Development and Monitoring

It is important to remember that induction activity should not be confined to a single day or week, the first few months of employee should include open and regular two-way discussions around the role, personal development and other areas of support.

This period is the time to get your new recruit immersed in who we are as an organisation, what we do but also how to perform effectively in their new role. During the first few months of employment, you should:

  • Consider the role of training to support the development and integration of your new employee;
  • Continue to identify meetings and other opportunities for your new employee to meet people and to understand their role and the University;
  • Be clear about the probation process and deliver this in a meaningful and supportive way;
  • Continue making yourself available to supporting your new employee learn their role and integrate into the team and the organisation more widely.

As part of the physical induction process, identifying training and development needs is a key consideration to the long-term success of your new appointment. This process sometimes starts as early as the recruitment process, where further development may have been identified following the interviews, which can be used to upskill your new employee.  The line manager and the new employee should agree any training which may be required against the role profile and put in a plan to undertake any training that is required.

The Personal and Professional Development (PPD) website has many online training courses that can be completed remotely, as well as instructor-led sessions on a wide range of topics. Line Managers should promote this resource and work the with employee to identify and development needs that are relevant to the role or would be beneficial for career development.

During the first week of employment, it is strongly encouraged that all new employees undertake the Equality and Diversity and Unconscious Bias online courses. The links for these sessions, and the online course booking system (UTBS) can be found below.

Equality and Diversity Essentials: https://www.training.cam.ac.uk/event/6237321
Understanding Unconscious/ Implicit Bias: https://www.training.cam.ac.uk/event/6237324
University Training Booking System (UTBS): https://www.training.cam.ac.uk/
LinkedIn Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/

As part of the induction process, you should discuss the formal probation arrangements that are relevant to the role, highlighting the arrangements for monitoring and assessing performance, where to find the relevant policies and procedures and the schedule for probation meetings.

Probation is the formal arrangement at the start of an appointment where new employees demonstrate their suitability for their new role within a set timescale. All members of staff should receive regular feedback and advice, rather than confining this to probation meetings at the suggested intervals. This approach enables both the employee and line manager to identify what is going well and what isn’t, whilst providing an opportunity to put in place any additional support required for the new employee. 

The probation process may also be used as a means to identify any unfulfilled training requirements during the induction programme, where a plan can be developed to support the new employee to attend / complete relevant sessions. Institutions should ensure that employees are not unfairly disadvantaged in their performance assessments as a result of being unable attend essential training during the induction programme.

 

Probation Resources:


 

Key Principles of Induction:

  • Be clear about the role and your expectations;
  • Give both positive and constructive feedback where appropriate;
  • Where possible; identify and resolve problems at an early stage;
  • Keep your employee well informed about their progress and prospects

If your new employee is going to perform well within your team and the University, they will need a solid understanding of the culture of the University. Within a traditional, face to face recruitment process, you will have been able to demonstrate some of this through building tours and informal discussion at interview stage – this should be built upon during the induction process.

It can be hard for new employees to adjust to our culture and gain both the official and non-official knowledge about how things get done at Cambridge. You should identify appropriate means of communicating the culture of the University, which can be done through a variety of different methods, as explored below.

 

Embedding culture through induction:

 

Initial meetings and conversations

The initial meetings with the line manager are an ideal time to promote the organisation and the local culture within the team. Highlighting how the work of the team connects to the wider mission of the department/University will help your new employee gain a sense of perspective for their own role.

Central Induction

All new employees are encouraged to complete the online induction and attend one of the Welcome Events that are arranged and delivered by Human Resources / PPD / Postdoc Academy (as appropriate). These events provide a high-level introduction to the University, it’s history and operations and give new employees the chance to meet other new starters from outside of their institution.

Websites

Encourage your new employee to review the University and Institution webpages, to give them a deeper understanding of the organisation and their local institution.

Buddy/Mentor

As discussed previously, assigning a buddy or mentor can be an informal route to embedding culture with your new employee, providing an opportunity to explore the organisation outside of the formal induction process.