A good onboarding and induction process starts from advertising the position and ends with the end of the probation period.
Key elements of onboarding and induction are:

  • Clarification of what the role is, what to expect from you and what are your expectations to them; what good looks like and what's the measure of success; setting initial objectives; what the College is trying to achieve; provide essential background information to assist new members of staff with their work; give an insight into other people's jobs
  • Compliance with all the necessary training and policies – College-wide and local
  • Introduction to the culture of the College, department, team; the Values and behaviours framework of Respect, Collaboration, Excellence, Integrity, Innovation; diversity and inclusion; provide the context in which they will operate
  • Building connections to make new staff feel welcome and help to build interpersonal relationships to increase the sense of belonging to the College community.
  • For new Lecturers, ensure that an Academic Adviser has been appointed and they meet with the new member of staff. The responsibilities of an Academic Adviser can be found here.

The Line Manager's role is to ensure induction meets these requirements so that every new member of staff, regardless of their background, experience, role, or status, can thrive, has a strong start in their new role, and feels part of their new team as soon as possible.
If delegating elements of induction, Line Managers must ensure the inductor has all the knowledge required to carry out the induction properly.
We have created this Onboarding and Induction Checklist for Managers 2021 to help Line Managers prepare for the induction process before the arrival of a new member of staff and carry out a thorough onboarding and induction until the end of probation.  Key items to cover and relevant links have been divided into the step-by-step stages:

  1. Recruitment stage
  2. Pre-start date
  3. Day one (Remote; On-campus)
  4. Week one
  5. First-month induction
  6. First six months (mid probation and end probation)
  7. Development Plan