How to Create A Great Workplace Induction Checklist for New Employees

Induction is an opportunity to welcome your recruit to the organization. It can help them settle in and ensure they have the knowledge and support they need to perform their role.

You need the right tools and information to handle the different phases of the induction including pre-boarding, Day 1, and the first 90 Days.

Hiring the best person for the job requires planning, preparation, organization, and working through a carefully thought-out and practical process until you conduct the activities that occur before the new starter begins their role.

The recruitment process covers job analysis, job description, person specification, job advertisement, shortlisting, conducting interviews, contracting the best candidate, and induction. You have to follow these steps to recruit a candidate who should prove to be the correct choice.

However, if you decide to cut corners and then go solely on gut instinct in deciding who to recruit, you can easily get a candidate who will prove to be unsuited to the role.

Having found a good candidate, the human resource department or unit working with managers can prepare a workplace induction checklist. This has to be completed jointly by the line manager and the new hires.

Activities to Cover Before the Employee Reports

These activities occur before the new starter begins their role. This is also known as onboarding. The activities are carefully designed to keep your new hires engaged, motivated in the run-up to their first day at the workplace.

You have to establish ownership of the process. Whether the HR Manager who owns the process or the line manager, someone has to be appointed as a single point of contact to communicate with your new hire. This will make them feel committed and ready to join your team.

The person selected should be someone who has been with the company for longer. He or she may not necessarily be on the same team, but willing to spend some time help the new hire.

The appointed individual can create a company’s digital onboarding process in form of a PDF packet for the new hire that includes a “fun sheet” for an intro to the rest of the company.

He or she can create a simple video of the office with key tips such as where you find the best chocolate or coffee. It can also include the team and surrounding areas.

The activities include the following:

• Call new employee to confirm the start date and time, where they should report and if there are any special requirements
• Welcome meeting with line manager – to be booked for the first morning
• New User Form submitted to IT with appropriate details for emails & office access rights

There are a few good ideas that can enhance your employer brand two days before the new employee reporting. You can send a welcome pack with a branded mug, a cool laptop bag, and a link to a virtual tour of your office.

Information, and Activities to Cover on The First Day

You can be innovative to make this first day memorable, not monotonous. I’m sure an employee would have the best memory of their Day 1 if they walked into the open-plan office and saw balloons and a welcome cake on their desk.

On the first day of the induction, the new hire is welcomed and the important paperwork is addressed. The following is a list of activities to cover on the first day:

• Introduce the new hire to the immediate team members, the organizational ways of working at the immediate working area
• Explain the management structure of the company
• Explain the purpose of the job and how it fits in the organizational structure
• Issue Identity card (temporary)
• Visit the washrooms (toilets), and refreshment facilities
• Explain the first-aid procedures, share emergency numbers, and location of first aiders
• Explain and demonstrate emergency evacuation procedures, and disclose entrances/exits (plus emergency exits)
• Facilitate learning on telephone usage for business and personal use
• Explain the building security and out hours working
• Make a tour of the car parking, and show reserved space (if appropriate)
• Describe the procedure for reporting sickness absence
• Arrange access Health and safety training (Request appropriate CD ROMs from the learning & Organizational Team if no internet access)            

The HR team and managers should add any other key items to be covered that may be relevant to the new employee on Day 1.

It is best practice for the Executive Director or CEO to welcome a new hire to the organization. This can create lasting memories and motivation for the new employee. It is also one way to promote the employer brand to the world.

Even if the new employee arrives during a busy working week. The HR Office and responsible manager should not overlook this important task. You should clear your schedule early enough to make the new employee the number one priority for the day.

For virtual onboarding, you will need to make sure the line manager and the team have booked enough time to spend with the new employee.

Information to Cover During the First Week

Have you come across the word socialization? These activities occur in week one and are ongoing.

This is where new employees can get to know people and make social connections with new team members.

It also involves meeting with staff and stakeholders who have any connection to the new role. During the first week, you can put in place training, shadowing, goal setting, and frequent check-ins. You have to facilitate more training, check-ins, which will lead to the beginning of normality. You can look at some of the activities that you might include on your list:

Activities Related to Working at Your Organization

• Identity card photograph booked
• Corporate identity badge issued
• Procedure for receiving visitors
• Communications: Core Brief, e-noticeboard, Informer, Intranet team meetings, etc.
• Postal arrangements
• Photocopier operation
• Performance Management process explained and meeting dates set up
• Performance Management, and appraisal training dates agreed and application form submitted to Learning & Organizational Development Team                      
• The learning and development process explained                      
• Arrangements for purchasing (Procurement)                      
• Intranet/Internet/email facilities (access/what is appropriate)                      

Department, Services Provided, and The Team

• Looking at Departmental Plan and Service Plans
• Looking at Department/team goals and outcomes
• Looking at the Services provided by the department/team
• Getting to know who are service/department/team customers

Employment Contract, Pay Conditions, and Social Security Issues

• Contract of employment received
• Bank details passed to payroll and pay arrangements explained
• Social Security Number Set-Up
• The probationary period (if applicable) was explained and 1, 3- and 5-month review meetings arranged
• Travel and subsistence expense claims procedure
• Arrangements for taking leave
• Arrangements for overtime working (if applicable)                      
• Flexible working procedures explained (if applicable)
• Staff Saving Scheme information booklet provided
• Procedure relating to relocation payments (where applicable)

Understanding the Occupational Health and Safety Policy

• Go through the procedure for reporting health and safety problems, accidents, and violent incidents
• Identity of trade union safety representatives for the workplace
• Discuss the health and safety policy and employee’s responsibilities plus a medical check-up [mandatory by the labour legislation of your country
• Facilitate the assessments for the work activity and any special health and safety measures
• Disclose safe working procedures – for example, the procedure for working remotely
• Conduct all the specific health and safety training necessary to safely undertake the responsibilities job
• Issue any personal protective equipment and explained how it is used

Display Screen Equipment:

• Inform the employee if they are a ‘defined’ computer user
• A workstation assessment is carried out
• A free eye test offered
• Safe use of any hazardous substances explained
• Manual Handling/People Handling training arranged as appropriate
• Driving (where applicable):
• The employee’s driving license and insurance, with business use, to cover work journeys checked

Learning and Development

• Confirm attendance on relevant corporate induction event                
• Training arrangements explained                
• Completion of Health & Safety and Equalities Training                
• Consider IT application training appropriate to the job                
• Any other job-specific learning and development identified

Every employee deserves to be part of the learning and development opportunities of the organization. A selective offer of learning opportunities both locally and abroad can cause employee demotivation.

When you have finally decided where your new employee fits, you should encourage them to further their knowledge in the field. You can also ask them to join book clubs, read articles and magazines relevant to their profession.     

Other Information to Cover During the First 6 Weeks

At this stage, an employee should be ready for independence, performance reviews, and final two-way feedback. Time to ask how the onboarding experience made your new hire think and feel about the organization.

Explain the Effective Leadership Review and the Cultural Change Program

Introduction to other agencies and partners involved in the work of the organization (if applicable)

Performance Appraisal and Development Program (PADP) explained and training booked (if applicable)

Introduce Policies and Standards to The New Employee

New hires deserve to know the code of professional ethics and business conduct policy. They also have to learn your data protection and freedom of information requirements as they apply to the service

Statement of required practice (SORPS), and organizational policies on grievance, discipline, harassment, customer complaints, whistle-blowing, flexible, and remote working, sickness and absence, information systems standards, and acceptable usage policy (IT).

Following the completion of the Induction Programme, an employee should be allowed to make on the process. They can be done by asking the following questions:

• Do you understand your responsibilities and how you fit into the department/team?
• Are you aware of training and development opportunities available to you?
• Is there anything that you feel was missing from your induction?

When all these questions are answered, you can be sure that the induction process has been a success. The employee can sign to confirm that they have received information and instruction on the items contained in the induction, onboarding and socialization program and have been given the relevant explanations and documentation.

How does a typical induction checklist look like?

What we have already covered is a checklist on its own. We simply want to make sure that it becomes a tool that spells out the exact task, the activity, the person responsible, and whether the planned activity has been completed or not. This is very useful if you have to track progress and improve your pre-boarding experience.

Many organizations use an induction checklist to make sure that you cover everything. It is good practice to share the checklist with the recruit. This way, they can play a part in making sure they get all the information and detail they need.

As a manager, you should continue to check the induction process to make sure that it is meeting the needs of the recruit. You should also include opportunities for feedback at the end of the induction process.

The induction tool or checklist starts by stating the name of the employee, their department, and the date of appointment. You can look at this example to guide you on how yours might look like:

Final Comments

If a new hire begins their role without an effective induction process, you will most likely see them struggle. They may never fully understand what is expected of them in their role or what the organizational culture is about.

Companies today recognize that onboarding is a critical element of the new hire experience. Even if the process may seem quite long and tiresome, it is worth it. According to Gallup, it is only 12% of people say their company does a good job of onboarding.

This has consequences on the other 88% because the new employee does not integrate into their new team. The productivity from the new hire will be slower with a negative impact on the rest of the team as they have to support them for longer.

In many workplaces, the morale of the new employee will drop rapidly. This could result in the recruit leaving yet you might not be ready to repeat the recruitment process with additional costs.

Don’t be that company that leaves onboarding unstructured, limited to the minimum compliance requirements, or left fully to the discretion of the line managers.

All the activities shared in this piece of writing emphasized the importance of a positive employee experience in the first months of your new hire and beyond. You can blend digital technology and human intervention to capture hearts and minds. Always strive to make new employees feel like they belong even before Day 1.