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You are starting
a new job, you arrive on time, ask for the manager who hired you, you sit and wait 10 minutes for them to arrive. They bring you over to the payroll department and the manager proceeds to explain that you are a new hire
and need payroll to do whatever they need to in order to get you in the system. The
payroll person glares at the manager as they are in the middle of weekly payroll processing and indicates they won’t
have time until tomorrow. The manager then brings you over to the secretary (who
also applied for your job but didn’t get) to see if she could show you around, but she too has no time (or desire). The manager then brings you to the IT person, who is so busy working on a crashed
computer, you’ll have to wait on that as well. The manager then indicates
to you that he has a meeting in 10 minutes, so he sits you down in a conference room and gives you computer manuals to read
for the rest of the day. You stop for lunch, because you are starving, find your
way out of the building and go home for lunch, tearing up with disappointment of your “big first day at a new job”.
If this has happened
to you, you know what I’m talking about.
An American@Work
study says that employers have a 3 week opportunity to make an employee feel at home and decide whether they want to stay. The first day on the job is probably one of the biggest factors in this 3-week
period. Take the time to be prepared for those new employees arriving. Here are some key elements to consider:
- Make sure payroll and/or human resources, other key managers and staff know about all new hires coming
aboard, and have a plan for their first day.
- Tell the new hire ahead of time what they can expect on their first day.
- Consider establishing a ‘buddy’ system, assigning a staff person for the new employee to
contact if they have any basic day-to-day questions.
- Make sure you have a tour and introductions planned.
- On the first day, provide the basic HR orientation, using a New
Hire Checklist to make sure all the administrative details and required elements for new hires are covered. Create a Management Checklist as well to assist the manager
with the essentials they should cover during the first week.
- Consider taking all new employees to lunch on their first day, or assign ‘buddy’ to do
so. This can go a long way in making new employees feel welcomed.
So You Don’t Have a New Hire Checklist?
Here are the basics:
Required elements: I-9, W-4, DE34 , SDI brochure, PFL brochure,
Sexual Harassment brochure, Workers Comp brochure, Personal Physician Designation, Initial Safety (IIPP) Training, Emergency
Contact, Cal COBRA or COBRA notices.
Other elements to consider:
Employee Handbook, policy acknowledgement, benefit detail summary, job description, performance evaluation, timesheet,
payroll calendar, name badge, security card, key, tour and formal introductions, other new employee announcements.
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