JRF’s new start for new starters — a user’s perspective
How do you induct a new starter into an organisation that’s starting anew themselves? This was a key question in my mind when I first started at JRF about four months ago.
As we’ve mentioned before on this blog, JRF is going through a transition into a social change organisation that exists to solve UK poverty. There’s been a bunch of positive steps that we’ve made in reaching this goal, and one of those has been an organisational restructure and the hiring of over 20 new members of staff.
I was one of those staff, and before starting at JRF I was slightly daunted by everything I knew I’d have to get up to speed on. From decades of research to JRF specific jargon (which we have an entire slack channel dedicated to de-mystifying) I knew I had my own journey ahead of me when it came to immersing myself into the universe of poverty campaigning.
Getting stuck in straight away
From day one it seemed the ‘read these documents and that’s you inducted’ approach I’d been used to (and been guilty of handing down to new starters myself) wasn’t even close to the interactive and immersive programme that was waiting for myself and others at the beginning of this summer.
Always as part of a new starter cohort, we took part in workshops, interactive sessions and ‘lunch and learn’ presentations covering everything from JRF’s history and heritage to our in-depth analysis and poverty research. Whole days out were organised so we could visit our different sites and meet the amazing people running them. We even had an entire programme of sessions dedicated to understanding our framing research to help us to become its ambassadors and talk about poverty in a way that sticks, all with the help from our friends at the Frameworks Institute.
Sessions were also delivered from colleagues across the organisation so we could get to know people as quickly as possible. Staff took the time to put together guides and cheat sheets explaining their area of work in an accessible way. This was particularly good news for those of us who hadn’t worked in the field before.
Inductions in the open
Because slack was frequently used to drip feed information to us, it meant the conversation kept going and a community of newbies developed. You’d be making a brew in the coffee room and a fellow new starter would ask ‘did you listen to that podcast recommended yesterday?’ or ‘what did you think of that guide?’ It meant you could discuss, share learning and understanding, and ultimately eradicate that new starter feeling.
Having these conversations on an open channel also meant the new starter community wasn’t closed off, but instead was a discussion that everyone in JRF could get involved with. New starters were chatting with senior directors about anything from brew-making etiquette to a new show on Netflix, and it helped quickly embed you into the culture of a brand-new workplace.
Designing a programme with users’ needs at the heart
What made the induction programme so different from others I’ve encountered before is that it had been designed specifically thinking about what new starters needed to feel a part of the organisation and an advocate for our cause. Instead of ticking off a plethora of policies (which is still important!) you felt immersed in the organisation’s mission, outcomes and values, which gave you the confidence you needed to join JRF in their journey.
When I chatted to Sarah (who led some of the design work) about the motivations and approach to the induction programme, she said:
“We wanted to experiment with the concept of ‘induction as a service’. Often you see organisations planning to welcome new starters with the mindset of ‘what do we need to tell them’, whereas we approached onboarding this cohort from the starting point of ‘what would they like to know’ and ‘what would make people feel welcome’.
To form the project’s insights, we interviewed people who’d joined JRF in the last two years to understand the often ‘softer’ side of what makes a great welcome. A core insight was ‘put people ahead of process’. It sounds obvious, but we’ve all been guilty of getting caught up in the day to day need to get stuff done, sometimes at the sacrifice of what our greatest asset, our people, really need. Other insights included; ‘What are we doing here?’ — connecting people to JRF’s mission, agenda and outcomes and ‘I want to fit in’ — calling out the unwritten norms of the workplace. In terms of feedback, so far, so good.
Have you got any tips for how to induct newbies in an evolving organisation? How do you keep that ‘new starter’ energy going? Comment below your thoughts on what you think works and what doesn’t when it comes to designing induction programmes.
