Dear rakhi,
Induction as a process is the biggest process the HR should ponder over. It is the most important process simply because it sometimes leaves employees with a not-so-great feeling about the organization (and not just the HR).
The very first few times the employee walks into the organization he does not have anything concrete to judge the organization on. So s/he will be constantly comparing everything that they see on the first few days with their previous experiences and forming opinions on. So even frivolous things will get noticed and filed for comparison including how your frontage is, the reception, the first handshake and comments exchanged with HR - the entry process into the building etc - it is only after being into the organization for a few days/weeks that these become the hygiene factors. Please do not ignore these hygiene factors - I know of an organization (one of top) where people leave because the security guards gives them a tough time to enter the building till they get their access cards. (Believe me - its true - ofcourse they did not leave the next day - but they did not last for more than 6 months and when questioned this was an experience they related amongst other reasons).
My question to you is - what do you perceive the induction process as? (When I say you - I mean you, your seniors and the Managers). If you look at the induction process as a process to impress new employees - then I think some thought needs to be given to this process again. Impressing new employees should only be a by product of your process and not the aim.
According to me, the induction process should be looked upon as a process to integrate a new-comer into the organization in the quickest possible manner and get him/her comfortable so that s/he starts working at optimum levels quickly.
This is akin to getting a new family member integrated into your family. For this, you should go to extreme levels - remember this is where you are creating the stepping stones for trust.
For this, you need to think of:
- activities you need to do before the employee joins (access cards, computers, work stations, team assignments, visiting cards, computer access codes, project integration plans etc etc)
- activities and processes you need to do on the day the employee joins (picking up the employees - if new to the city, special entry badges, security guards to be informed of names and they be instructed to give special attention to the new joinees, a separate waiting area for them (not the reception please), forms processing can be done later, getting seniors to meet with them, getting immediate supervisors to meet with them, getting the CEO to meet with them in the first 3 weeks, assigning a buddy and getting him/her to greet/meet them etc etc, welcome kit, )
- activities and processes you need to do after the induction process
I always say that an induction process should not be thought of as a one day / one week process. It has to be integrated into the organization so that it goes on for a much longer time without the inductee even realising it. I believe that when one joins the organization, one is always eager to get his/her hands dirty with minimum of delays - that feeling should be captured and integrated into the induction process.
Think about all of these when you plan an induction process. I can add a lot more, but, I think I already have written a very long mail.
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