Objectives of the tool

The objectives of the tool are:

• Improve the welcoming and training when the situation does not always allow to do it in person;
• Retain the knowledge in the IRO even when staff members leave;
• Enable a quicker adaptation and efficiency of the new staff member.

The toolbox can be divided into two different categories:

• Tools designed at facilitating the arrival of the new staff for the welcoming team, meaning documents listing the necessary procedure and tasks to accomplish to facilitate the process;
• Tools that compile the knowledge needed by new team members to help them take up their duties and better understand and carry out the tasks associated with the position.

Every tool is a proposition and can be modified according to the needs of each team. Likewise, the tools can be picked from the toolbox based on the identified needs. Once the tools are finalised according to the information of the IRO, it should be regularly updated or at least each time an IRO has to greet a new staff member.

Description of the toolbox

The Staff Welcoming Toolbox is composed of a user guide meant to help users to handle the 10 tools incorporated in the toolbox. The tools can be divided into two different categories:

1) Tools for the welcoming team

• Programme for integration days

Proposition of an agenda for the three first days of a new staff member arriving in their new team. We propose a series of activities, defined in different color-coded categories (IRO Contacts, University Contacts, Integration Activities, Training, Feedback). This proposed programme aims to cover all the necessary stages for a successful integration into the department and the institution in general. This programme can of course be modified according to needs and possibilities.

• Welcome checklist

The document is a template for a checklist of tasks that must be realised for the arrival of the new staff. It helps to ensure all the necessary processes are being carried out, before and upon the arrival. For those first two pages, different columns allow to point out the person in charge of the task, the necessary information for completing the task, the Service provider, and the status of the task. The third page is dedicated to the Welcome Pack. It lists items that could be included in a Welcome Pack. The objective of this pack is to give all the tools to the new staff, on a USB key or printed version when appropriate. We propose to add some university goodies to give a sense of belonging to the institution.

• Feedback session: Astonishment Report

The astonishment report is a short document that allows the new employee to share their opinion regarding their arrival in their department and institution, as well as regarding the department projects in general. Thanks to this document, the welcoming team will collect feedback to make the welcoming process even more efficient.

• Handover log

The objective of this tool is to have a better handover of the position between the leaving staff and the new staff. The leaving staff member has the possibility to list all the ongoing tasks that were started and have to be completed by the new member, and all the actions that have to be done in a near future.

2) Tools for the new staff member

• Institution PPT presentation

When you work in a university you must have a good knowledge of the institution on different level. All the information can be found on the external website, internal website and institutional brochures. However, having all the useful information for a smooth and quick start gathered in one document is way easier for the new staff.

• IRO PPT presentation

When you work in a university you must have a good knowledge of the institution on different level. All the information can be found on the external website, internal website and institutional brochures. However, having all the useful information for a smooth and quick start gathered in one document is way easier for the new staff.

• Precise job description

This document has for objective to describe in detail the position the new staff is taking over. It is composed of 3 different main sections: a general description of the position; several activities card: one per each activity; a timeline specific to the position. There could also be several timelines, linked to each activity if need be.

• IRO Glossary

The IRO glossary aims to list all the terms specific to the field of international relations management. There are many new terms to learn, and many acronyms used on a daily basis, which can be brought together in this glossary.

• Useful resources for consultation: web links

Working at the IRO of a university means that you have to deal with several platforms, for different uses and different funders. This document gathers all the useful resources and web links in one place. The Excel file is divided into 3 sheets: Internal; National; Erasmus+. For each level, the fields to fill are the name of the resource, the web link and the use of the resource.

• Contact list: internal and external

Working in an international relations department means collaborating with people from different departments, both internal and external to the university. When you arrive in a new position, you do not already have the necessary contacts to complete tasks or solve problems. Moreover, sometimes the leaving staff has developed links with specific people from other departments and institutions, and is therefore the only person to have the information of contact. This Excel files aims to keep this information in the department.