Employee inductions become outdated very quickly - and important changes often go unnoticed. In the whirlwind of the HR Manager's day-to-day duties, the task of updating safety inductions is easily pushed to the bottom of the list.

Why it doesn't get done

One of the primary reasons changes to a company's employee induction may not get done is simply because it can be a bit of a task to actually make the changes in the first place. It can also be very costly. Making changes may involve printing new booklets, editing videos, contacting (and relying on) a third party provider, or fighting for IT department attention. And because there is an employee induction up and running, the status quo is often enough to satisfy the over-worked HR department.

Why it has to get done

An employee induction is your first, and one of your primary, tools for educating staff on the specific characteristics of your workplace safety. The simplest change to procedure can have disastrous results if your staff is unaware of it.

For example: If an emergency exit is changed, for any reason, and the induction does not reflect this change, any employees inducted between the time current staff members were informed (by other means) and the time of hire, they will have the wrong information.

This may sound a bit far-fetched, but it's just one of thousands of changes that can happen in a workplace. And it should always be assumed that every piece of information in an induction is there for good reason.

How to do it simply

When your employee induction management system enables you to control course content simply, you are much more likely to actually do it. When you can spend 5 minutes doing something yourself, rather than hours (even days) trying to get someone else to do it, you'll just do it!

Not too many systems will enable you to control your own course content. Induction systems that enable you to deliver courses online are probably your best bet. Try a simple Google search for "employee inductions" or "online inductions" and take a look at what you find. There are some great solutions out there, just make sure it gives you control over your content!