staff induction policy and practice
DESCRIPTION
Staff Induction Policy and Practice. Karen Legge ’ s “ HRM Rhetorics and Realities, 1995 recommends a t heoretical critique for studying "HRM philosophies and functions ” . Induction training as a policy and practice may be evaluated from the four perspectives of:. Normative - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Chris Jarvis 1
Staff Induction
Staff InductionPolicy and Practice
Chris Jarvis 2
Staff Induction
Karen Legge’s “HRM Rhetorics and Realities, 1995 recommends a theoretical critique for studying "HRM philosophies and functions”. Induction training as a policy and practice may be evaluated from the four perspectives of:
Normative Descriptive-functional Critical-evaluativeDescriptive-Behaviour
al
Chris Jarvis 3
Staff Induction
Descriptive-Functional View
• Familiarisation system at point of entry to or movement within organisation (environment and job role)
• Standardisation for consistency and safeguard: risk reduction - briefing, motivation, H&S, quality
• Socialisation into culture, expectations and relationships• Differentiate between general and job-specific induction
• What are the requirements: at organisational & job levels?
• Is induction strategic or just an operational matter? • long term investment vs. 40 new staff starting Monday
• Who designs and delivers induction?
Chris Jarvis 4
Staff Induction
How we induct new & existing staff into new situations reflects managerial commitment and culture.
Equal or different greetings for core, peripheral, and sub-contracting staff?
Inductees as passive or active learners? Induction content - pre-packaged or tailored with empl
oyee?Corporate maintenance of culture, values and expectati
ons. A manifestation of Investors In People?Orientation to competitive forces in labour market?
Normative view?
Chris Jarvis 5
Staff Induction
“Talk to Training - not to Me”
• Line manager responsibility vs. "Training" doing it?• Planning & follow-through. Evidence? • Proactive inductee? Swim or drown• Reception & preparation.• Design, implementation & evaluation.• Transaction processing - pay & contract, OT queries, holidays, P45
s• Mentor role in familiarisation - loos, photocopying, lockers, canteen,
computer account, expenses, office • Job induction - must to know, should know, nice to know• Learning curve (n.b. potential for induction crisis). • Nurturing membership - problems & motivation
Chris Jarvis 6
Staff Induction
Induction Costs
How would you
• calculate the costs of a policy?• survey induction experiences & outcomes?
How would you calculate
• the benefits, the pay-offs?• consequences of inadequacy/failure?• strategic contribution?
Chris Jarvis 7
Staff Induction
How does induction actually happen? How is it received? Does it work? How do managers, trainers and existing staff feel about it? Consider Lip service The ubiquitous, boring one-day or 3-5 day inducti
on course - (been here for 3 months?). Induction content - tangential to the job & of little in
terest? Processes of membership & acceptance Forming, storming, norming & performing
Descriptive-Behavioural
Chris Jarvis 8
Staff Induction
Critical Evaluative
Induction as an organisation initiation ritual Joining and absorbing the rhetoric Reliability & utility (cost effectiveness and VfM) A best practice model for induction? Compare actual delivery with textbook prescriptions Are activities & techniques reliable, valid, cost effective? Induction processes/objectives: woolly assumptions? How do learners and the firm actually benefit?
improved knowledge, orientation, attitudes, skills? What criticisms do participants make?
HRM/personnel role in induction - support, delivery &evaluation or just going through the motions?
Chris Jarvis 9
Staff Induction
Descriptive Behavioural
Construing the induction process Socialisation, presentation and "face"On-stage, back-stage, off-stageMeeting the "good guys" & the "bad guys" Encountering trouble spots & organisational politics The Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde organisation
Chris Jarvis 10
Staff Induction
HRM Boundary Management
Induction
• At point of entry
• On promotion or movement between jobs & departments
Nature of induction activities and expectations
DIY for senior & professional roles? The learner manager?
Junior LevelsInduction courses?Departmental induction?Computer-aided induction?
Chris Jarvis 11
Staff Induction
Why Induction?
brisk labour market (external and internal) New starters & existing staff who acquire new roles/positions. Short-term, part-time or contract staff Significant “Impressions” in recruitment & induction period AIM = smooth job entry – bring up to a level of mastery/independent
functioning (competent in performance) ASAP/TDQ. Socialisation into norms, values, behaviours and expectations. Adaptation of the individual to culture of the firm.
Employment obligations and induction?
Chris Jarvis 12
Staff Induction
Is there a phenomenon such as an Induction Crisis?
Staff shortage - new starters join and leave within the first few months
Demoralising + Waste of time and £. Tendency for high turnover amongst recently employed staff. Ac
ute with young workers Recruitment and training costs What if the training programme only accepts a new cohort every
six months? Long-service staff carry extra loads & must support new staff un
til they master their duties (the notion of competence). The notion of an induction crisis relates to
people still making up minds about the job (journey to work), interpersonal chemistry (group socialisation) and adjustment (job/culture shock)
Chris Jarvis 13
Staff Induction
Induction stages?
Crisis Transitionalattachment
Maturemembership
Time2 months 3 - 9 months > 9 months etc…
StaffTurnover%
This is a generalised Picture …. Does it happen?
Chris Jarvis 14
Staff Induction
Day 1
corporate matters: policies & imperativesjob matters over and abovegeneric competencies & prior experienceprogress review with line manager & HRMthe learning-event
cycle of the job
What? Where?Who? How? When
Rest of the week The rest of the month The rest of the year
Induction Schedule
What preparation?What content?What process?
What? Where?Who? How? When
What? Where?Who? How? When
What? Where?Who? How? When
Chris Jarvis 15
Staff Induction
Who to induct? Who needs it?
Assumption: new starters are recruited effectively with existing know-how (generic competencies + relevant experience) ability to adapt and learn quickly
What will the following need to know? new starters with little or no experience your industry, products a
nd customers? women re-entering employment after a career break? youngsters straight from school or college? internal promotees or transferees? experienced senior staff who are joining, say, from a rival?
How will induction vary by job level, age/experience, sex, ethnic background, qualifications/prior training?
Chris Jarvis 16
Staff Induction
Example
A City department store is taking on extra staff for the Christmas peak period and January sales. A large cohort of new people have to be inducted into the store and introduced to everything from
Knowledge: from staff restaurants to their new departments departmental merchandise, cash-handling and return of goo
ds procedures etc. Further briefing on their terms and conditions of employmen
t, company rules and policies introductions to boss, work colleagues and interdepartment
al network Other Company policies. Which?
Chris Jarvis 17
Staff Induction
Hidden tensions
Effective induction delivers a message to new employees that "we support our staff. Welcome to the "family”. But…
Newcomer anxiety - strange new environment. Information absorption & overload? Confusion & exclusion. Mistakes & seen to be slow on the up-t
ake. The period of socialisation - needs to run its course as new e
mployees pick up the norms and behaviours that colleagues and “body corporate” expect.
New-comers must cope & adjust to a new schedule including journey to/from work, job start and end-of-day procedures, personal breaks.
Chris Jarvis 18
Staff Induction
Assignments
How would you research the image of the corporation that new starters develop within 3-months of starting work?
Evaluate the proposition that existing staff and managers take too much for granted and under-estimate the range of items that newcomers need to become familiar with.
In what way might an induction programme reinforce the socialisation of the new employee into the accepted (presumably ethical) modes of behaviour required by the organisation?
The induction crisis is a myth? How would you prove or disprove it?
Chris Jarvis 19
Staff Induction
Induction Briefings: Need to Know
New starters need full briefing about
workplace geography (where things are), job related procedures and methods: duties, routines/non-routines,
terms and conditions of employment opportunities to settle down with work colleagues - friendship form
ation company policies and standards, and, history
corporate legends previous post-holder's unfinished business plus the schedule for continuity.
Personnel matters - health and safety, disciplinary codes, payroll administration.
What might they be expected to do for themselves?
Chris Jarvis 20
Staff Induction
A new starter is due to start on Monday. What can (should) be covered in the first week?
The job: tasks, cycles, routines, non-routines? Key stages, pointers - the methods, the risks, the calculations? Priorities and back-logs of work and priorities? Backgrounds/histories, clients/suppliers? Policies, procedures, standards, imperatives?
Detail requires understanding the job in action. We need
a programme of introduction to Key, non-generic aspects. if no systematic programme - then danger of confusion & frustration in. "Br
ing thrown in at the deep end". Order & predictability vs. too much stifling prescription.
Chris Jarvis 21
Staff Induction
Other Induction Content
Role network the boss, other dept/project functions, co-workers, groups, external cont
acts - supply chain, customer contacts etc. Decision points.Conditions of employment full contract familiarisation: hours, physical conditions - the office, the loc
ker, the keys, the car park. Hours, holidays. Staff facilities and entitlements. TU membership, medicals, licenses to operate. Health, safety, fire etc
Company & Function Overview the firm's products, services, policies & programmes. Strategic imperativ
es. Development opportunities. IT facilities & software - user account, EMail, general & bespoke systems etc.
Legislation in relation to job? H&Safety, Data Protection, Equal Opps?
Chris Jarvis 22
Staff Induction
Timetable/Programme
Put "things-to-be-learnt/absorbed-now" into a timetable (days/weeks/months). Re-useable code.
New starters even on first day need to “connect” with their new tasks.Too much “talk and chalk”?
Achievement & contribution. "I feel that I have started to contribute". Guide, coach, mentor at different points? From induction briefing to engagement with work sections. Preparation of local supervisors/staff to - continue induction at job lev
el.
Differentiate between off-the-job & on-the-job elements.
Chris Jarvis 23
Staff Induction
http://sol.brunel.ac.uk/bola/jobs/mediajob/mediarel.html
Who will carry out the induction?What coaching/information communication will the following un
dertake chief executive? Why? department managers? Why? the team leader/supervisor experienced staff personnel and training officer health and safety representative staff/managers from client and suppliers internal & external other?
What time scales are involved for the programme?When will induction be at an end?
Self-study Assignment - the Media Relations Officer
Chris Jarvis 24
Staff Induction
Self-study Assignment - Loft Shop Manager
Consider the Loft Shop Manager job. What induction might usefully take place at each of the following stages?
prior to joining the organisation on the first day in the first week the first month within the initial three months thereafter?
How, as a new “training officer”, would you research the induction requirements?
http://sol.brunel.ac.uk/bola/jobs/loft/loft.html
Chris Jarvis 25
Staff Induction
Self-study Assignment
If you started a new job recently, review this experience and evaluate how effective your induction was. What was successful? What was missing and how could it be improved?
Alternatively
Interview a recent, new starter in your workplace. Obtain feedback on their induction experiences and attitudes.
Given the feedback you have obtained, what recommendations would you make for change to induction policy and practices?
Chris Jarvis 26
Staff Induction
Self-study Assignment
Investigate your company's overall current system of induction for groups of staff?
How many inductees are welcomed each year/month? What is the volume?
Who runs it? Why them? Examine the elements of the programme. Consider the material
s paperwork, checklists, methods and practical work etc that are used. Gather together all the paperwork.
How much do induction activities and structures cost? How well is the transfer from the induction training room to the j
ob department managed? How could the induction approach be improved? Obtain the reactions/experience of supervisors, trainers, newco
mers
Chris Jarvis 27
Staff Induction
Young, new starters
Consider the special case of young people starting work for the first time. They are new to the world of work.
• What adjustments will they have to make?• What may come as a shock?• How will you support them as they make adjustments?• How will you secure and maintain their interest and enthusiasm?• What is the scope for using computer-aided instruction for basic, routine induction?
Chris Jarvis 28
Staff Induction
Evaluate
Instructional methods that are used in induction programmes
The contribution of computer aided learning for induction in large organisations? CD Rom or via a company Intranet?
What Computer-aided learning is being used …. by whom and with what effect?
Which organisations would use computer-aided learning? What is holding them back?