Module 2 of 2 · 40 minutes
Induction and probation: the first twelve weeks
By the end of this module you will be able to
- Structure an induction that meets Regulation 18 and actually works
- Use probation as a decision period rather than a formality
- Recognise the first week signals that predict a poor appointment
- Address a problem in probation while it is still easy
Work through it
1 interactive for this module, built on the WAJD Teach engine. Nothing moves until you ask it to, and every one has a written version if you would rather read it.
Amara We lose a lot of new starters in the first couple of months.
Nadia Almost everybody does, and the decision is usually made in the first two weeks, long before anybody had a conversation about how it was going.
Amara What is going wrong?
Nadia The same thing everywhere. Two shadow shifts, then somebody calls in sick and the new starter goes on the rota as a full number. They are frightened, they will not say so, and they leave.
Amara That is exactly what we do.
Nadia It is what everybody does, and it is the most expensive false economy in the sector. You saved one shift and lost a recruit, and now you are paying agency and recruiting again.
Amara So what is the fix?
Nadia Three things, and none of them cost money. Do not count them in the numbers until they are genuinely competent. Name a specific buddy, a person, not the shift. And ask them how it is going at day one, week one and month one.
Amara They would tell me if there was a problem.
Nadia They would not, and that is the whole difficulty. A new starter who admits they are struggling believes they are admitting they should not have been hired.
Amara So how do I get an honest answer?
Nadia Ask a specific question. Is there anything you have been asked to do that you did not feel confident doing? People answer that honestly, and they will never raise it unprompted.
Amara What must induction cover before a first unsupervised shift?
Nadia Safeguarding and how to raise a concern. Moving and handling on the equipment they will actually use, not equipment in general. Fire procedure and the evacuation strategy for that building. Infection prevention. The people they will support. And who to call, and when.
Amara We cover all of that in the folder.
Nadia Then let me put it the way an inspector will. Take somebody who signed that folder last week and ask them which way your fire compartments run.
Amara They probably could not say.
Nadia Then they have not been inducted, they have been documented. And the inspector finds that out by asking a person, never by reading the folder.
Amara Probation. Ours just quietly ends.
Nadia Which wastes the one period where ending an appointment is straightforward, and where a fixable problem is still easily fixable.
Amara What should I actually do?
Nadia Say at the start what good looks like, in behaviours rather than adjectives. Review monthly, in writing, briefly. And raise anything that concerns you the week it happens.
Amara What should I be watching for?
Nadia Reluctance to ask questions, which turns into guessing. Not recording, which turns into a safeguarding problem. Lateness in week two, which does not improve on its own. Discomfort with personal care that does not settle.
Amara Is there one I should move on fastest?
Nadia Dismissive language about the people they support. Any of it, at any point. Do not explain it away as nerves or as a joke, because it is the single clearest early predictor of how somebody will behave when nobody is watching.
Amara Can I extend probation?
Nadia Legitimately, if somebody is improving and needs longer. Not because you never had the conversation, which is what usually happens, and which just moves the problem three months further away.
The written material
Turnover is decided in the first fortnight
Adult social care turnover runs high, and a substantial share of leavers go within the first few months. Most of those decisions are made in the first two weeks, before anybody had a conversation about how it was going.
The pattern is consistent: a new starter is shadowed for two shifts, then put on the rota as a full number because somebody called in sick. They are frightened, they do not want to admit it, and they leave.
The fix costs nothing. Do not count a new starter in the numbers until they are genuinely competent. Name a specific buddy rather than the shift. And ask them at the end of the first shift, the first week and the first month how it is going, because they will not volunteer it.
What induction must cover
Regulation 18 requires that staff receive appropriate support and training. Skills for Care expect the Care Certificate to be started at induction and normally completed within twelve weeks.
Before a first unsupervised shift, as a minimum: safeguarding and how to raise a concern, moving and handling for the equipment they will actually use, fire procedure and the evacuation strategy for that building, infection prevention, the people they will support and their key needs, and who to call and when.
Signing a folder is not induction. Somebody who has read a fire policy but cannot say which way the compartments run has not been inducted, and an inspector will find that out by asking them rather than by reading the folder.
- Care Certificate started at induction, normally complete within 12 weeks
- Named buddy, not the shift in general
- Not counted in the numbers until competent
- Check in at day one, week one and month one
- Competence checked by observation, not by a signature
Probation as a decision, not a formality
Most probation periods end by silence, which wastes the one period where ending an appointment is straightforward and where a fixable problem is still fixable.
Set out at the start what good looks like, in behaviours rather than adjectives. Review at least monthly, in writing, briefly. And raise anything that concerns you the week it happens, not at the end.
The signals worth acting on early: reluctance to ask questions, which becomes guessing; not recording, which becomes a safeguarding risk; a pattern of lateness in week two, which does not improve; discomfort with personal care that does not settle; and any dismissive language about the people they support, which is the one to act on fastest and never to explain away as nerves.
Extending probation is legitimate where somebody is improving and needs longer. Extending it because you have not had the conversation is not, and it is what usually happens.
Knowledge check
The knowledge check and your certificate need a free account, so that your progress and results can be saved as evidence.
The learning itself stays free and open. You are reading all of it right now without an account.