Staff inductions are a golden opportunity to ensure that your newest employee assimilates into your team well and understands their role from the start. It’s an important step in the recruitment process and, when carried out well, can bring benefits for both the business and the employee.
Of course, any induction needs to include issues such as health and safety, the practice building, and terms of employment, etc, but it’s important not to neglect the personal when changing your personnel. Taking steps to ease the addition of a new team member can help to ensure the existing dynamic is not disrupted too much and that the new member can slot in as seamlessly as possible.
Of course, every practice is unique, so inductions will be done differently, and practice managers may put their own spin on it. But below are three key things to consider to help your new staff member fit into the team and their role from the get-go:
Set the standard straight away
Explaining what you expect in terms of their behaviour, what their role entails and how they should be carrying out their duties, is crucial. This should also be written down as part of practice policy for further clarity and so it can be referred back to.
Spelling out your expectations from the beginning means they will be confident that they know what you want and will be more likely to fulfil those requirements. This should also give them a chance to ask about anything they may be unclear about.
Identify any training needs
Once your new employee understands what’s required of them, you can discuss together which, if any, areas they may need extra help with and set out a schedule to deliver the necessary training.
This will provide reassurance for both of you. Your new staff member will be happy that they aren’t being asked to go beyond their capability immediately and that there’s opportunity to develop their skills, and you will feel secure that, by the end of training, they will have all the skills they need to carry out their job effectively.
Using other staff members as mentors to share their expertise will also help to begin building relationships among the team.
Arrange time with team members
Joining a new team can be intimidating, no matter how confident someone is or how friendly your staff are. Arranging time-slots with different members of the team, even if their paths are unlikely to cross that frequently, will help your new employee learn more about the structure of the practice and also begin opening the lines of communication from the start and begin the process of building relationships as early on as possible.
This can be an important part of the process, and shouldn’t be overlooked; positive team relationships make practice management smoother, which ultimately will improve business performance.