How do I manage a new employee?

First impressions count. This couldn’t be truer than when you’re helping a new employee integrate into your team.

There’s a mixture of excitement and nervous energy as new employees establish themselves in their new surroundings and the existing employees suss out the new member of the group. It’s your job to make sure this process runs smoothly.

Showing them the basics

Having at least an induction checklist will set you both up correctly for success. After greeting them to the premises and showing them where they will be working,  take them through the basic setup of your office. Give them a grand tour. Don’t forget fire escapes, first aid, muster points and safety equipment. Show them where to make a cup of coffee. Show them where to hang their coat. Show them where the toilet is, how to dial an outside line on the phone, where they can park their car and all the other important aspects of daily work life!

Always try and take your new recruit out to lunch on their first day with a few colleagues so you can get to know them in a more informal environment. Don’t be tempted to bring too many people as you don’t want to over intimidate them on their first day. Pick from who they will be working for, and who they will be working with.

Assign them a mentor who does a similar job to them and who they can learn from when you’re not available. Ask the mentor to let them know about any important pieces of office politics. It would be useful for them to know if the person who sits opposite them is the son of the Managing Director!

Learning the ropes

You need to slowly start providing them with a drip-feed of information that will help them do the job. Direct them to the company website to allow them to begin researching what it is your company does and how they will fit into the grand scheme of things.

Set up any systems and process training. If there is a handover document from a previous employee who held the position then get them to read through it thoroughly. They can make notes and ask questions where required. You should also keep a copy of this document so you can track how well they are picking up the various aspects of the job.

You should have a good idea from their CV and the interview process about how much existing knowledge your new recruit has, but even the most experienced of employees will need a certain element of training. As well as organising a formal training programme, aim to schedule some time for them to get to know the job and the systems on their own. Sometimes there’s nothing like digging around to see what you can uncover yourself.

Schedule regular meetings throughout the duration of the probation period with clear goals for the new recruit to meet at each stage. This will give them something to focus on and you something to judge them by.

Getting known

Encourage your new employee to set up introduction meetings with all the people they will be working with. These can either be done as group or 1-2-1 meetings. You could suggest they make approaches themselves as it will help them get to know names, responsibilities, meeting room protocol, etc.

Introduce them to the person from finance who will sign off their expenses & the IT team who will help when their computer fails. They may also need to get in touch with suppliers and clients in order to introduce themselves and find out about how the business relationships operate.

If things don’t work out

No matter how good your recruitment process has been, sometimes you can simply make the wrong decision. There are plenty of reasons why a new employee might not fit in. From their side, they might not enjoy the work as much as they expected. Maybe the commute is too far. Maybe they have been offered a better position elsewhere.

From your point of view, the employee may just not be up to the job. Probation periods are there for exactly this reason and until they are over there is the opportunity for either party to walk away without any repercussions.

Whatever the reasons, it’s better for everyone involved to approach the subject as soon as possible.

Attracting the right hires

Attracting the right people to the right roles will make your onboarding easier. It also is a better experience for the worker, and will give you better results. The key to this is understanding your Employer Brand, what it is and how to communicate it. Download our free Employer Branding Guide now!