Industry Toolkit

HR Toolkit Section 3: Inducting New Employees

Sections

  1. Induction Checklist
  2. Welcome Pack/Company Handbook
  3. Standard Operating Procedure

Getting the induction process right and providing effective training can help you get new employees up to speed and more productive as quickly as possible.

This section provides you with information and templates to support you with this.

 

1. Induction Checklist
2. Welcome Pack/Company Handbook
3. Standard Operating Procedure

1. Induction Checklist

A good induction process will support a new employee to settle into their role as safely and quickly as possible. A good induction also contributes towards staff motivation, job satisfaction, increased productivity and staff retention.

To support new employee induction, it is best practice to develop an Induction checklist, this helps keep the employer and new employee on track.  It is advised that both employer and employee sign the checklist on completion and that both keep a copy for their own records.

Other templates you may find useful:

Top Tip

Avoid information overload, gradually introduce all aspects of the role to your new employee and allow them to practice each task before working unsupervised. 

Further information and resources

Acas website: Starting Staff: Induction guide

2. Welcome Pack/Company Handbook

It is good practice to provide new employees with a Welcome Pack or Company HandbookThis provides new employees with a fuller understanding of the company as it outlines the practices and procedures you want employees to follow.  

Other templates you may find useful:

Top Tip

Avoid including information that is likely to be out of date in the short term. Review you pack/handbook at least once a year to make sure it is up to date. Ask your employees for their thoughts on how to improve it.

3. Standard Operating Procedure

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is a written instruction that describes step by step how to carry out a specific task or activity.

The main objective of having written SOP’s is that there is an agreed way of completing a task or activity. A well written SOP will increase consistency and quality as well as reduce the time taken to train staff.

An SOP should be living document, which is reviewed regularly to reflect any changes to procedure. When changes are made to the SOP staff must receive refresher training.

Other templates you may find useful:

Top Tip

Involve the people who carry out the task or activity in writing and reviewing the SOP. Ensure SOP’s can be easily accessed by staff so they can refer to them at anytime. Include pictures in your SOP to demonstrate stages of the procedure e.g. a completed form, a table setting.

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Related Resources

HR Toolkit Section 4: Ongoing Employee Development