Inducting employees effectively - the missing HR piece

I've deliberately paraphrased a heading that was used in a piece recently published by Matt Jones from Advanced Safety NZ, Workplace H&S Inductions - the forgotten piece of the puzzle. While the original heading was focused on health and safety inductions, he expanded within the article on the importance of "drawing a line in the sand" to create a "confident workforce, empowered leaders and a safer place to work".

I couldn't say it better myself.

Matt asks the question, 'Why would you not induct new staff?' That should indeed be the question that every company and institution, large and small should be asking themselves, given the increasing evidence that induction creates an environment that improves both early effectiveness by staff and minimises staff turnover (Ongori, 2007, amongst others).

So why is inducting staff (and even more surprisingly students) so rarely done well, if at all?

The knowledge is there, the tools are there, and the ROI is clear. Frankly, it's baffling.

I realise that in general there is a sense that "they'll learn as they go along" and that "they'll work it out". However, in today's environment of ensuring every part of an organisation is working effectively, efficiently and with total respect for the importance of staff as the key driver of business success (I'll divert from the importance of students within academic institutions), there should be a total commitment to inducting newly hired staff appropriately, and not just health and safety induction. This should be seen as a driver of bottom line, not a driver of cost.

Staff induction can and should be cost effective, easy to use, engaging and fully tracked.

Crucially, the organisation should be able to build materials to meet their specific needs, and amend those materials themselves to ensure that they are up to date at all times.

There are a range of modern systems that fit this description and can help you in these areas. Have a look at Advanced Safety NZ and Intuto and let's get everyone onboard properly!