Impactful induction

The Brief

Attracting and retaining the right people is critical to our business success. The induction process is vital in getting new employees up to speed as quickly as possible and for setting performance, behaviour and cultural expectations.

We wanted to provide new employees with an impactful ‘pre-starting’ communication that reinforced their decision to join us; addressed likely questions; built the level of excitement towards their start date; and clearly spelt out what it meant to be part of our team.

It needed to celebrate us, our story, our values and what we deliver for clients. At the same time, it needed to champion the new employee and how their arrival would make us even better.

The Solution

The decision was made to provide a physical booklet, which new employees could flick through, write on and bring with them to the office to always reference back to. The core design idea was to reflect key aspects of our business, like individualism, problem solving, creativity and belonging.

Every spread is different and creatively eclectic, reinforcing that our people, and clients, are unique and diverse. Each page turn is treated as an opportunity to start a connection and conversation in a slightly different way. There is no one size fits all, cookie-cutter, approach here. A sense of visual discord on every page, reinforces the idea of stimulating work that addresses the bespoke challenges and opportunities our clients have. Bold visual metaphors reinforce creativity and the fusion of ideas, of strategy and creative and the coming together as a team.

The work was developed as a true collaboration between copy and design. The first draft of copy inspired an agile visualisation of each spread, leading to a second cut of the copy to support the visuals.

Our unifying brand colour palette, magenta and black, is boldly used to anchor variety and to visually oscillate pace and punch. A neutral soft supporting palette is added to create depth and warmth. Pages are linked together by a typographic serif and sans serif mix that has a crafted considered elegance to it. Imagery and graphic elements work seamlessly together to reinforce individuality and a sense that everyone belongs here, no matter what shape, colour or form they come in.

The Results

Since we first introduced the induction booklet, we’ve had great feedback from new employees, telling us that it made starting a new job easier and that it made them feel positive and excited about joining us. We’ve continued to refine its content based on feedback from each new starter. Managers have also noted that employees come more informed and prepared, and the process of enculturation is quicker and more seamless. Existing staff have also embraced the booklet, seeing it as an excellent summary of what they love about working here.