Believe it or not, the first experiences your new employee encounters when joining your company is just as important as your client or guests first experience. Why? Because that new employee is to become the face of your company, expressing the vision and mission of your business to your clientele.
We at Selling Savvy want you to use these first experiences, their ‘induction’, to build each and every member of your team into a confident, kind and passionate employee who filters your business ethos through to the clients and guests standing before them.
So, let’s start with a simple question: What exactly is an ‘induction’? In layman’s terms, an induction refers to the process where you as a company, get your new employees acquainted with your business, help them to settle in comfortably, and give them the information required to become a confident team member who can perform their job to the best of their abilities.
Hopefully from the above, you can already see why a thought-through induction can be an important milestone for a new employee. However, let’s talk through the importance of it a bit more. Research completed by Emporia State University in the US shows that a thoughtful and successful induction programme can beneficial to both employers and their employees.
For you as an employer, these benefits can include reducing turnover and absenteeism, increasing employee commitment and job satisfaction as well as allowing your employee to have a true understanding of the company, its ethos and culture which in turn they can use to represent themselves properly and create a perfect first impression for your clientele.
For employees, starting a new role in a new organisation can be a stressful and trying time. Detailed induction programmes enable them to have a better understanding of the organisation, their department and role, as well as other departments and areas of your business. Finally, it also allows them to meet new colleagues in a more informal space, easing some of the tension they may be feeling.
So, what can we do as employers to ensure these new employees feel comfortable and self-assured? Have a read of the below ‘top tips for a successful employee induction’ to help you start thinking about what you could be doing in your business.
Selling Savvy’s Top Tips for a Successful Employee Induction
Have a well thought out plan – Did we hear you say “DUH!?” Though it may seem obvious, many companies don’t have a set plan when inducting a new employee. However, this is key to ensuring the success and confidence of said employee. The plan itself will vary depending on the requirements of the role and the ethos of your company, however, ensure that you give the employee time, ideally a few weeks, to understand and learn these key bits of information. At Selling Savvy, we suggest providing time to cover simple steps that will allow them to complete their day to day such as:
- Setting up their email and ensuring they understand where to find everything. Assisting them with their email signatures and informing them of who to reach out to for what.
- Explaining the phone protocols for answering and speaking to clients or guests. Ensuring they understand who to direct the call to dependant on the needs of the caller. As well as going over how the phones work, i.e. putting calls on hold or transferring calls.
- Taking them through your system or CRM and ensuring they have enough time to understand it, what their responsibilities are, and some top tips from other employees.
- Each department will play a key role in the success of your company, so allowing the employee to spend time in different departments is key to having them grasp the ethos of the entire business.
- Throughout the induction process, their manager should sit down and go through their day-to-day duties and expectations. This should start and end the induction process while having small check-ins during the time when the employee id learning the ropes to guarantee they feel looked after.
Stick to the plan! – Again, this sounds obvious, but can easily be looked over by many businesses due to time restrictions, lack of staff, and client demand. It is important to stick to the plan you have committed to the new employees.
If you waver on the plan or find that you don’t have time to complete it, imagine how the employee will feel. It can cause them to feel panicked, unprepared, and overwhelmed which in turn will affect their overall performance and could have long-term implications.
So what do you do if you don’t have the time..?
When in doubt, outsource! – If you don’t have the time to handle the induction in-house, we at Selling Savvy can safeguard your employee’s induction with our online learning programme, ‘Welcome to Sales!‘.
Welcome to Sales! is a comprehensive programme designed specifically for new event and sales coordinators within hotels and venues. This jam-packed programme will take your employee through everything they need to know about their role, prices and packages, negotiation and upselling, closing, and other departments.
We hope these top tips will assist you with establishing a detailed and thought out plan for your new employee’s induction. And remember, if you need assistance, Selling Savvy is always here to help.
