How to Improve On-Site Inductions

Despite the current economic situation, preparing for the future now will allow companies to capitalise on future demand and the inevitable need for employing new workers. Now, more than ever, is the perfect time to improve your induction process to ensure the smooth transition of new workers and contractors, as reported by Marie-Claire Ross, the Executive Producer from Digicast Productions.

For many companies, both large and small, new contractor or employee orientation is a perfunctory process.  It usually involves a manager who might prefer to be working on other jobs talking through a PowerPoint presentation or checklist. This is usually followed by introductions and a tour of the premises. Then, the new hire is thrown into the workplace with little consideration for the confusion that comes with commencing a new job or the site-specific hazards that may exist.

Improving the Induction Process

Successful companies understand that that a well-oriented employee will approach a new job with heightened confidence resulting in better performance and productivity. They are also more likely to be committed to the company reducing high employee turnover costs.

According to Randolph Cirilo & Brian H Kleiner from Management Research News 2003, they found that effective orientation programs provided more substantive content, face to face learning, utilized vivid presentation techniques, participative learning methods and involved management.

While XpertHR UK in April 2009, found that highly successful inductions were structured and formal.

So what is a Better Induction System?

The good news is that the best induction process will not only cost you less to train staff, but will actually improve your training outcomes.

And yet the answer is one that is often overlooked by companies – an induction training video.

A custom made training video for your workplace:

• Teaches the same amount of information taught by instructors in half or a third of the time.
• Increases comprehension and retention of the subject matter by approximately 50% over printed material alone.
• Commands the attention of the viewer and motivates them to learn more.
• Is more persuasive than written material which is perceived as less important and credible.
• Provides faster rollout and take up of training.
• Ensures consistent training messages are communicated.
• Relieves the trainer of repetitive tasks.

How does it work?

A well-planned induction video provides structured training that can even include introductions from senior management, freeing up their time.

While using visuals to communicate is also another major advantage as it makes difficult processes easier to understand.

Tom Kerr, the OHS Manager from Conundrum Holdings explains how a customized induction training video has simplified the induction process of contractors and staff across their work sites.

"We were finding that delivering individual inductions for all contractors and staff working on our sites was taking up a lot of management time. We also didn’t have any real evidence that each induction was consistent or that everything was getting covered, "explains Tom Kerr.

"Now that each person signs off they have watched the video and are tested directly on their knowledge learnt from the video, we can be sure that they have been made aware of all safety hazards and controls. The training is now more engaging and has the advantage of putting visual cues to the site rules and procedures. Given the inherent dangers with working in a quarry it is important that we train our staff and contractors to work safely. It also imparts our company culture really well. Another benefit is that we can refer staff back to specific areas of the video for more employee specific refresher training".

"We believe it is a great way to get people trained consistently no matter where the site location is. It could even be worthwhile for the Quarrying Industry to consider introducing a generic induction system, similar to that of the construction industry, based on the CMPA Work Safely Unit of Competency. Tailor made training videos could be one possible method of delivering such a programme. We are using a combination of face to face training with video to get the best results".

Many associations use customized training videos to train their members to a consistently high standard. Recently, Gypsum Board Manufacturer’s of Australasia (GBMA) produced a manual handling training video to train 3,000 plasterboard workers across Australia and New Zealand to greatly improve training standards. It also included the development of a trainer’s manual and employee handbook for face to face training.

For companies looking to improve their induction process, a custom made training video for their workplace can provide successful learning outcomes, reduce incidents and injuries, while decreasing training costs.