Getting your employee induction process right is essential. Creating a good induction program is step one to ensuring that you have a knowledgeable, safe and productive employee.
Apart from the obvious argument that a poor induction program can have an adverse effect on safety, it can also help to create a dangerous attitude of casualness towards safety throughout the organisation. Research indicates that a poor induction has a significant negative impact upon a new employee’s perception of their skills and ability to meet expectations, and how they feel about their job and their relationship with their fellow workers and employer.
Are you aware of the issues a bad induction can cause?
As an employer, it’s important to take advantage of a new employee’s, visitor and contractor’s first day. It is the perfect opportunity to fuel productivity, provide a feel for your company and to clarify role specifics and site practises.
The effects of a poor induction system
Unsafe Work Environment –
It’s obvious, we all know that poorly training employees are more susceptible to injuries. This happens when staff lack the knowledge and skills required to use equipment safely. The problem can be fatal in some work environments.
It isn’t enough to have established procedures and protocols for activities that involve potential safety risks. Employees must receive training on the appropriate procedures and how and when to use them.
High Turnover –
When there is little or no training, employees do not understand how to effectively do their jobs. This leads to a low morale among workers, which results in employee turnover.
Low Productivity –
The rate of production is low when employees don’t know enough to perform their jobs confidently. Often unskilled staff will spend more time seeking help to perform their jobs. When more experienced employees spend time monitoring unskilled workers, it detracts from their work and affects their production as well. This can lead to errors and work needing to be rectified.
Increase In Business Expenses –
An uninformed workforce can hit your business in other ways, such as:
- Incurring staff medical costs for injuries sustained from improper use of equipment and supplies;
- Compensation to customers for defective products;
- In extreme circumstances, businesses can suffer high legal costs. (Employee injury claims, outsiders injured while visiting on site, or from faulty products.)
Decrease In Customers –
Untrained employees cannot produce high-quality products. In addition a lack of adequate product knowledge and customer service skills also lead to a less than satisfactory customer experience.
What should you avoid?
When inducting staff or site visitors, businesses such avoid the following:
- Not having an induction or delaying the process. An induction is important to the success and safety of your workforce. Find the best type of induction for your company and begin the process on day one, for everyone. Read: Our Guide To Induction Programs and How To Identify Staff Training Needs
- Too much information. Your induction needs to cover all the essential information but, bombarding your inductees with too much information and loads of paperwork will only end up making them feel overwhelmed. Stick to the important information, organise content on a per role basis and reduce paperwork. A number of companies offer online inductions, courses can be accessed and completed by inductees at their own pace before they even arrive on site.
- Making your inductee get straight into the job without an induction. Forcing your employee to jump straight into their role, without any proper instruction, will leave them with a lack of confidence in their ability to fulfil their job requirements. Therefore, it is very important to gradually introduce them to their role, providing the opportunity to attempt various tasks in a supportive environment.
Overall, not investing time and resources into an effective workplace induction will result in wasted time, money and could lead to more serious issues. Ensure you create the right impression and culture with your workforce.
