Individual vs overall perspective
There are two areas to consider:
impact on the individual – how the new employee feels about the induction program and whether it succeeded in helping him/her to assimilate into the organisation and quickly become productive
impact on the organisation – how the program affected organisational performance.
These two perspectives are discussed in detail below.
Impact on the individual
Various evaluation methods can be used to assess this:
interviewing the employee
formal and informal performance management
interviewing other participants, such as line managers, team leaders and trainers
questionnaires completed by the employee, and possibly other participants
questions included in general feedback tools, such as culture/climate surveys
exit interviews, if new employees leave.
Hopefully these 'structured' evaluation methods will be backed by an organisation culture that encourages and responds to constructive informal feedback from participants in the process as well.
All the above techniques are worth using, but performance management is probably the most important.
State the aims of the program, or section of it, eg to make new employees feel welcome, provide initial job training, understand structure and operations, etc, then ask for feedback on how well each aim was achieved.
Seek comments on length, clarity of content, depth/volume of content, individual presenters, use of media, time span, variety and level of interest.
Ask for suggested changes to any of these – for example were some sessions too long or short, irrelevant, 'over my head', etc.
Ask open-ended questions to encourage the employee to say why things were good or bad, and to suggest how they could be improved.
Ask employees to identify any issues that were relevant but not covered.
Seek feedback on each of the tools used, eg computer-based learning, videos, 'basic survival' information, back-up information/resources, tours.
To maintain credibility and reassure the employee, you need to follow up on any feedback received. For example, acknowledge the employee's contribution and interview him/her to obtain more specific details.
Impact on the organisation
The following indicators of HR effectiveness can provide some assessment of induction programs if the data focuses on recently hired employees:
percentage who successfully complete their probationary periods and gain permanent employment
performance ratings of new employees
retention rates, eg percentage of employees who resign after less than 12 months employment
data such as OHS incidents, quality-related problems, customer feedback, etc relating to new employees.
Use these indicators with caution, however. They can also point to other problems unrelated to induction, such as bad recruitment, poor management, personality clashes, inadequate work resources, unrealistic expectations (from either the employee or the organisation) and problems affecting the individual employee. .
Regards,
Dr. Prageetha