Whether you call them inductions, onboarding or orientations, they all mean the same thing; the process in which an employer welcomes starters.
We have found that an employer’s understanding of onboarding of new starters has evolved over recent years. In the past, induction was a process that involved the new recruit mainly filling in forms, attending training, and the line manager telling them what their job is.
However, many employers now accept that effective induction is intrinsically linked to the ‘employee experience’ and is an essential introduction for the employee. I like to think of it as an extension of ‘selection’. The new starter continues to form opinions about the new employer during the induction period.
As a consequence, the experience needs to go far beyond ‘a tick box’ exercise. We encourage nurseries to design a person-centred induction where the needs of the new starter are fully considered. We recommend creating a starter bag, with personalised mug, uniform, handbook, small gift, card, etc. There’s nothing quite like a gift to make someone feel wanted and it doesn’t need to be expensive.
We include an induction plan and a checklist to ensure nothing is missed, but also take your time and listen to the feedback the new starter has to give. Design in check points such as at the end of the first day, the end of first week and the end of the first month to check in with the new starer and see how they are finding things.
Don’t drop the new starter in at the deep end and hope for the best, it rarely works! Induction crisis is where a new starter will leave within a few weeks as their experience during induction was not what they expected. Where it happens, induction crisis is very costly to early years.
To take onboarding further, outstanding nurseries will develop induction programmes for when team members move rooms, so that like the children, the transition is smooth and ultimately productive.