Posted By Mark Eastbourne Afternoon all. Guess I am a wee bit peeved. I work in a college. It is formed of different faculties such as Hair and Beauty, Construction including engineering, plumbing, wood trades, trowel occuptions, Art and Design for Diploma students. College also has various support functions such as IT, a refectory and an Estates team consisting of caretakers and cleaners. I have been given two weeks to write up some PowerPoint Presentations which a company we are paying a great deal of money to(!) are going to place on their system so new members of staff are inducted to my college using this method. Ok, not been given enough time which is a bit of a pain but the more I think about it, the more I am unconvinced that this is the right approach. Does anyone else use them and are they successful? Previously the inductions would be given a day of which the H&S section would come last, so I always say the company saves the best til last etc and this involves me standing in front with a brief amusing PowerPoint, flip chart and my wits to keep the session as up beat as possible. I hope that after 10 years of doing this I have it down pat and have not had a bad review - yet! But this is because I try to make it engaging, enjoyable and interesting using amusing anecodotes and experiences built up over time - I am sure we all have them. And now, while I sit here and put off the other myriad jobs we save until the Summer holidays to do, I am taking out amusing photo's from my PowerPoint which supplement the subject and trying to think of different ways of imparting the affects of hazardous substances on the body without the use of my drawing of a "person" on the flip chart I deliberately draw poorly to get a laugh and the PowerPoint is just becoming slide after slide of boring information. I have concerns about the effectiveness, I have concerns that the managers of the faculties will wipe their hands of doing specific inductions for the site - it is hard getting them to do it now - and I have reservations of paying company to do something which we do anyway, for example, we have a site on the intranet which lists the various H&S subjects, policies, procedures and various supporting documentation and tools. I don't know. I guess I am frustrated with the lack of involvement, the time limit (gotta get it done by September!) and the value of such a system. I am concerned as my presentation is normally an hour (cut down from 2) and now I have to cut it to shreds and leave the basics which will tunr from what I believe to be a strength of the college into a weakness. So back to my question, anyone here use an online based Induction system? Sorry for being grumpy. Mark

Posted By Raymond Rapp Mark Whether a one size fits all induction is suitable for all requirements is debatable. As a rule a presentation is presented by a knowledgeable person who will also answer any ad hoc questions during or following the presentation. Can this be achieved online? Ray

Posted By Stefan Daunt Another drawback in letting an outside agency use your powerpoints is, if legislation changes on any of the subject slides, who will A: Be aware of the change? B: Who will make the change you or the Company hosting your slides?

Posted By CSL There needs to be the interaction between you and new recruits. It is important to give them a mix of media, talk, power point, DVD say on office safety, and maybe a Q & A at the end. It should be allowed to be at least 3-4 hrs long and don't forget to give hand outs.