What is an induction?

Craig W
Senior HR Consultant

1. What is an induction?
When a new employee starts in your business, the first few weeks are key in
ensuring they settle in well and feel supported by you as an employer. You’ll need
to equip them with all of the information, training and knowledge required to do
their job to a high standard, without overwhelming them.
Sounds tricky?
With a clear and streamlined induction process, it doesn’t have to be. The purpose of an
induction is to help your new employee to feel welcomed and valued, while also paving the
way for them to be a productive and positive asset to your business.
What is a job induction?
Induction definition
Within the workplace, an induction refers to the process of getting new employees acquainted
with your business, helping them to settle in and giving them the information required for
them to become a valuable team member.
How it works
An induction process is slightly different to onboarding in that it usually encompasses the
very beginning of the new employee’s work life, whereas onboarding can stretch to a year
and beyond. An induction can also focus more on introducing the new starter to the role and
what’s expected of them, while onboarding considers more of the wider organisational
culture.
It’s a good idea to have an induction process template ready for when a new employee
starts, which can then be changed or adapted if necessary. Remember that some employees,
such as graduates in their first job or those returning from long-term sickness, may require
more support than others.
The importance of induction
The key thing to remember about inductions is that they’re mutually beneficial for both you
and your employee. The new hire feels well-adjusted, which means they’re less likely to start
looking for another job; they’re happier and more settled and you’re less likely to lose them
to a different organisation.
Eight out of ten staff who leave organisations are new employees, so it’s ultra-important to
make the effort to get them settled.
Benefits of an induction programme
 It’ll save on time and resources, as you’re less likely to have to start the recruitment
process all over again.
 It’s an opportunity to get creative. Instead of just treating an induction as a tick-box
exercise, use it as an opportunity to show why your company is so great and to showcase its
best bits.
 The better the induction process, the more efficient and effective the employee will become
in their role. Armed with knowledge and training, they’ll be able to quickly start contributing
to the wider company through their work.
 Feeling supported and listened to will boost the individual’s confidence and feed into the
wider team morale, helping to sustain a positive company culture.
Employee induction procedure
An effective induction brings together more practical elements with activities that allow the
employee to become immersed in the company culture.
The key parts of the employee induction programme are:
1. Meet colleagues
Getting to know who they’ll be working with is so important in getting the new employee
comfortable and easing their first-day worries. Introduce them to their team (and assure
them that they don’t have to remember all the names straightaway!) and consider assigning
them a buddy for extra support. The employee will be more eager to start working if they’re
made to feel welcomed and like they’re part of the team already.
2. Tour of workplace
Familiarise your employee with their new surroundings, showing them where they can find
the toilets, the first aid box, the fire exits and any kitchen facilities. Ensure you’ve sorted out
their workstation ahead of their arrival and that they have everything they need to get
started.
3. Health and safety
On the first day of the induction process, the new hire should be taken through your health
and safety procedures and receive any necessary training. Different types of roles will require
different levels of training, but as a minimum requirement, employees should know how to
assess and minimise common workplace risks, and be informed about emergency
procedures.
4. Get all the necessary documents sorted
All employees need to have received and signed a written statement of employment (usually
in the form of an employment contract) within 2 months of their start date. You’ll also need
to collect from them copies of proof of their right to work in the UK, their P45 and their bank
details for payroll.
5. Get to grips with company policies
It’s a good idea to grant all new employees access to an online employee handbook which
covers all policies and procedures for your business. This will detail any legal requirements
they’ll have to abide by, as well as company policies surrounding dress code, annual leave,
sickness absence and any other areas of importance.
6. Understand their role
Early on in the induction process, it’s important to invite the employee to a meeting where
you explain the key responsibilities of their new role, what you expect from them and how
their work will contribute to the wider company. This will give them a good overview to get
started with and will hopefully encourage them to work hard and excel in their role.
7. Identify any training needed
By the end of the induction process, you’ll likely have a good idea of how well the employee
be able to perform their role and will have identified any gaps in their abilities. This way you
can organise further training or tasks in order to ensure they’re fully equipped going forward
8. Organise first appraisal meeting
Giving feedback to new employees is essential in keeping them on the right track and giving
them motivation to maintain a high standard of work. Make sure you set a date for their first
performance review and ask them to answer some questions beforehand so you gain an
understanding of how well they’re settling in.
Experts say that ensuring high retention requires an organization to onboard new employees
strategically and last at least one year.
Onboarding is often thought of as something that ends once all of the documents are signed
and filed away, and you show the new employee to their desk. Many HR managers might
think that this is the entirety of the onboarding process– but in reality, it’s just beginning.

I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At
the end of the day, you bet on people, not on strategies.
Lawrence Bossidy, author, former CEO of AlliedSignal
Managing the first few days and months of a new employee’s experience is vital.
Although onboarding isn’t a new concept, it is even more critical today because spending
time appropriately onboarding a new employee can save your company a lot of dollars.
Replacing employees is incredibly expensive for an organization, so it is vital to ensure that
employees are properly trained and feel secure in their position to reduce turnover.
So, a solid onboarding process is absolutely vital to a company’s long-term success. That’s
where OKRs are useful.
Want to manage OKRs on an agile and intuitive OKR software? Get started on Profit.co for
free today!
Challenges in Onboarding
Engaging new employees, boosting employee productivity, and reducing turnover are all
benefits of good onboarding. However, if it is not handled correctly, many will leave within
months of being hired, squandering the investment in recruiting top talent.
An estimated 28% of new employees quit within 90 days after starting a new position
because of poor onboarding. Some of the challenges in onboarding include:
1. Miscommunication Between Departments
HR teams typically manage onboarding, but IT, security, operations, facilities, finance, and
sometimes other business units participate actively. There are only a few accountability
mechanisms between these stakeholders.
Unapproved credentials and equipment can be the result of miscommunication between
departments. Stacking dependent processes can leave new employees idle, impatient, or
both.
2. A Frustrating, Manual Process
Many recruiters, candidates, and hiring managers communicate via email, phone, and text
messages. Checklists and spreadsheets do not handle processes efficiently. The conversion of
paper forms to electronic formats can lead to costly errors and even fines from regulatory
agencies.
3. Expectations Of Employees Are Rising.
A study completed by Robert Half Talent Solutions found that 91% of new hires would
consider quitting if a new job did not live up to initial expectations after their first month on
the job. More than a third of respondents cited a lack of proper onboarding.
HR executives at the C-level are anticipating but not yet implementing a reorientation of
priorities to meet the needs of this new generation of employees.
Characteristics of a Good Onboarding
1. Strong Communication
Communication and collaboration are essential for employees to excel. Technology can
support collaboration, but company culture must also promote it.
2. Indoctrination Into The Culture
As new employees, they must learn about the company’s culture and their role within it. A
prospective employee should know about the company’s culture before accepting a position
to ensure they are a good match for the company.
3. Clear Expectations
Employees need to understand what is expected of them and what they are expected to
accomplish in a given period.
4. Formal Learning
Depending on the industry and organizational culture, many companies do not provide formal
training. Formal training may be necessary for larger organizations and sectors with strict
regulations.
5. Social Learning
Many believe employee satisfaction is largely dependent on social learning. Observing others
and learning behavior is an important part of an employee’s experience within a company
and acclimating properly.
Why is Goal-setting Important?
Goal Setting can help you maintain employee motivation in your workplace. A lack of specific
goals can affect the morale of employees as well as their productivity. When employees have
goals, they’re motivated and become more confident and satisfied with their jobs when they
achieve their goals.
How can OKRs help in successful onboarding?
There are three ways OKRs can help in successful onboarding:

1. Prioritizing
2. Teamwork
3. Monitoring Progress

Let’s take a look at these three items:

1. Prioritizing
Establishing OKRs helps you determine which tasks should be prioritized and which ones can
wait. As a result, your new hires will understand what their goals are. It is better and will
have a clear sense of direction. When goals are specific and understandable, they are easier
to accomplish.
2. Teamwork
Team and company OKRs are typically available to everyone. The new hires can then learn
about what their coworkers are working on and how they can contribute to achieving the
company’s goals as a team. When team OKRs are visible, team members can support each
other and complete their individual goals.
3. Monitoring Progress
OKRs are a method of quantifying and establishing goals for employees. It is a great tool to
use during the onboarding process for new employees. It offers a way to measure
performance and progress toward goals; it provides structure and accountability. It helps
employees feel like they are making progress.
Onboarding OKR Examples
Two key factors come to mind when implementing the People Operations Objectives:

 What are effective metrics to track and write OKRs?

 What are the best examples of OKRs for HR?

Here are some HR OKR examples that can help answer these questions:

What is Industrial Relations and what does it mean?

Let’s break down the concept:
“Industry”: Industry refers directly to productivity – when one or many individuals
are engaged in a productive task we call those people “industrious”.  
“Relations”: In the context of “Industrial relations”, the word refers to any
relationship that exists within a productive sphere between an employer and his
employees and the union that represents them.
Industrial Relations: Industrial relations then refers to the relationship between
employers and employees.
This needs to be a good relationship, the divisions need to be working together as
efficiently as possible, in order to maximize economic gain and the potential for
industrial growth.
In other words – without cooperation between these two divisions (employer and
employee) – industrial progress and economic gain would grind to a halt.
Furthermore – the relationship between employer and employee may be directly or
indirectly influenced by the union representing the workers.
Therefore – Industrial relations are essentially the interactions and relationships
between employers, employees and the government, and the institutions and
associations through which such interactions are mediated.
While Industrial Relations used to refer broadly to the relationships between employer
and employees and as such encompassed functions such as HR Management, as well as
union-management, the term has morphed and become more specific.
It is now referring only to issues of trade-unionism and labour-management relations
while HR Management has become a separate but still fundamental function dealing
with non-union employment relationships and company policy.
What are the Objectives of  Industrial Relations and Why are
Industrial Relations important?
 
1. Continuity of Production
The most vital function of industrial relations is ensuring uninterrupted production.
This means that all positions of employment, from managers to workers, are always
filled so that full-scale production is ongoing.
I also means a steady income stream for all involved.
Industries rely on one another.
The goals of industrial relations then is to ensure that there is never a breakdown in
communication or degradation of an industrial relationship leading to a stall in
productivity and thus a stall in economic gain.
This leads us to the second reason good industrial relations are vital.
2. Minimize the occurrence of Industrial Disputes
Good industrial relations aim to minimize, if not eradicate, the occurrence of strikes,
go-slows, lockouts and grievances which hamper industrial activity.
3. Minimize Wastage
Good industrial relations help increase and ensure continuous production.
Good industrial relations thus help minimize wastage of labour and material resources.

Industrial Relation from The Employee’s Perspective

How does “Industrial Relations” benefit the employee?
Union Representatives
Trade and/or labour unions resist the exploitation of employees by employers through
equal bargaining power, and represent workers’ interests in the employment
relationship.
It is the union (rep), on behalf of the worker, who ensures that the employee benefits
from Industrial Relations and aim to secure the workers by helping them to have:
 Better wages that is sustainable for the future of the employee.
 Improved working conditions so that the employee can be productive, safe and
happy.
 Mutual respect by ongoing conversation between the employer and their
employees to keep the work relationship healthy.
 The proper Training and Skills Development to keep up with trends in the
workplace so the employee will be able to progress within their career.
Union reps then ensure that the process of Industrial Relations benefits the employee,
and protects the interests of the employee during negotiations and similar relations
with the employer.
How do Unions help employees benefit from Industrial Relations?
1 – Collective Bargaining
Ever heard the saying “there’s strength in numbers”?
Labour unions represent the interests of a body of employees by means of a united
front.
This allows the employees’ voices to be heard more effectively than if employees made
the same requests or voiced the same concerns one by one in their individual capacity.
 Unions have the power to organize strikes, boycotts, go-slows, sit-ins and formal
protests in order to get the employers’ attention and urge them to consider matters
from the perspective of the employees that the trade unions represent.
2 – Employee Welfare
Unions look out for the best interests of their members.
Unionized workers, for example, earn higher wages than their non-unionized
counterparts, and they automatically have an intermediary who will step in for them
during negotiations with employers about work schedules, income, safety etc.
Unions also exist in order to protect employees’ basic rights such as the right to access
healthcare and be protected from accident and injury in the workplace.
The Role of Employer in Industrial Relations
How does “Industrial Relations” benefit the employer?
Union Reps
Trade and/or labour unions represent the employees in negotiations with the employer.
Because the union rep represents the multitudinous voices of the employees, it allows
the employer to hear only one clear and concise argument on behalf of the workers
instead of having to field the same comments/concerns from hundreds of employees
who are all saying the same thing.
Union reps save the employer time and thus money in this way.
While the interest of the union rep lies with the worker; his/her existence ultimately
serves to benefit both parties; both employee and  employer.  
Union reps then ensure that the process of Industrial Relations benefits the employee,
and protects the interests of the employee during negotiations and similar relations
with the employer.
It also saves the employer man-hours and communication struggles by creating a
platform for two-way communication between a large group of employees and a usually
smaller group of employers.
How do Unions help employers benefit from Industrial Relations?
1 – Collective Bargaining
A trade union represents the multitudinous voices of the employees and allows the
employers to hear a clear and concise message; namely, the demands or concerns of
the vast majority.
This streamlines conflict resolution and this is in the best interest of the employer.
While trade unions have the power to organize strikes, boycotts, go-slows, sit-ins and
formal protests in order to get the employers’ attention, they also have the power to
call them off as soon as an agreement has been reached.
This solves issues relating to vigilantism and individual employees who hold out on
returning to work or fulfilling their role in the production cycle even though a
respectable agreement between employer and employees has been reached.
Having set guidelines for conflict resolution serves both parties!
2 – Employee Welfare Watchdogs
Unions look out for the best interests of their members and said members
automatically have an intermediary who will step in for them during negotiations with
employers about work schedules, income, safety etc.
Unions also exist in order to protect employees’ basic rights such as the right to access
healthcare and be protected from accident and injury in the workplace.
Trade Unions therefor also help employers assess and meet their legal obligations to
their employees.
Employers know that, should any legislation change or new regulations be instituted,
they will be informed through the proper channels and they can work  with  the trade
unions to facilitate and convey to the employees any changes.

 
 The Role of Government in Industrial Relations
What Role does the Government really play in Industrial Relations?
My word is law:
The industrial relations processes, and the relationships between employees and
employers, are influenced by the government and its agencies through the
government’s construction, passing and implementation of relevant industrial relations
law, policies, regulations etc.
The legal framework within which Industrial Relations must function is determined by
the government and/or its agencies, possibly in consultation with other role-players in
the industrial relations processes.
These includes things such as trade union representatives, employers and select
employees.
The legal framework can be the legal limitations imposed on an employer/employee
relationship.
For example such as the amount of hours an employee is allowed to legally work per
week and how much an employer is obligated to pay an employee for a certain amount
of work.
In South Africa, for example, the BCEA (Basic Conditions of Employment Act) can be
seen as a governmental contribution to the governing of the relationship between
employers and employees, and can as such be considered the government’s
contribution to guiding the processes of industrial relations.
Judge and jury:
The government can also become directly or indirectly involved in the industrial
relations processes when boundaries are overstepped or negotiations go awry.
The government could become involved in, for example, settling an industrial relations
dispute in court, or adjusting or amending a policy which has proven itself flawed,
outdated or newly irrelevant following the outcome of a certain case or set of
negotiations.
How does the government benefit from Industrial Relations?
Basically, the government benefits from Industrial Relations in that a safe working
environment promotes employee and employer satisfaction, which in turn helps
maintain high employment rates which reflects well on the government and directly
addresses and influences issues such as poverty and crime.
 
Industrial Relations in Society and what Role does it play
What has our Society at large got to do with Industrial Relations?
Society in general benefits from Industrial Relations by achieving the following
objectives:
1 – A Living Wage
Industrial Relations forms part of the process to ensure that each and every employed
individual in our country is making a living wage.
The minimum wage crisis should be of concern to every humanitarian in our society.
Not only the poor and/or unskilled benefit from a living wage – so do all industries and
enterprises at large.
If all our manual labourers earn a living wage they will have more capital to cater to
their basic needs and wants.
This will essentially ensure that people have enough money to spend in order to satisfy
their basic human needs benefits everybody, albeit indirectly at times, because it
means more money plugged back into our economy.  
2 – Equality of Opportunity
Industrial Relations processes aim to achieve an equality of opportunity within our
country’s workplaces.
Anybody who is not a heterosexual, cisgender, Caucasian, able-bodied male stands to
benefit from strides taken toward equality of opportunity.
Those who campaign, through Industrial Relations channels, for equality of opportunity
are campaigning for equal treatment and opportunity in the workplace free from the
effects of preference or prejudice and unhampered by any artificial barriers (read:
“glass ceiling”).
3 – Rights of the Individual
The Industrial Relations processes and channels that are in place help protect the
rights of the individual.
This means that, even if you are not currently employed, the IR processes are
campaigning on your behalf, already fighting for your rights to be
respected, should you ever enter an industry.
4 – Work Life Balance
A balance between work and your personal life is extremely important to keep yourself
up to high standards.
Industrial relations aims specifically to create a balance between  being highly
productive and enjoy the job you are in to the maximum.
This will be beneficial to both the employee and employer in the long term.
When every business/employee relationship are balanced optimally, it would have good
consequences for the society in general.
 
Conclusion
Absolutely everybody should know the who, what, when, where, and why of labour
relations and how industrial relations management works.
Knowledge is power, and the above should have adequately equipped you to identify
and address breakdowns in communication and the subsequent halt in production or
lapse in productivity.
Whether you are an employee, an employer or a casual observer, it is important that
you know who to contact in the event of a breakdown in communication or unfair
treatment in the workplace.
Open lines of communication are vital to ongoing economic and industrial growth; we
hope this guide to navigating the murky waters of industrial relations has taught you
exactly who you’ve got in your corner, and who to contact in a time of crisis.
Industrial relations exist to serve and protect everybody involved – from the employee,
to the owner, to the public at large and all the way through to the government.
If the lines of communication are open, and industrial relations are undertaken,
everybody wins.