Induction, Orientation and On-Boarding
Induction, Orientation and On-Boarding
Induction is the process of welcoming a new team member into the organization and its culture. It might involve a slideshow presentation on team culture, for example, a meet-and-greet or tour with relevant coworkers, gifts such as a welcome book or company swag bag, or a matchup with a veteran “buddy” to ease the new hire’s first-day jitters. Induction is a short-term event, usually completed on a new employee’s first day.
Orientation is the process to familiarize new hires with company policy and guidelines. It’s all about compliance and getting new hires up to speed on processes, paperwork, and the company’s general administrative structure. It might include an introduction to payroll and expense processes (including setup of a travel card), an overview of the organization’s branding and style guides, completion and processing of company policy documentation (e.g., health and safety forms, privacy policy, emergency contacts), and setup of a computer and phone and review of company guidelines for their use. Orientation is a short-term activity, often completed by the end of a new recruits first week.
Induction and orientation are necessary stages of any new hire’s journey. But they’re both short-term experience and represent only the first few steps of that journey. And that’s why onboarding is necessary.
Onboarding is an umbrella term for the process that spans the full new-hire journey. It starts when the contract is signed, includes the very beginning of day 1 (preboarding), continues through a new hire’s first days and weeks on the job (induction and orientation), and lasts until the new employee is fully settled in the new role (integration), regardless of whether that takes three weeks, three months, or even a complete year.
This long-term strategy recognizes that a staggering 20% of new hires leave for a new opportunity within the first 45 days on the job. Activities in this period typically fall into the following categories:
- Organizational (administration, policy, documentation)
- Functional (training, goal setting, performance reviews)
- Social (connection building, welcome drinks, “buddy” mentoring)
- Cultural (expectation setting, company purpose and vision, stakeholder engagement)
In short, onboarding is a comprehensive, two-way process for sharing knowledge, communicating values, building connections, and managing compliance. Its ultimate goal is to transform new hires into confident, empowered, team members and insiders.
Induction and orientation are important elements of the new-job experience. But because many companies don’t go any farther, they are missing out on great results: “organizations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82 percent and productivity by over 70 percent.” By building an all-encompassing onboarding process, organizations can create a culture in which their new hires will thrive.
Induction…
…is about practical and technical integration: it’s about connecting the employee with the bureaucratic, hierarchical and technological systems used across the company, so they can start ‘plugging in’ to these systems
…is where the form-filling happens: there are specific administrative milestones in the first stages of a job that never get repeated (except to update information). This includes next-of-kin information, bank account details, IT requirements and sign-up forms for employee benefits
…should cover basic human needs: where do I go for water? Where are the toilets? How do I heat up my food? Where is the bus stop? Where can I park? These questions should all be covered during induction
…follows a much steeper drop-off curve than onboarding: there’s an initial glut of induction activity but this is time-limited and drops rapidly after the initial days or weeks in the job, depending on the complexity of the role and the number of human and system interdepencies in the organisation
…includes social contact to establish familiarity: often inductions include a meet-and-greet with key staff and colleagues. These are designed to introduce basic familiarity quickly – including who does what and who you should go to with questions – rather than create bonds to facilitate teamwork and collaboration, which is the preserve of onboarding
….will need to cover certain legal requirements: gathering of specific employee data will be needed during induction and it’s likely, therefore, that the process will feel more formalised than onboarding
…is a two-way process but tends to be transactional: the organisation gives the employee key information, such as who’s who in the organisation, and the employee gives the organisation key information, such as their personal details. The process is two-way, but the information is highly structured and communicated efficiently, such as through forms or the company intranet
Onboarding…
…includes long-term, relationship-based programmes: mentoring schemes and ‘buddy’ systems designed to facilitate the employee’s understanding of the organisation and how to apply their skills effectively could be part of a longer-term onboarding programme
…is about interpersonal processes that cannot be sped up without sacrificing quality: socialisation and trust-building can’t be sped up, meaning that any programmes to facilitate these are part of an onboarding programme, not an induction programme. Both socialisation and trust-building are essential to teamwork and collaboration
…connects understanding with performance: high performance is difficult without context and a thorough understanding of the organisation, both of which can’t be gained quickly. Onboarding programmes help deliver context and understanding: this knowledge compounds as people make new connections and learn new information
…combines information with discussion and development: strategies, roadmaps, leadership intent, three-year goals and high-level KPIs should be part of the onboarding plan. These require not only information-giving (such as documents) but also discussion, to help the employee turn this abstract information into tangible actions applicable to their role
…lasts longer than induction: depending on the seniority of the role, the complexity of the organisation and the organisation’s perception of the importance of interpersonal dynamics, onboarding could last from a couple of weeks to many months
…is more likely to begin before the employee joins the company: because onboarding relies on the employee’s openness to new information and ability to soak up and propagate this information in their mind, forward-thinking organisations will send key information in advance. This also helps the employee more quickly add value to the organisation
…contributes to employer/employee alignment: the more employees know about what the organisation expects and its overriding values, the more they are able to make decisions in the interests of the organisation
…is a two-way process revolving around less-structured information: information flows from the employer to the employee and vice versa, but this is often unstructured information based around human constructs, such as ideas and needs, as well as tacit knowledge. This differs from the more structured information shared during induction
Bringing a
new hire on board is an essential and often complex process. From the time
between signing the contract to the first crucial day and following months of
integration, a new hire’s journey is the stepping stone to success within your
organization.
But while
many companies employ a great new-recruit process, more than 22% are flying blind,
mistaking induction and orientation for onboarding, and missing
opportunities to engage and delight their ambassadors of tomorrow.
So. Let’s
unpack it. What IS
onboarding? And how is it different to induction and
orientation? To truly understand, we need to know exactly what each of these
terms means in isolation.
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|
Induction |
Traditionally induction is the process of welcoming your new team member into
the fold. It might involve a powerpoint presentation on team culture, a
meet-and-greet with relevant co-workers and maybe even a buddy system to ease
first-day nerves. Induction is short term, it’s usually a one-and-done activity
completed on a new hires first day.
Induction might include:
- Welcome
Booklet / Company Culture PowerPoint
- Office
Tour / Meet & Greet
- Buddy
System
- ‘Welcome’
Morning Tea
- Company
Swag Bag
In one sentence: A process to welcome
new hires to the organization and its culture.
|
|
Orientation |
Orientation is all about compliance and getting
your new hire up to speed on processes, paper-work and the general
administration of your company. Orientation is a short term activity, often
done-and-dusted by the end of a new recruits first week.
Orientation might include:
- Pay
Roll / Expense Process Introduction
- Computer
/ Phone Allocation and Guidelines
- Brand
Style-Guide Overview
- Travel
Card Set-up
- Company
Policy Documentation [Health & Safety / Privacy / Emergency Contacts]
In one sentence: A process to
familiarize new hires with company policy and guidelines.
Orientation and Induction go hand-in-hand and are
necessary parts of any new hire journey. But they both represent a short-term
vision for your newest colleague.
That is where onboarding comes in.
|
|
Onboarding |
Onboarding is an umbrella term that spans the full new hire lifecycle. From
signing their contract, and landing on Day 1 [pre-boarding], during their first
days and weeks on the job [induction & orientation], through until they are
fully settled in their new role - whether that’s 3 weeks, 3 months or even a
year [integration].
It is a long-term strategy and recognizes that a staggering 20% of new
hires leave for a new opportunity within the first 45 days
on the job.
The purpose is to deliver an ongoing, all-inclusive
experience that builds loyalty and confidence through what we call the four prongs of exceptional employee onboarding:
- Organizational
[Administration, Policy, Documentation]
- Functional
[Training, Goal Setting, Performance Reviews]
- Social
[Connection Building, Welcome Drinks, Buddy-Mentoring]
- Cultural
[Setting Expectations, Company Purpose & Vision, Stakeholder
Engagement]
In one sentence: A comprehensive,
2-way process designed to share knowledge, communicate values, build connections
and manage compliance to transform new hires into confident, empowered team
members and ambassadors.
|
|
The Takeaway |
Induction and orientation are important pieces of the new job puzzle, but many
companies begin and end with only this. Building an all-encompassing onboarding
process can increase retention by over 82%, boost
productivity by over 70%, and ultimately create a culture
in which your new hires will THRIVE.
To Understand the difference between these three terms, one needs to understand the the term individually. So, lets understand these term first.
Induction
welcoming new hire to the organization is induction. It is an all around arranged program to mingle the new joinee with the collaborators and the working environment. The term induction is gotten from a Latin expression 'inducer' which alludes 'to bring or present'. In this procedure, an individual is formally admitted to the organization as an employee, to assume responsibility for a specific post.
To put it plainly, it is a procedure of presenting an employee that happens on the day when he joins the association and gave fundamental data expected to alter as quickly as time permits in the new association to increase most extreme proficiency in the base time. The procedure helps in establishing a positive first connection on the new selects that they have a place with the organization.
Under this procedure, the employee is made mindful of the hierarchical order and a survey is given in the company's history. The outline is identified with the organization's mission, vision, values, policies, norms, history of the employer, clients and partners, dress code, etc.
Orientation
Orientation is a procedure of helping the new contestant, to gel up in the association, effectively and rapidly. In this procedure, a commonsense outline of the association is given, in which the new joinee is acquainted with various individuals working in the association, to make him feel 'at home' in the new condition. Organizations put in half a month or even a very long time on the orientation of the newcomers.
The goal of the program is to expel the uneasiness and dread from the psyches of the new contracts. It is a significant known truth that employees feel on edge when the primary join an association, they stress over how they will most likely play out the new activity. Numerous employees feel lacking in light of the fact that they contrast themselves and progressively experienced employees. The orientation program goes for lessening the uneasiness of new employees by giving them the fundamental data with respect to work condition, by acquainting them with different employees.
Onboarding
New employee onboarding is the way toward incorporating another worker with an organization and its way of life, just as getting another contract the apparatuses and data expected to end up a profitable individual from the group.
Onboarding new contracts at an organization ought to be a key procedure that keeps going no less than one year, staffing and HR specialists state, since how bosses handle the initial couple of days and months of another worker's experience is urgent to guaranteeing high maintenance.
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