New Hire’s First Day

For the new hire, their first impression of how your organization works is their first day on the job. The way you conduct their first day sets the tone for how the new hire perceives this work environment. So, it makes good business sense to put your best foot forward and get them off to a running start. Here are some areas to be sure to address.

Organizational Clarity: Context and Contacts
Provide a clear view of who they report to and how their group fits into the organization. This should include line management, Human Resources and any other support groups such as IT support. You could demonstrate the organizational structure by having clearly defined responsibilities for the Day One orientation. Involve the appropriate representatives from HR, IT support and their line management. If they would be using administrative support, have that person walk them through how that works. Be organized in communicating this information and don’t have different people telling them the same things over and over. They are anxious to get going.

Welcome Them: Personal and Public
Have someone designated to have lunch with them. They don’t need to take them out for lunch, it may even be better to take them to where everyone else has lunch so they can see the area and meet other people. Some form of public recognition of the new hire’s start could also be useful. An e-mail announcement, a notice posted on the wall, an organized coffee break to meet co-workers, or something similar can help to integrate the new hire into the work environment and help them feel welcome.

Orientation and Setup: Physical and Technical
Although this may seem like boring stuff, knowing where everything is, such as; coffee, water, lunch room, washrooms, and parking, makes a big difference. Having their physical office space fully setup and all computers, user ids, passwords, phone and directory entries made and up and running is really important.

Policies and Culture: Formal and Informal
There are a number of areas of company policy that are important to make sure the new hire understands. There may be more than these, but these should include; mission and values, culture and code of conduct, hours of work, dress code, and use of company property.