An employee's first week at a new job will set the tone for the rest of their time at your organization... That's huge! Managers hold the critical responsibility for developing a first week onboarding plan that is welcoming, informative, and fun. Get it right, and you're golden (51% of employees report willing to go 'above & beyond' if they have a great onboarding experience)! Screw it up, and you're in trouble...
Picture it... Sicily 1922... lol, just kidding. Picture it... you're excited for the first day at your new job. You didn't sleep very well last night. You had that mixture of excitement and anxiety that kept your brain running a mile a minute and you just couldn't close your eyes. Your alarm finally goes off (the first of three you set, just in case, you know?!?...) and you get up early to make sure you're ready and on time for your first day at your new job. You log into Zoom 10 minutes early before your first welcome session with the HR team. You're feeling nervous and want to make a good impression so you practice smiling in the zoom camera so you're ready when someone else joins. You absently check your new email account that got set up over the weekend and you see an email from your manager. They sent you a schedule for your first week with important meetings and descriptions of what you'll be learning during week 1 - wow, this is awesome! You also noticed that you have a number of calendar invites from your manager for the entire week outlining the different onboarding sessions you will be attending. Your nerves start to fade and you're now just excited for the onboarding process. You know your manager is prepared, organized, and has your back; they are setting you up for success. You're feeling good and oh look, another new hire joined the zoom call "Hey! I'm Jordan"...
Onboarding: The First Week
As we all know, the pre-onboarding process is that time between an employee signing an offer letter and their first day. It's part of the broader onboarding process where introductory topics like company goals, culture, and operations as well as job-specific training are delivered to new hires. The broader onboarding process typically evolves over 90 days, but the most crucial time is an employee's first week.
The mandate is clear... managers must develop a strong first week onboarding plan for a new hires success, which is a win-win for employee and manager!
An employee's first week on the job will set the tone for the rest of the time at your organization. More than 40% of new employee turnover occurs within the first month at a new job. So as managers, we have a huge responsibility to put an onboarding plan together to ensure our team members are set up for success AND so that they feel confident in the decision they made to join our company. Here's a wild stat: 91% of first-year employees are retained at organizations that have onboarding programs. While only 50% of first-year employees are retained at organizations who do not have onboarding programs. The first week at a job is when new hires are most vulnerable to second-guessing their decision to join your team. And all of us as managers want our employees to do a good job, which ultimately makes our jobs easier, right?!? 51% of employees say they would go 'above and beyond' in their job if they had a great onboarding experience. So the mandate is clear... managers must develop a strong first week onboarding plan for a new hires success, which is a win-win for employee and manager!
Top 10 Activities Managers Should Schedule in a New Hire's First Week Onboarding Plan
For 15 years, I have led new hire onboarding across many organizations AND I have spent hundreds of hours coaching managers on how to effectively onboard team members. I've seen a lot over the years - things that work and things that don't. So what I've done is taken all I've learned over my career and through all the manager coaching I have delivered, to share with you my top 10 activities that every manager should schedule in a new hire's first week onboarding plan:
1. Support HR Onboarding
First, support your organization's HR onboarding process. Often times the HR/People Team has put together a one, two, or three day onboarding program to welcome new hires to your organization. This helps new hires get the bureaucratic tasks out of the way (system onboarding, payroll setup, etc.) and introduces them to the basics of your organization. Whatever feelings you may have about this process (good or bad), but them aside. Ensure that your new hire can attend ALL of the HR onboarding sessions and speak positively about the experience. Your HR colleagues have put this together with intention for a reason, support them.
2. Write Down & Discuss Working Styles
Employees want to know what is expected of them. During an employee's first week, this is a perfect time for you as a manager to clearly share your expectations and how you like to work. This is also a time to learn about the working style of your team member so you understand how they work best. I encourage managers to both write down how you manage AND discuss this face-to-face with your employee; encourage them to share how they work best also. It's good to have an organic conversation and it's great to have a document you and your employee can refer back to in the future. If you as a manager have not yet written down your general working style, here are the top 5 topics I encourage you to share (and feel free to add your own, too):
Who I am
How I manage
How I communicate
How I give feedback
My team expectations
3. Calendar Week One
This is a tedious task, but an important one. I encourage you to calendar out week one for your new hire. Instead of simply creating a list of topics you need to discuss with your new team member, actually breakdown the first week's schedule, hour by hour. For example, you would discuss working styles from 2:00-3:00pm and company goals from 3:00-4:00pm. You may feel like you are hand holding your new employee too much, but that is not my experience. Calendaring the first week for an employee helps them see the broader picture of the onboarding plan, ease anxiety because they know what to expect, and they are more likely to come prepared with questions/thoughts because they know the topics of the meeting. So give that extra effort and calendar out week one for your new hire.
4. Share Company Goals
When an employee understands the broader goals of the organization, department, and team, they are more clearly able to see how their job connects to the broader organization. In my experience, when an employee sees that connection, they are more likely to give effort and be invested in their work. So during the employee's first week, schedule an hour to sit down and actually discuss what's going on at the company and in your department. And make a clear connection for the employee for how their role supports the broader company's objectives.
5. Daily Micro Check-Ins
I love daily micro check-ins with an employee during their first week. What does a micro check-in look like? It's a simple Slack (or instant messenger) message or an email. I schedule these an hour before the end of the day. Ask two questions:
How was your day?
What did you learn?
This helps build rapport with your employee, communicate that you are invested in their success, and subtly communicate that you value the onboarding experience and expect that they are actively learning. This doesn't have to be a formal meeting, just a quick check-in.
6. Schedule Twice a Week 1:1s
Daily micro-checkins are great for the first week but those obviously do not need to continue once an employee gets through week one. So it is important in week one, before a new hire's calendar gets full, that you put ongoing 1:1 meetings on their calendar. Take time during week one to get this scheduled. Managers should allocate AT LEAST one hour a week to meeting with their new hires 1:1. However, what I have seen most successful is scheduling two 30-minute 1:1s per week. Often one is in the first part of the week and the second is in the later part of the week. This structure allows for employees to get questions answered quicker and for you as a manager to keep an eye on how things are going. After 90 days, you can evaluate if you need two 1:1 check-ins a week. But I think you will find it's very helpful.
7. Facilitated Team Relationship Building
As managers, our job is easier when our employees have relationships with the colleagues on their team. This means your new employee doesn't always have to come to you with questions (they can go to a peer) and if an employee has a sense of belonging with their peers, they are more likely to be engaged and high-performing. During a new hire's first week, schedule a team meeting to introduce your new team member to your team. But don't have a regular task/update driven meeting. Make this hour long meeting specifically focused on relationship building. What I like to do is prepare a list of 10 icebreaker questions that are fun and allow everyone to learn more about one another. One of my favorites: "what is something that you are secretly an expert at?" (I'm actually a Star Wars expert myself LOL). Go around and have the new hire and the current team members answer these questions and have some fun. It's time well spent and you'll learn a lot!
8. Job Shadowing
We all know that new hires need job training and I have not included this on the list because I assume all managers know that they need to train their new hires on the tactical aspects of their job. But something that is often overlooked is job shadowing. Too often managers show an employee how to do something once and then throw them to the wolves. During an employee's first week, this is a great time for them to shadow you as a manager so they can see how you like things done. So have your new hire shadow a customer call, shadow you in a meeting with a colleague, watch you perform a process so they can see how to tackle the job, etc.
9. Calendar Birthday & Anniversary
Celebrating employee milestones is an important part of ensuring employee engagement. While your employee is new and it is top of mind, put a reminder on your calendar for your new employee's work anniversary and birthday. It's easy to forget these things. But if you already have these on your calendar when they come around, you'll be ready to celebrate these key milestones with your team member.
10. Outline People to Know
Lastly, in week one, take the time to outline the key people/colleagues your new hire should know at your organization. List these employees, assign a priority rating to each (so your employee knows who to meet first, second, third, etc.), provide 2-3 sample questions that the employee can use in these meetings, and make warm introductions to these key people on behalf or your employee. Getting started with relationship building on day will ensure success for your team member.
If managers spend the time to do each of these Top 10 Activities, your employee will have a strong onboarding experience, they will be more engaged and more likely to stay at your organization, and ultimately, this will make your job easier!
These top 10 activities for a new hire's first week onboarding plan aren't rocket science. But, if managers spend the time to do each of these, your employee will have a strong experience, they will be more engaged and more likely to stay at your organization, and ultimately, it will make your job easier! So next time you have a new hire, give these 10 steps a try.
The Growth Edge Project Can Help!
Managers, would you like to sit down directly with me, Jordan King, Founder & Principal at the Growth Edge Project to discussing onboarding? I offer 1:1 Manager Coaching as well as 1:1 People/HR Advising where we can chat about how to optimize your onboarding plan (or anything that's on your mind!).
Or do you or your company need help building out a thoughtful first week new hire onboarding plan or program? At the Growth Edge Project, we build and design Employee Engagement & Retention Programs to support the entire employee lifecycle. Specifically, we work with businesses to develop and deliver new hire onboarding programs that accelerate new hire ramp-up and integrate employees into your culture. We tailor our programs to each organization's unique culture, products, and industry. Engaging with the Growth Edge Project allows you to sit back and let us do the work to develop a program from a to z, with onboarding session topics including: culture, founding story, industry, business operations, customers, product, engagement, and much more!
Keep your eye on the Growth Edge Project website for great manager resources, including guides and templates for onboarding new employees (coming soon!).
Make it a great one!
Jordan