It is our responsibilities, not ourselves,
that we should take seriously.
— (Peter Ustinov)
Most firms these days have some sort of induction programme for their new people. Typically, newcomers are given information about the firm’s goals, policies, culture, markets, clients and reward systems. Invariably presentations are supported with written information and access to Web sites. Despite this, it is very easy for people who have recently joined the firm to feel that they are being left to sink or swim unless team leaders take great care to reinforce and extend whatever formal induction processes exist. The chances are that if this is not done well then staff turnover will be greater than otherwise. Robert Halton, Human Resources Director at DLA, is very clear about the importance of induction and the critical role of team leaders in the process:
A few years ago we surveyed people who had left the firm over an 18-month period. We found that the main reasons for people resigning were because they had not been led properly and to get broader experience. These conclusions flew in the face of the conventional wisdom of the time that people left primarily to get more money. Our practice had been to recruit good people and let them get on with it. It was very much a sink-orswim approach and it wasn’t very good. Our partners were shocked and we set about establishing much better formal induction processes and clarifying the roles of team leaders, including their responsibilities for helping newcomers to fit in. In three years, annual turnover was reduced from 32 per cent to 16 per cent. We now take the induction process very seriously. The trick is to keep newcomers as well motivated as they were the day before they joined us. So we have formal induction programmes and it is the team leader’s job to ensure that all of their new people attend. We also have a ‘buddy’ system. Each new recruit is allocated to a ‘buddy’ in the team who deals with any worries, questions and so forth and helps the newcomer to fit in. They have some lunches and drinks together to help the process along. It is the job of the team leader to ensure that the ‘buddy’ system works properly. Probably the most important role of the team leader in helping people to settle in is to give the right amount and right sort of work to move newcomers up the learning curve as quickly as possible. This means help and guidance, in other words good coaching.