INDUCTION  PROGRAMME:  STEPS  

The HR department can initiate the following steps when organising the induction programme:

i. Welcome to the organisation.

ii. Described about the company.

iii. Show the location/department where the new worker will work.

iv. Provide the company's manual to the new recruit.

v. Give details regarding various work groups and the extent of unionism within the company.

vi. Provides details about pay, holidays, benefits, leave, etc. Emphasise the significance of attendance or punctuality.

vii. Described about future training opportunities and career prospects.

viii. Clarify doubts, by encouraging the worker to come out with questions.

ix. Take the worker on a guided tour of facilities, buildings etc. Hand him over to his supervisor.

(a) Content: The points covered in worker induction programme may be stated thus:

(b) Socialisation: Socialisation is a procedure through which a new recruit start to understand and accept the values, beliefs and norms held by others in the organisation. HR department representatives help new worker to "internalise the manner things are done in the organisation". Orientation helps the new worker to interact freely with workers working at many levels and learn behaviours that are satisfactory. Through such formal and informal interaction and conversation, new employee begin to understand how the department/company is run, who have power and who does not, , how to behave in the company, who is politically active within the department ,what is expected of them, etc. In brief, if the new workers wish to prosper and survive in their new work home, they have to soon come to 'know the ropes'. Orientation programmes are effective socialisation tools because they help the workers to learn regarding the job and perform things in a desired way.

 (c)  Follow up: In spite of the best efforts of supervisors, sure dark areas may still remain in the orientation programme. New workers may not have understood some things. The supervisors, when covering a large ground, can have ignored certain significant matters. To overcome the resultant communication gaps, it is better to utilize a supervisory checklist and discover whether all of the aspects have been covered or not. Follow up meetings could be held at preset intervals, say after every three or six months on the face-to-face basis. The fundamental purpose of such follow up orientation is to offer guidance to workers on various general along with job related matters without leaving anything to chance. To develop orientation, the company should make a conscious effort to obtain feedback from everyone involved in the programme. There are several ways to get these types of feedback: throughout round table discussions with new workers after their first year on the job, throughout in-depth interviews with randomly chooses workers and superiors and through questionnaires for mass coverage of all current recruits.