Onboarding a new employee begins well before the employee’s first day on the job. Manage expectations with regular communication with the new hire prior to the start date. It will ensure that both parties understand the conditions of employment and will make everyone more comfortable on the first day and moving forward.

Here are four tasks to complete prior to the new employee’s start date:

• Confirm your new employee’s acceptance of the position.
• Make sure you know what paperwork is required and with whom the new employee will meet to complete it (e.g., Human Resources, payroll coordinator, benefits assistant).
• Stay in regular communication with your new employees via email or phone during the period between the acceptance and the start date; make sure they understand the conditions of employment and anything they need to do before their new job starts.
• Provide critical first-day information (e.g., when to arrive, where to park, where to report, what to wear, what documents to bring to complete, what the schedule will be).

This is the first of eight tips that will appear weekly on this blog. 

The orientation process should be designed to make the new employee comfortable and capable in their new position. In addition to ensuring that training and tools are available for them to be successful in their new position, it’s important for the new hire to feel comfortable with his co-workers and supervisors and with the agency culture.

Here are six things to consider including during the orientation process.

• Give the new employee basic information about the agency (e.g., history and mission, programs and services, working environment, and recreational and community engagement activities).
  • Provide new employees with the information needed for them to learn the job. Giving new employees proper training can increase the morale of new workers and reduce turnover.
• It’s okay to use different forms of overview orientation tailored to the different needs of employees, based on their position (administrative vs. engineering, for example). Hold group job-specific orientation sessions if you have more than one person starting in a similar position at the same time.
• Be there when your new employee is introduced to his or her department head (if that did not happen during the interview process). If possible, designate a “buddy” to help him or her get acquainted with the organization.
• Along with making the new employee feel comfortable, make sure that current employees are comfortable with the new worker. Before his or her arrival, inform current employees that there will be a new employee, and tell them what department the newcomer will be in and what his or her job will include.
• Hold a small gathering to introduce new employees or take them out for lunch to make them feel welcome.

 New jobs are stressful. New people, new responsibilities, new rules, new culture – it’s a lot for a new employee to comprehend and remember. A clearly written agency policy handbook is an essential reference tool for all employees, but especially for new employees.

Your employee handbook should:

• Make the agency’s culture, values, mission and strategies clear by providing the new employee with a guidebook/handbook and annual reports that give a nice overview of organization.
• Discuss policies, procedures and other administrative matters, and review safety plans. Include workplace violence policy, sexual harassment prevention policy, workers’ compensation program, affirmative action program, leave policies and the like.

No matter the size of your operation, the office tour is essential to ensure that the new employee knows where to find things and who to go to with certain questions or problems as well as providing a good overview of systems and processes.

Three things to keep in mind as you tour the office with the new employee:

• Make sure new employees have a tour of the office. It’s important for them to get a feel for the agency’s atmosphere, and be able to find their way around.
• As you’re touring the agency, tell new employees about the functions and services provided by the different divisions so they can understand their part in the whole organization.

During the tour, current employees can meet the new employee and help make the new employee feel welcome and part of the team.

Prepare the new employee’s work area with the proper tools and equipment ahead of their arrival so the new staff member feels comfortable and has everything needed to smoothly transition into the new position.

Four essential areas to have ready at the new employee’s work station:

• Have the employee’s desk or other work area, and the materials needed to perform the job, set up when he or she comes into work.
• Make sure the employee has a working phone, computer, desk, chair and whatever else he or she may need for the job.
• Set up all computer protocols so the employee can sign on to organization’s Internet, intranet and specific software programs.
• Gather all the proper paperwork a new employee needs to fill out on the first day. (Outside of the usual Human Resources paperwork like department-specific forms—see the next tip about payroll forms.)

A well-organized essential document packet will give the employee confidence that their employer is detail oriented and efficient and that all legal and financial documents are in place.

Things to include in your package might vary, but here is a list of commonly included documents:

• Federal W-4, State W-4
• Emergency Contact form
• I-9 form
• Health/Medical Benefit Enrollment form and Health Insurance Plan booklet
• COBRA form
• Direct Deposit form
• Life Insurance form
• Deferred Compensation form (401K) or Pension Enrollment form
• Credit Union form and description (optional)
• Employee Assistance Program information
• Workers’ Compensation Program information

Even if it may seem that the job description, job objectives and responsibilities have been discussed thoroughly throughout the hiring and orientation process, it is essential to provide written objectives and job responsibilities as well as a training plan. The written document(s) will help the new employee stay on task and meet agency goals within expected time frames.

• Give new employees a written job description so they understand their responsibilities
• Provide them with performance goals and objectives for their division and their position, or make sure their supervisor covers this
• Determine a training plan (e.g., compliance, supervisory, professional development), and establish a plan and timeline for training