An integral part of your role of supporting new team members is considering how you will create an inclusive environment for them. Where people feel included, they feel able to bring their whole self to work. This tends to have a positive impact on their morale and engagement with the team and organisation, which in turn will have a positive impact on business success.
The aspects of onboarding noted earlier, including taking into account individual preferences, regular communication and managing people based on trust, all feed into this, but there are other aspects too.
The importance of supporting equality stems from your legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010. There is a legal requirement not to discriminate against someone because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender or sexual orientation. These are called protected characteristics.
This means that you should be willing to adapt your onboarding process to accommodate the needs of your employees, so that nobody is placed at a disadvantage because of a protected characteristic. This might be the case, for example, if the new employee does not speak fluent English, is young (a school leaver), or has a disability.
For example, any new employee with a limited understanding of spoken or written English should be offered special coaching or additional training, or provided with the information in another format (for example in their first language).
