Q&A Video Series: Onboarding & Induction with Tracy Carpenter

In today’s lively recruitment market, nothing can be taken for granted. Even after your ideal candidate has accepted the job, there’s no guarantee they’ll even make it through the door. That’s why what happens next can be crucial for recruitment success. Getting your induction and onboarding programme right can help to ensure a smooth transition from new recruit to valued member of the team.

In this month’s Q&A, we talk with HR expert Tracy Carpenter from Mint HR. Drawing on her years of experience helping SMEs in all matters relating to people management, Tracy helps us to understand why it is worth investing time and effort in a good onboarding programme and what excellent onboarding practices look like.

What is the difference between onboarding and induction?

An induction is more of a tick box exercise to check that a new starter is given all the introductory information they need in their first few days. Things like HR policies, their contract, health and safety guidance.

Onboarding, on the other hand, should start from the moment they’re offered the job. It’s the touch-feely stuff. It’s about making them feel welcome before they even start, helping them feel like they’re part of the team from the outset.

How might a business benefit from a good onboarding process?

The first three to six months in a new job are crucial. The statistics around new starters leaving within this time are shocking. So you need to make sure that you and your leadership team do everything possible to integrate the new hire into the company and culture, to make them feel welcome and at ease. This will help to ensure they feel valued, well informed about their new role and well acquainted with their coworkers, which will increase job satisfaction and prevent you having to start the recruitment process over again.

What could a company do as part of the onboarding process before the new hire starts?

With notice periods getting longer, the risk is that your ideal candidate considers taking up a counteroffer before they’ve started. The key is to be inventive and engaged with them from the moment they accept the job.

Send them introductory information that will make their first few days smoother, like where to park, what the dress code is, whether to bring lunch etc. You could send them a loose schedule of what their first week will look like, invite them in for a day to take look around and help them visualise where they’ll be working. Invite them to socials to welcome them to the team. All of this will keep the company and new job in mind. It’ll make them feel special and wanted, helping to embed them into the business values and culture and into the mindset of working with you before they’ve even had their first day in post.

Be sure to get the relevant managers involved in the onboarding process, so that the new starter gets familiar with the names and faces of those who are line managing them, and know who to turn to for support when they start.

What are your top three tips for SMEs to create an effective onboarding programme?

• Communicate regularly and clearly: This is key. You need to keep lines of communication open throughout the recruitment process and beyond. Be clear, friendly and helpful. Put yourself in their shoes and tell them what you would want to know in their position.
• Treat everyone as individuals: Remember that no two people are the same when it comes to communicating, learning, socialising etc. The only way we will understand how best to communicate with someone and pass knowledge on is to find out what will work best for them. What works for one new starter might not work for the next. Check in with them to give them chance to feed back.
• Take your time: Do not underestimate how long a strong onboarding programme takes to settle a new starter, to get them up and running in their new role, to integrate them into the company. But remember, it’s worth the investment of time and resources, and will likely save you the time and expense of restarting the process.

At what stage do you suggest doing some sort of personality profile?

Following on from my point about treating everyone as individuals, it can be beneficial to conduct a DISC-style profiling and assessment to better understand learning styles and personality traits.

Some companies like to include these assessments in their interview process, but I suggest caution. Profiling as part of the selection process can increase unconscious bias – you could be turned off someone if their profile is different to yours.

Really, we want a business full of different profile types, so that the different elements become a cohesive, rounded whole. And it can be a little scary for interviewees or new starters to be put under the microscope like that.

So I suggest doing a personality profile a few weeks down the line, perhaps as part of a team-building exercise to keep things light.

For more information about induction, onboarding and diversity at work, check out our blogs and Q&As:

https://www.key-appointments.co.uk/blog/post/good-onboarding-and-induction-practices-smes

https://www.key-appointments.co.uk/blog/post/neurodiversity-q-kate-dean

https://www.key-appointments.co.uk/blog/post/how-embrace-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-your-sme-recruitment-strategy

Find out more about Mint HR at www.mint-hr.com or contact Tracy to see how she can help with your HR on tracy@mint-hr.com.