Here are a few tips for integrating new people:
Make sure that new people receive the firm’s formal induction programme as soon as possible. If for any reason they have to wait for a while before the next one is available, take them through the main points yourself and ensure that they have all of the relevant documentation.
Introduce newcomers, personally, to each member of your team and to others in the firm with whom they are likely to be in contact during the first few weeks.
Circulate e-mails to all of your team colleagues and to others, welcoming the new recruits and giving some information about where they come from and what they are going to do.
Ask one of your support people to give some training on the electronic information and telecommunications systems to newcomers within a day of joining. You could also ask them to take newcomers on a tour of the office and to answer the many questions about administrative procedures that are likely to crop up.
Hold a team meeting within two or three days of new people arriving to discuss assignments and clients and how the newcomers can contribute to the team’s work.
Involve new people in work as early as possible and personally introduce them to relevant clients. Give them a chance to accomplish something early on thus helping them to develop their own confidence and to give your colleagues confidence in them.
Take the opportunity to have lunch with new recruits within two or three weeks of their arrival. Ask them for their first impressions and if there is anything more that you can do to help them become established members of your team.
Invest some time to help new people with their work problems, to seek feedback and to integrate them into your team. Meet with them at, say, fortnightly intervals for the first six months.
Give newcomers an opportunity to get to know team colleagues and other important contacts within the firm on a personal as well as professional basis. Set up some social events, lunches, dinners or trips to pubs to bring this about.
Allocate assignments of a progressively more challenging nature during the first six months to help them to build their self-confidence and to demonstrate that they are making significant contributions.
The team leaders at the CBI put many of these ideas into effect when integrating new policy analysts and advisers into the organization. Deputy Director-General John Cridland puts it this way:
In one sense motivation for us is easy. The CBI is a fun place in which to work. Young people in their 20s are at the centre of things with the opportunity to meet business leaders, senior politicians, civil servants and ministers. We have a high turnover of graduates, roughly 25 per cent per year, because many of our people receive good job offers from our members. We understand this and accept it. So we have to get our new people up to speed very quickly to get the best out of them in the two or three or perhaps four years that they are with us. First-class induction is a must. Our personnel people provide a thorough formal induction programme. Our team leaders and their senior policy adviser colleagues then do plenty of coaching and mentoring. It is a sort of apprenticeship system with the need to ratchet up skills rapidly. In the second month our new policy advisers attend outside meetings with senior colleagues. Within six months they are leading for the CBI at meetings with senior civil servants on government committees or senior business members of the CBI. They do interviews on local radio after a few months. They make presentations to the regional CBI councils. They will be exposed to contacts in the European Union and so on. Our team leaders have to make sure, through their own efforts and those of their senior colleagues, that the young graduates quickly develop and use writing, presentation, media and meetings skills. In this way our people become integrated into our culture very rapidly. That helps to reinforce the motivation that comes, anyway, from being at the centre of things and having the opportunity to rub shoulders with interesting and influential people.
Formal Induction At The CBI
As well as the work undertaken by the team leaders, the CBI provides a number of formal induction activities for its newcomers. On the very first morning they talk with a representative of the personnel department at which such matters as terms and conditions, policies and procedures and training are discussed. Then they have a meeting with their immediate team leaders at which their roles are reviewed in some detail and objectives are agreed for the first three to six months. The work of the directorates, CBI regional offices and the Brussels and Washington offices is explained. The immediate team leaders, at this stage, then take the opportunity to introduce newcomers to their directors, team colleagues, staff council representatives and other useful contacts. The third phase of the process is an induction day organized by the personnel department to give participants a broad view of the CBI’s work. The history and structure are explained; the vision, mission and current aims and objectives are outlined; and the roles of all of the CBI directorates are elaborated.
Newcomers also have the opportunity, at this stage, to chat to the Director-General or Deputy Director-General. Plenty of time is given for questions.
Everyone also receives an induction pack, which includes important information about the CBI. Individuals can also use it to keep a record of their training and development and performance appraisals. It includes a welcome letter from the Director-General and details of the CBI’s strategy, work plans, achievements and latest annual report and accounts. There are details of the CBI’s training and development policy and its implications for newcomers. It provides comprehensive details on terms and conditions, health and safety and the organization’s structure. There is a staff directorate and office plan.
The combination of this comprehensive induction programme organized by the CBI’s personnel department and the coaching and mentoring work undertaken by team leaders and their colleagues ensures that new staff at the CBI are well integrated and brought up to speed rapidly.