When a new member of staff starts with the organisation, we want to make sure they feel welcomed and part of the team as quickly as possible. The induction is designed to take place over the first few months of staff joining the team.
Our induction and probation timescales go hand in hand. The induction is the process through the probationary period for a new staff member to get to know their role and the organisation such that at the end of induction they are ready to pass their probationary period. This includes both skills needed to do the role and working well within wider team and culture.
The induction process includes a number of key stages
- Provision of documents, policies and procedures that the staff member needs introducing to and opportunity to discuss.
- Key sessions with a range of the Safe Families and Home for Good National Team (see here for more information).
- Key sessions that will introduce you to the role and roles within the team.
- Skills sign off
- 1-to-1s with line manager throughout the induction period (see 1-to-1 agreement and 1-to-1 process)
To enable you and the new staff member to ensure there is shared ownership and clarity around these stages we have an induction record.
In this guidance we will cover the key elements of
- The Induction Record
- Things you need to do before the employee starts
You should also read the probation process guidance as knowing the process that will take place at the end of the induction is key to ensuring all the stages of induction are completed well and with this end goal in mind.
1. The Induction Record
There is an induction record document that sits alongside this article and is the active document where all the induction activity is ticked off. This will be the key document that is uploaded at the end of induction alongside the probation review. (NB. If the new starter is going to be a Line Manager it is important that you also use this Line Manager Induction Record as there are specific sessions for Line Managers to attend too.)
This induction record provides information on each stage of the induction period and helps ensure that we have everything in place to enable a successful induction. It is broken down into the following stages:
- Documents - a list of important documents that the new staff member needs to read through and have opportunity to discuss with you.
- The first 2 weeks - a list of sessions that will take place in the new staff members first two weeks with us.
- The next 10 weeks - a list of sessions that will take place in the first quarter that provide a more in-depth introduction to the local team and the role.
- National inductions - sessions that all staff should attend to understand their role in a wider context and help with some day to day things relating to their roles.
- 1-2-1s with line manager - a place that dates of these can be recorded during the induction period and a list of probation priorities can be kept. These are an essential part of the induction process and the key place where conversations about chemistry and culture take place.
- Skills sign off - key skills that are needed for the role. This section can and should be edited to ensure it covers the right elements for each role.
The overall induction of staff is the responsibility of the line manager; however, the expectation is that other staff both locally and nationally are involved in the induction so that staff speak to and meet as many of the team as possible.
2. Things you need to do before the employee starts
Before new staff start you need to make sure that the following are already in place ready for day 1:
- Meeting between Senior and Team Leader to plan induction training and two week timetable (Line Manager to initiate)
- Line Manager to have communicated with the new staff member where they need to be on day 1 and what the plan is for the first few days (ideally phoned and then follow up email with locations details if necessary and key contacts)
- Contract sent (People and Culture will ensure this has been emailed to staff member)
- New starter forms (People and Culture will ensure these have been completed)
- Laptop and phone setup (IT team will have set this up and sent to the local office / home)
- Office keys prepared and codes communicated if required (Line Manager will communicate these)
- Adding to additional appropriate slack channels (Line Manager to sort this) NB. They will have been added to some general Slack channels so add them to any other channels they may need.
- Passwords for Email, Slack and database (IT team will communicate these with Line Manager)
- Prepare email to send after initial meeting with them that has link to all the key documents. (Line Manager to send) This article will link you to the documents.
- You might consider locally what you can do to make the staff member feel welcome, maybe a mug or a small gift, or even just a notebook and pen. The induction process is a key part of making people feel part of the team.
- The new staff member will receive an ID badge which will be posted out to them. If they haven't received this by week 2 of starting in post, please raise a ticket here.