E-INDUCTION: A CONCEPT PAPER
In today’s business environment, attracting and retaining the best has become more than a corporate indulgence, rather it has become imperative to the success of any organization. In such a context, a well-executed induction programme goes a long way in converting an eager new-hire into a dedicated employee.
Introduction
Most top-notch organizations have well-defined career paths and hence very structured induction programmes for entry-level personnel. For instance, most multinational companies (MNCs) in India conduct year-long management trainee programmes that convert fresh, young trainees into well-groomed managers.
But what happens to lateral hires? Or even entry-level personnel in organizations that do not have structured induction programmes? In most cases they are made to go through some truncated rituals that purport to “introduce” them to the organization and its culture and processes. Many a times, such introductions leave an employee feeling short-changed, or even downright bitter. While it may be a reasonable expectation on the part of any new employee to expect a warm (and extensive) introduction, it may also be true that organizations may not posses the resources to do so.
In the case of lateral hiring particularly, some obstacles regularly faced by HR managers are:
- Unscheduled nature of lateral hiring due to which detailed induction programmes cannot be planned.
- Introduction to people holding relevant responsibilities (CEO, Directors, Business Heads, etc.) is an important part of any induction programme. Unscheduled programmes may not allow for such meetings.
Sometimes the constraints are not so much from the organization’s side as it is from the lateral hire’s side:
- Self-pressure to join their jobs immediately and demonstrate quick results.
- Pressure from reporting authority to take immediate charge of their jobs. After all, he/she would not have been hired if there were no immediate need.
Solution
While it would have been difficult to conceive of a solution to this problem some years back, fortunately information technology (IT) has ensured that it is no more the case. Many top organizations around the globe are resorting to the power of IT to provide online, self-paced induction programmes. These programmes do two things:
- In organizations strapped of people resources to conduct induction programmes, provide a viable alternative.
- Even in organizations that have the time and resources to conduct regular/irregular inductions programmes, free up the HR manager to focus on relationship building with the new employee rather than spend time on transactional activities like filling up joining forms, etc.
The objective of this concept paper is to state the business case for an online induction programme, give an overview of online induction programmes in some leading organizations around the globe and a broad proposal on how a short offline programme may be coupled with a detailed online exercise to create a compelling induction experience. Before we propose how we may create such a System, let us understand the purpose of an induction programme and see what some of the best organisations in the world are doing.
Induction Programmes
Induction means to “bringing or drawing in” or “to introduce”. While induction programmes vary across organisations, the least most programmes attempt to do is the following:
- Provide information to the new hires on corporate history, points of presence, business performance, products and services, and leadership.
- Introduce the new hires to people holding senior and responsible positions in the organisation.
- Give them a tour of organisational facilities such as offices and plants.
- Inform them of organisational rules and their personal entitlements.
- Complete the necessary induction-related paperwork.
Best Practices in Induction Programmes
While the above section lays-out the ingredients of any induction programme, it is interesting to see what some of the leading organisations in the world are doing:
Moving from Transactional to Transformational
Induction programme managers have limited time in which to introduce the new hire to the organisation and its culture. In the span of that limited time, the induction programme manager has to ensure that the new hire completes his joining formalities (paperwork) even if other activities have to be reduced or done away with. Therefore the challenge in front of any induction programme manager is how to squeeze the maximum out of the time available.
Since time is a constraint, many organisations are using the time available to build relationship with the new hire and introduce him to the organisation, rather than focus on informing him about organisational processes. While the computer-based system ensures that the new-hire is informed of all organisational processes, the induction programme manager can use the available time to get to know the new hire better.
Converting Inductions into Learning Opportunities
Most induction programmes remain one-way streets with induction programme managers doing most of the talking and the new hires trying to absorb as much as possible. There would not be much issue with this approach if an average new hire absorbs all the information imparted to him. But practical experience shows that this is not the case. A lot depends on the new hire’s inclination to absorb the information, his attitude towards the induction programme, his mental frame at that point of time, and so on.
Let us consider the case of an induction programme manager talking of the company’s brands. While the organisation would like all employees to have a minimum level of knowledge about its brands and products, not all employees would have the same level of inclination to learn.
Since it is not possible, or even desirable, for an induction programme manager to quiz a new hire, who in some cases could be senior in rank, many organisations have introduced self-paced quizzes to ensure that the new hires have “learned”.
Reinforcing Experiences Gained in Induction Programmes
In most induction programmes, particularly lateral ones, a new hire meets any number of faces and visits any number of places in so short a time that he or she has problem recollecting them later.
To address this problem, many organisations are introducing computer-based supplementary solutions (like intranets, CD-ROMs, etc.) to supplement the learning and experiences of the induction programme. This is particularly important in large organisations with big offices and huge staff. Take the case of BAT (British American Tobacco). Since the BAT head office is a multi-storeyed building, it is not possible to give a new hire a tour of all the floors in the facility. And even if the new hire is given a tour of the most important floors, he or she could forget. A computer based virtual walk-through of the building acts as a memory-jogger and ready reference.
What We Propose
Based on our study of the content of induction programmes in leading organisations as well as our survey of best practices, we propose a 3-tiered induction programme:
Personal Counselling
No matter how good computer-led processes are, there is no substitute for human interfaces in making anyone comfortable to new environments and helping them settle down. The induction programme manager should devote the maximum time available for the induction exercise to building a relationship with the new hire and helping him or her get familiar with the organization. The objective of personal counselling should be to transform a new hire into an organization person.
Intranet-based Information Dissemination & Online Learning
Most organisations have some kind of intranet or computer networked. Web-based applications may be built to take care of:
- information dissemination on the organization, and its products and services
- self-paced learning about organizational processes, including individual entitlements
- completion of joining formalities.
CD-ROM Takeaway
A CD-ROM should act as a “reinforcer” of the induction process. Since it has a large storage capacity, it could contain motivational content like:
- welcome speech by CEO
- inspirational videos
- product advertisements.
as well as extensive version of the informational content disseminated during the induction process, like:
- corporate history
- products and brands
- organizational chart
- leadership biographies
- employee handbook.