BTSR guidebook ~ Training & skills self-evaluation

What provision at this level looks like and feels like

For the organisation

In 2008, 19% of broadcasters evaluated at this level. None were lower and 81% were higher.

How it feels depends largely on how well the informal induction process is executed. The “how well” refers not only to the scope – see moving up from Level A – but also to the care and warmth that the new starter perceives.

If the induction session feels like hurtling down a checklist as quickly as possible then the new starter will probably not retain much of the information, and will certainly not feel welcomed… and an organisation that can’t even treat people well on their first day is not a pleasant place to be.

On the other hand, if the informal induction process sympathetically meets the needs of each new starter then the chances are good that team members are in the habit of working collaboratively, supportively and effectively. And a friendly and knowledgeable person in the buddy/coach/mentor role can make the induction process highly effective.

For the training function

Although Level B is defined as an informal approach, there still has to be somebody who pays attention to getting the right things covered in the right way. That will often be the trainer.

Bonding with new people as they arrive, and seeing the organisation through their eyes, can give the trainer valuable insights into wider training needs.

Benefits & risks of provision at this level

Benefits

Done well, this approach delivers most of the benefits of the higher levels. You should be able to achieve some or all of:

• New staff will know how to get things done, and therefore be more effective more quickly
• They will direct their efforts better because they’ll know the organisation’s aims, values, policies and culture (“how we do things around here”)
• They will be less likely to make mistakes that endanger physical safety or the organisation’s reputation, and will know what to do when an issue arises.

Risks

The main risk concerns that qualifier: “done well”. If the approach is informal, by definition it lacks checks and balances to ensure that all the benefits are achieved every time.

Processes & benchmarks for evaluating provision at this level

Distinguishing from »medium» provision

The distinguishing features between base and medium levels are mainly to do with how systematically induction is planned, tailored and delivered. At this level:

• Induction happens – most of the time – and generally covers most of the things that a new employee needs to know
• The elements that ought to be consistent across the organisation and over time sometimes aren’t
• The elements that ought to be tailored to the specific needs of the new joiner and his/her role often aren’t.

Processes

Here are some diagnostic questions:

• If asked “does this organisation run an induction process?”, would employees answer Yes?
• Does induction include all the features identified at moving up from Level A?
• Can the explanation of the organisation’s goals sometimes be a little sketchy?
• Is it possible for new starters with similar needs to experience different induction processes, depending on when they join and who is leading the process that day?
• Is the intended induction process pretty much the same for all new starters, whatever their roles, needs or experience?
• Is it possible for a new starter’s induction process to be delayed? Or omitted entirely?
• In their coverage of organisation-wide topics, can induction processes differ in scope and depth from department to department and/or manager to manager?
• Does senior management take a mainly hands-off approach to induction?

If the answers are mostly Yes, that’s a fairly strong indication that the organisation is providing at this level.

Reference material relevant to this strand and level

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Examples of provision at this level

Here are some examples of evidence used by broadcasters, in previous years, to demonstrate provision at this level:

• Health and safety pamphlet
• Compliance documents, signed compliance form
• Department manual, policy & style guide and other written guidance.

The wording is broadcasters’ own, and does not necessarily follow our usage preferences

What it takes to get to the next level

Getting to the next level is a major undertaking. How major depends on how well your informal arrangements are working.

The following steps should get you most of the way:

• Make it somebody’s job to formalise induction. (The trainer is a natural choice, but not the only one)
• Ensure that the person and the project have senior management backing
• Get views from a sizeable sample of recent joiners, their workmates and their managers on what worked and what could be improved
• Check with support functions – HR, finance, health & safety, legal and so on – whether there are any matters that new joiners ought to understand more thoroughly
• Identify the best elements of your informal provision and work out how to deliver them systematically *
• Identify gaps and deficiencies in your informal provision and design interventions to rectify them; consider all possible interventions, not just courses *
• Identify any recurring variations between the needs of different groups of joiners, and work out how to adapt induction content to meet those needs *
• Assess whether delivering the new induction process will require new skills, roles or resources
• Work with the people who manage recruitment to find ways to ensure that (1) joiners are routinely fed into the induction process and (2) recruiters take account of induction arrangements when agreeing start dates
• Devise a standardised system that records the induction steps delivered to each joiner (and – importantly – that highlights any induction steps that fail to be delivered)
• Devise a process for checking with joiners, some time after induction, that their needs were met
• When you have designed the new induction process, document it
• Establish whether it has management’s explicit support. If not, modify it until it does
• When the new process has been signed off, develop any materials (booklets, intranet pages, videos and so on) and train those who will be delivering the induction
• Pilot test the new process, enrich it, deliver it.

* These items are potentially the most difficult. Consider getting input from a consultant or a peer in another organisation