The BBC is to invest £4m a year sending new staff on a four-day residential
induction course.
All staff employed on contract for longer than three months will go through
the programme.
Stephen Dando, director of HR and internal communication at the BBC, hopes
the initiative will strengthen the organisation and create cross-departmental
ties.
"We are trying to build a stronger culture, and induction is a key
opportunity to excite and inspire people. It is also an opportunity to tell
them what [the BBC] stands for and what it is trying to create."
About 100 new employees will be put up in a hotel during each induction
course, which is part of the ‘One BBC – Making It Happen’ programme created to
modernise and improve all aspects of the network.
Dando said one of the reasons the decision was taken to replace the existing
voluntary one-day induction course was because attendance is typically as low
as 25 per cent.
The new scheme, which will be piloted from the end of this month before going
live in September, will be mandatory for all BBC employees.
Dando said the induction will be run by the most charismatic staff members
they can find, and new recruits will get opportunities such as seeing Top of
the Pops made or BBC News go out live.
Dando believes the cost should fall in subsequent years, maybe to around
£3m, once the programme is fully developed.
BBC director general Greg Dyke said: "Our aim is to ensure that people
joining the BBC share the same passion for the organisation as we all do,
understand the scale and range of the place and witness some of the amazing
things that we do."
By Quentin Reade
