On the first day of a new starter in your team, your only job is to be prepared and engaging. If you are lucky enough to have stumbled upon an ace candidate who is available immediately, do not rush to get them on board to the detriment of not being prepared for your newly minted employee’s first day.
After selecting a candidate, managers are often in such a rush to get some helpthat they often forget that there are systems and processes required to get things ready for the first day. In addition, the manager needs time to prepare the team and himself to welcome the new employee with the most positive experience possible. No matter what happens, on an employee’s first day in an office job they must have the following:
A desk – I am not joking this happens.
A chair – again, I am perfectly serious.
A computer.
An email address with login details.
An access card to get into the building
Optional, but certainly adds to the welcome, would be an induction pack on their desk including a notebook, pen, highlighter, and any documentation/checklists that would prove helpful. The "must haves" will change with the nature of the role, but essentially, it is anything that they require to do their job in the first week. If you have checked at 3.00pm on Friday before they are due to start because the week got away from you and everything is not ready, call the new starter and postpone their start day to the next day. While on that matter, contrary to popular belief, you do not have to start an employee on a Monday. In fact, starting mid-week is a strategy I love. The employee gets to ease into the company with a shorter week and you get to be fully prepared and not come across as a frantic headless chook on the first day. We all know that first impressions count, and stress can cause us to react in ways that are sub optimal so don’t risk your first impression for the sake of one day.
Perhaps, the reason that I am so passionate about the first day experience is because of so many poor experiences I have had. One particularly shocking onboarding experience took them four weeks to find a permanent desk, chair and phone. After week two, I had found myself a keyboard and mouse that I would lug around with my laptop from room to room in search of a place to do my work!
The first four weeks are for setting the employee up for success and the number one thing required to make that happen is a strong relationship with their manager. When you are ready, not rushed, you have time to spend with the new starter, connect to them and introduce them in a friendly, easy way to those that they are going to be working with. It is immeasurably more pleasant to be allowed the time to ease into a new job. Most likely, the employee will be excited to get to work and be eager to start adding value but having a coffee and a social chat, which also serves to clarify expectations and answer questions, is a brilliant way to welcome a valued new member of the team.
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