You’ve got a new person joining the company – hooray! Securing new talent to any business is no mean feat; good candidates are often spoilt with choice and snapped up quickly.
When your new hire walks through that door on day one, it’s no time to become complacent or rest on your laurels. Just because they have resigned and showed up to work, does not mean they’ll stick around for the long haul like you’d hoped. If the role, company and environment fails to live up to what was promised to them, they’re at high risk of backing out. It’s the stuff of third party recruiters’ nightmares, and should be a huge fear for HR / internal talent functions too. To avoid a situation where the new person feels compelled to leave their brand new role, here are 10 things you must do in their first week:
1. Take them for coffee
It’s so simple, but so effective. As the new recruit’s direct line manager, you should definitely take them for a coffee on their first day. Let them be overwhelmed by glaring eyes, new names and login details for the first few hours of the day, then whisk them away to a comfortable coffee shop nearby and give them a proper welcome / introduction.
2. Organise a team social
Help your new recruit slip seamlessly into the team by organising a social event with the team, to help them bond early on in the piece. Making sure existing staff members feel comfortable with the new hire is important soeveryone feels encouraged to help one another moving forward.
3. Send an introductory email
Especially if you work in a large company, it’s important to alert people to the fact there is a new person, and help put a face to their name. If you send an email welcoming to the company, often it will act as a conversation starter for other people in the business as they bump into the new recruit.
4. Make physical introductions
Identifying key people in the business your new recruit should know of and organising a time for a quick catch up is extremely important. It will make the new person feel more comfortable early on and won’t have to waste time trying to figure out who does exactly what.
5. Give a proper tour of the building
It’s amazing how some of this general administrative stuff gets postponed to the point of never happening. Make sure you take the time to walk your new recruit around the office and building so they know where the bathrooms are, showers (if you have one), lunch and tea rooms, and social spaces. Don’t just assume they’ll pick it up.
6. Give them stationery… really
Handing them a brand new notepad, packet of pens, calendar, diary and other supplies is a simple way of saying, ‘we’re ready for you!’
7. Have the team present a market update
Get the team to prepare an overview of the current state of things in the market. Having individual team members present on their current focus, pipeline and goals will help the new recruit have a holistic view of the department they sit / work in.
8. Outline hours of work / immediate expectations
Be straight up with your new recruit to let them know what’s expected of them in the near future. Outlining and reiterating simple things like work hours, lunch allowances etc (if not stipulated clearly in the contract)will help them feel at ease knowing they’re doing the right thing. Also explaining work-wise what you hope to see form them early on will help them have an idea of what they should be striving for in the early days, and know that they have been given time to settle in before having their performance measured.
9. Create a target roadmap
Further to explaining more immediate details of the expectations upon them, outlining what the next few months to a year should look like for them will also help them feel like they have a proper place in the business and will help them visualise their own success in the role, driving them to aim high.
10. Hold a recap meeting
Get together with your new recruit at the end of their first week and have a review. Letting them know it’s a safe environment to reveal any initial concerns will allow you to appease them before they head home for the weekend, and end on a good note. Likewise, celebrating small wins and exciting moments of their first week will have them leave the office feeling on top of things and comfortable with their first week in their new job.
Don’t let the first week overwhelm your new recruit in a negative way. Doing the above things instead of letting them simply ‘fend for themselves’ will give them a stress-free introduction to their new career with your company… and hopefully it’s a long one!
