What does a typical first day look like for new employees at your company?

Written by Ana Pankowski, Operations Manager at Mpeople Recruitment 

It’s a Monday morning, your new starter arrives, what’s next? Meet and greet all the staff? Building tour? Health and safety? Throw them in at the deep end?!

I’ve seen this scenario so many times and I’ve experienced it as a new person to a business, but as a manager I’ve come to reconsider what a first day itinerary should include. A new staff member's introduction to a new role could be a quite a momentous occasion for them and could also be your best chance to help them get off to the best possible start. So, what is the best way to address this? You should present them with a thorough induction and an on boarding process.

This can be exciting, it’s a great opportunity to get to know your new person better, one to one and, most importantly, realign your company values with theirs before they start working for you. Will your candidate read their contract back to front? Some people will but not everyone will do so bring to life the company values, processes, structure, goals, and objectives from day one.

Does the candidate..

• Know where to report escalations to?
• Know who everyone in the business is, what they do and what value they bring to the company?
• Understand what is expected of them in their first week, month, quarter?
• Have an idea of the teams that sit within the office and what their roles are?

I’ve seen first-hand how this can make all the difference, it sets the standard, sets the tone, it’s professional and informative and it will make the candidate feel valued from day one.