Feature

The right induction

Most organisations have elaborate induction programmes to help new entrants settle down. Sudipta Dev finds the best approach.

For most organisations, the induction programme is a necessary effort to initiate new hires. It is a ritual that is followed with an almost religious discipline. Intere-stingly, instead of exploiting the raw energy and enthusiasm of new hires, by putting them on work immediately, it is not uncommon to find organisations conducting prolonged induction programmes for weeks or months. By the end of which a few new inductees are so drained by the information overload that they are ready to bolt the door.

While most experts are unanimous that a couple of days are sufficient for the initial induction programme, a staggered (ongoing) approach should be the best. Instead of bombarding new recruits with information, resources should be pointed out to them from where they can get additional information about the organisation and its processes. The intranet in this case is the most suitable resource where they can get information and clarify their doubts.

The aim of the induction programme is primarily to familiarise and assimilate the new joinees in their organisation. Ullhas Pagey, HR and Organisational Development Expert, and a visiting faculty at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai states, “Essentially, the focus of induction programmes is ‘organisation socialisation’, which means that a new person on the first day of joining an organisation should be imparted with enough information about its businesses, people, organisational values and practices, to make him feel comfortable and at ease at work in the company right from the day one.”

Correct time-frame

This is a debatable issue, though most experts do agree that the initial period should not be more than two days. A long induction can prove to be disadvantageous for the company as well as the individual. Pagey explains why: “As a matter of fact having a long induction programme is a double-edged sword. Most of the joinees are very keen to start the actual work right from the day one. Too long a programme many times results in an employee losing interest right from the beginning. Hence, the ideal duration should not be more than one or at the best two days, depending on the size of the organisation. It should be adequate enough to equip them with the necessary information about the organisation to enable them to carry on with their work.”

Vinayak Kamath, Vice-president, Human Resources, GECIS IT Services, asserts that there is no prescription for a correct time-frame, “Organisations need to evolve the correct time-frame, based on their own learnings, to upskill and make an individual productive. Most often, a fresh graduate will have a longer learning curve and a lateral hire can be inducted faster.” He points out that the time-frame of weeks/months is not typically for induction alone. Usually, the first two to three days are on induction into the organisation, and the next two to three days are specific business and process overview, those that the new hire is going to start his/her career in. Finally IT/BPO organisations spend the rest of these ‘weeks/months’ in training on the specific technology and processes that the individual is going to work on.

It is, however, imperative to hold the induction programme within a week of joining. Sridhar Sarathy, Managing Director, Juniper Networks India remarks that if it is held after a week, the usefulness starts decreasing. The time-frame also depends on the size of the company, if it is a large company with more freshers, the programme will be longer.

Excessive information

Information overload is in fact a mistake that most organisations commonly make. Excessive information makes the induction programme rather dysfunctional as the employees cannot relate with it. “The information imparted during the first few days of socialisation should be just enough to help him get rid from the ‘fear of the unknown’ so that he feels relaxed mentally. Ideally, the induction programmes should be designed as a staged model, based on things one ‘must’, ‘should’ and ‘nice’ to know, so that neither there is an information overload nor there is any starvation on account of necessary information. Companies should view induction programmes more from an organisation development perspective, rather than just one-off kind of routine activities. Based on this the employees get a first hand feel about their ‘cultural fit’, which goes a long way to make them decide whether it is going to be a long-term association or a short-term fling,” explains Pagey.

Juniper directs new hires to the company intranet for more information. The ‘help desk’ is also very useful. “They should be directed to locations where they can get more information as eventually they can help themselves. If they don’t get the basic level of information they get frustrated,” informs Sarathy.

Hurix Systems has a Web-based induction programme which is particularly useful if people have to be put on the job quickly, and is also a source of ready reference. Anuranjan Gautam, Manager, HR, Hurix Systems agrees that many organisations tend to give new people a lot of facts/figures/names/videos/ lengthy lectures in order to educate them at the earliest. However, these have been identified as the most common mistakes which lead to low retention levels and dissatisfied team members. “Research has proved that a well-designed orientation programme can improve the employee retention by 25 percent.” It is therefore always advisable for new members to absorb the essential information gradually and completely.

Staggered approach

It is necessary to monitor the retention of information by the candidates. A staggered/ stepped approach works the best. The programmes must be conducted by managers (preferably of different departments) and not just HR personnel. “The information sharing process in the induction programme should be staggered but the overall deployment of the programme should have a stepped approach. Induction should not be a one-time activity for all the new team members. An effective approach for the same should be to have one-day programme every week initially. And then decreasing the same to once every month in the first 12 months,” says Gautam, adding that organisations are now adopting a ‘blended learning’ approach to training, which is a combination of classroom and Internet-based training.

Organisations need to evolve the correct time-frame to upskill and make an individual productive Vinayak Kamath VP, Human Resources GECIS IT Services	If new employees don't get the basic level of information they get frustrated Sridhar Sarathy Managing Director Juniper Networks India	A company should view its induction programmes from an organisation development perspective rather than a routine activity Ullhas Pagey HR & Organisational Development Expert

Early attrition

It is not unusual to find people leaving the organisation during the induction stage itself. It is always advisable that the first session be conducted by the CEO himself. Pagey asserts that while organisations spend a lot of time and money to hire new people, but many of them do not pay adequate attention to induction, “Many times even the head of departments who are scheduled to conduct sessions drop out on some pretext or the other, or delegate it to the second rung executives. This creates an extremely negative impression. First impression is really the last impression and if it is not good for whatsoever reason, it is the first trigger for an employee to jump the ship.”

It is also the time when recruiting managers become aware of the hiring mistakes. According to Kamath, a good organisation would define such an exit as a hiring defect. “This should be checked at the post selection, pre-offer stage by navigating the individual through a typical work day. That way, any mismatch in expectations can be corrected. It is better that individuals drop out at the post-selection, pre-offer stage rather than after on-boarding.”

At Juniper, post the offer-letter stage, a lot of people from the organisation interact with prospective employees, which builds bonding and reduces early attrition.

Buddy system

Most organisations consider the buddy system as the best mechanism for induction. This involves assigning a peer level ‘buddy’ who helps a new entrant deal with various processes of the company and guides him on work related issues. Minoo Dastur, COO and Director of Nihilent Techno-logies says, “The process of ‘culture-isation’ is best handled by reasonably senior or old-timers in the organisation. They are the right people who can give right perspective to new entrants (mentoring). The challenge is to find buddies with the right attitude. Wrong selection of the buddy can professionally kill a person.”

Induction is an ongoing, dynamic process which needs constant upgradation to meet future needs.

sudipta@expresscomputeronline.com