You found your candidate! Finally, after all the sourcing, recruiting, selection, testing, and background checks, you’ve narrowed the applicant pool down to three excellent options. You held onto the second and third place runners as back-ups while you delivered your offer to the first and waited for a response. And when the answer came back and the agreements were signed, you set a start date and that was that. The most difficult and critical aspect of the staffing process is now behind you.
Or is it? As it turns out, your work isn’t quite finished. In order for any hiring process to be considered successful, the new candidate doesn’t just have to agree to the offer. She also has to step into the workplace, thrive, and stay. A great onboarding process can get this second crucial part of the process off to a strong start. Here are a few first-week tips to keep in mind.
1. Spread the word. Inform everyone who will be working with or near the new employee about her arrival. Let them know when she’ll be showing up, what she’ll need from each of them, and what they can do to support her as she learns the ropes.
2. Provide the new employee with a detailed schedule that covers every hour of her first week on the job, at the very least. If possible, extend the schedule to two weeks or even longer. Include meetings she’ll be invited to sit in on, lunches with various managers and heads of the departments she’ll be working with, and training sessions.
3. Provide the new employee with a policy manual and clear instructions from HR regarding her payroll paperwork and insurance benefits.
4. Hand off work in an efficient and steady way. If possible, don’t let more than two weeks go by without assigning the employee to some work and projects of her own. An onboarding process that drags on can be just as off-putting as one that ends too abruptly. Don’t throw her into the deep end on her first day, but don’t let her sit idle either, especially for an undefined period that just goes on and on.
5. Set clear goals and expectations for the employee’s first year on the job. Assign her a mentor, and make sure she knows exactly where she’ll need to be what she’ll need to accomplish over both the long and short term.
For more on how to make a positive first impression and get your new relationship off to a winning start, reach out to the IT staffing pros at Techneeds. If you are looking for technical staffing in Massachusetts, contact us today.