The WOW Induction experience

By Tarun Gill on March 11, 2013 • ( 0 )

IS YOUR INDUCTION PROGRAM EFFECTIVE

As communications professionals we have an all important role to play to get employees on a common platform and ensure they all know what they ideally should about the organization

It’s no surprise that many companies in their bid to hire the best talent often ignore the on boarding process of the new recruit. Even though companies claim to have the best onboarding approach but that the ground reality may differ.

Don’t you come across employees in your daily interaction not even knowing the business model of the organization? This employee ignorance has direct bearing on your new hire induction process.

Do you have a strong company orientation program as part of the new hire induction program? It is a fact that the employee induction experience is somewhat correlated to early attrition. People may choose to leave the second day if they don’t like your induction program, given they always have options to choose from.

Also a robust, engaging on-boarding program is a backbone of the organization which also is a great differentiating tool for companies. You don’t get a second chance to create a first impression. Even though it’s a cliché but not many organizations follow this rule.

Communication professionals should leverage induction as a differentiator, by giving new hires the WOW experience. This wow experience should not be a drag, companies in their quest to cascade messages end up over-communicating. A three full day induction program is a testimony to that.

Three days of induction is a big NO NO. A good effective program should not be more than a day covering company update from a business leader, business model and most importantly the organization value system. Rest all could be a subset of this.

Remember it’s not what you communicate but how you communicate what differentiates the wow from the good experience. That’s why it is important to have an effective and lively facilitator who after every 2 hours engages new hires in games and simulations.

You as communication professionals have a key role in working on the induction content. What tools you use, powerpoint, or videos will help organizations creating that wow factor.

My recommendation is go beyond powerpoints, and use infographics or videos for storytelling.