their workspace, and walk them through common and important spaces, like; conference rooms, kitchen, bathroom, etc; you don’t want to see your new staff wander around looking for a restroom.
Most companies and buildings these days require fingerprints, key access, or card access. Make sure to provide a copy of the access if it is through traditional key and new staff is supposed to reach early.
Show and share evacuation plans, including the stairs and assembly points.
6. Introduce new staff with line managers and teams.
Introduce your new staff to the teams or line managers they’ll be working with as well as with those with whom they’ll work on and off so that they can become familiar.
Ideally, it is a good idea to start a meeting with HR first so that new staff can ask any questions to clear their doubts about benefits, or policies. This meeting also ensures that all the paperwork is ready and new staff is good to go.
The next meeting can be scheduled with the C level executive that new staff may come in contact with.
Then new staff should have a one-to-one meeting with their line manager or supervisors. New staff and line managers can discuss expectations, accomplishments, and other work-related questions.
In the end, introduce new staff with their team members. This could be also a good bonding opportunity for the new staff and can be over a coffee or lunch.
7. Set and share KPI’s of New Staff.
This may appear to look like a lot to share KPI’s on the joining day. But, go through the KPI’s, goals, and job responsibilities in detail with your new staff so that they can start working smoothly from the beginning with a clear vision.
Give them a sense of purpose and confidence at the company by outlining and sharing organisation’s objectives, new staff’s department objectives and the role they are likely to play in achieving those objectives.
Consider it a two-way conversation. Let your new staff ask questions and also share their feedback while you are setting expectations for the role. New staff may share their plan of accomplishments in the job that may help them in their career path.
Try to make their transition into the new job easier by closely working with the new staff. This also may require you to refine and adjust the responsibilities that serve well both you and new staff. Always look for opportunities to support your new staff during their transition period.
First Week Checklist For Successful Induction of New Staff
Here’s how you can help your new staff adjust during their first week.
Keeping your new staff busy throughout the first week can feel slightly overwhelming but will keep them engaged. And, that’s a good thing.
You can help your new staff adjust with the help of the following checklist.
8. Training Plan of New Staff
It may take time to train your new staff as this is not going to happen in a day. Hence, you need to set a training plan to bring your new staff up to speed.
Share your established training plan with the new staff so that they can go through it.
Company tour and reviewing company policies is crucial but it is the training plan that new staff considers most important.
Companies generally have a standard training plan that they use for all staff. But, you can also look into creating a tailor-made training that suits the needs of new staff as well as your organisation.
You can also involve your most senior employees to fill in the gap in the training of new staff.
9. Assign the initial tasks to new staff.
This may appear to look like a lot to share KPI’s in the first week of joining. But, go through the KPI’s, goals, and job responsibilities.
Although, most of the week will be spent on training and meetings. You want your new staff to work on a few tasks. Just make sure you don’t throw everything at them altogether.
Start gently with the assignment of one or two tasks and review that the new staff knows how it should be done and how they are doing it. Keep the doors open for questions if they’ve any.
The first week may seem like a hand-holding for new staff. But, that should be okay as long as your new staff understands their duties & responsibilities and is well familiar in their new role.
First Month Checklist For Successful Induction of New Staff
Unfortunately, some companies only focus on the initial days or a few weeks. This in some cases, can be hard for the new staff.
Your checklist for the successful induction of new staff should go beyond the first-month mark.
10. Go through New Staff’s progress.
Your review of the employees can make them feel confident about what they are doing. In the absence of review, new staff may not be able to understand if they are reaching the company’s expectations.
Hence, a monthly review can be very beneficial to assess the progress on duties, responsibilities, and tasks assigned at the time of joining. This review can help both you and new staff identify the areas that need improvement.
Disengagement of new staff right at the start or after a month may not be favourable. So, let your new staff know that the communications lines are open and they can reach out to their line manager or senior management for any information or clarification.
This review can also give you insights on how quickly new staff is grasping the knowledge and you can set new KPI’s and objectives.
11. Seek & Share feedback.
While you are reviewing the progress and providing feedback. Consider taking the feedback from the new staff. This could also provide you an opportunity to seek feedback on the induction process.
Understand the induction process from their point of view and if they found it smooth and seamless. New staff may be able to contribute to improving the process with their suggestions.
Ask about the company culture and if they are enjoying working with their new team. You can also take suggestions on improving the process or company culture from your new staff.
You can reduce the turnover rate by listing and paying attention to the feedback and criticism of new staff. It also shows that they are an integral part of your company and increased engagement will keep them in their jobs for a longer period.
Final Word
You can follow closely this ultimate new staff checklist for successful induction at your organisation. A seamless and smooth induction experience increases productivity and keeps your new staff engaged which results in low turnover.
Having this ultimate new staff checklist for successful induction is just the first step. You may have to work for a couple of months to ensure that the new staff adjusts seamlessly and stays longer at your company.
IML Employment Services through its seamless and successful induction process of new staff ensures that employees work with the companies efficiently for a longer period of time.
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