Is your company induction program effective?

We’ve all sat through boring induction training, right?

Lots of talk about health and safety, PPE, mission statements, dress codes etc.

But, if done professionally and efficiently, inductions can be interesting, boost morale, as well as provide a clear understanding of your organisation’s goals, values and vision. Once inductions are completed, you should be confident that new contractors or employees will abide by your company’s policies consistently.

Quality workplace inductions can also help new workers to settle in quickly to their new environment, be more productive and consider working with you for a longer time, rather than making your company just a stepping stone to the next job. Making a good first impression is just as important in business as in real life!

How to make your induction program really mean something

Let’s look at the induction training process for a contractor in the healthcare industry. For some, they’re already moving into another new environment, so they need to be up to speed with what’s expected from them at your facility. In healthcare environments, staff and contractors must remain safe and use best practice for hazardous tasks like manual handling, to keep themselves and those around them safe.

4 essential points they need to be across include:

1. The legislation and standards that govern your facility in your area
2. How to report incidents and hazards properly and quickly
3. How to assess risk and prevent incidents from happening
4. Being up-to-date with best practice manual handling procedures (when relevant)

Many companies induct new employees using the “Go Away and Find Out for Yourself” approach. However, with an online induction course program, you can streamline this process and give them the confidence to proceed right away by providing all the information they need in one convenient location.

Make it as simple as possible with online induction software

Utilising an electronic platform allows you to streamline the security of onboarding and manage a new worker more efficiently.

An effective online induction and training system can:

• Provide all personnel with an initial induction and ongoing training
• Allow workers to complete their onboarding inductions prior to arriving on-site
• Be a central storage location for licences and insurances
• Keep contractors safe in the knowledge that their information is secure

Another great feature that an online induction program can offer is the use of interactive content and videos. This is a much more efficient way to get your message across so that everyone understands it.

Rapid Induct is an example of online induction software that, with the above features, ensures a seamless onboarding experience for new workers. Not only does the platform meet the highest standards of information security, but it also connects with our visitor management system to enable fast sign-in and sign-out so new workers don’t get held up with basic procedures.

For administrators, maintaining inductions online means the compliance status of every employee or contractor can be reviewed at any time through live dashboards which makes staying on top of compliance management simple.

What to include in an induction training checklist

Induction training must include the following four fundamentals:

1. General training – the history of the organisation, its values, philosophy and the organisational structure
2. Mandatory training – the rules and regulations governing its industry, work health and safety, industry standards etc.
3. Job training – the provision of a training or procedure manual, and time organised for shadowing another worker if applicable
4. Training evaluation – the confirmation that they have read and understood the training, plus an opportunity to provide a review about the quality of the training

Your induction training material should be easy to follow plus use simple language and short sentences to keep the reader engaged and focused.

The FairWork Ombudsman in Australia provides a training checklist template to help guide your induction plans. Following this checklist is a great start to enable new employees to feel welcomed and prepared to do their job well.

The template highlights when the induction process starts by stating the essential details to organise before a new hire starts:

• Employee details
  • Signed letter of engagement
  • Relevant licences and insurance documents
  • Tax file declaration form
  • Superannuation choice form
  • Banking details
  • Emergency contact details
  • IT access and uniforms and passes prepared

Then, make sure to cover these details on the first day:

• Orientation and housekeeping
  • The history of the organisation
  • Their direct report and an organisational chart
  • Introduction to other staff
  • Location of facilities: kitchen, toilet, staff room or lockers etc.
    
• Essential admin procedures
  • A copy of the relevant business policies and procedures e.g. codes of conduct and work health and safety policies or procedures
  • Workplace policies and procedures e.g. uniform or dress code, leave information, social media policy, bullying, harassment and anti-discrimination policies
  • Their duties and procedure manual and other training
  • Hours of work and break times

It’s essential to get feedback from the worker as to the training quality, and a formal sign-off as assurance that they have understood the requirements of working within your organisation. For more information about how to organise employee induction content, our guide on how to create an effective online induction explains the process further.

Streamline your online induction process with Rapid today

Contact us at Rapid Global to streamline your contractor onboarding processes and make your induction program an effective one. We help businesses of all sizes, across all industries, to improve their work practices.