What is the difference between induction and onboarding?

For a long time, the word induction has been synonymous with new employees. Employers have understood their responsibility to ‘induct’ a new employee into the business and it has been an integral and expected part of starting a new job. There is no doubt that there is a need to make the new hire transition seamless, but positively engaging a new employee is much more than filling in forms and showing them where to make their coffee.

Recruitment is a significant cost to the organisation and some employers are putting this investment at risk by failing to do more than setting up access to printers and ensuring the superannuation forms are handed to payroll. It appears that some companies are going to great lengths to attract and recruit talent but are neglecting to connect them more broadly and deeply to the organisation.

Onboarding is critically important as it is the strategy that sets a new employee up for success. Induction has ensured that employees can physically find their way around the office, but onboarding is the process that connects new starters into the culture and helps them to navigate the organisational structure. The political landscape in organisations is complex and not onboarding an employee is similar to trying to hike bushland without a compass.

Some organisations will believe that they have an onboarding process because they have set up the employee in their first week with meetings with all the key stakeholders, direct reports and departments. There is no doubt that these actions will help new employees to feel welcome and meet new faces, but there are clear limitations with stopping there.