Creating a positive experience after the position is filled.
Employers spend considerable time and effort filling open positions. There are staffing needs to identify, candidates to consider, interviews to conduct, and hiring decisions to make.
Then someone starts.
For the employer, the position has been filled. For the employee, the experience of learning a new workplace has just begun.
Even someone with years of relevant experience is still new to this workplace. They are learning how work gets done, what their supervisor expects, what priorities matter most, who they will work with, where to go with questions, and how their responsibilities contribute to the larger operation.
The first 30 days give employers an opportunity to help make that transition clearer. It doesn’t necessarily require an elaborate program. Providing context, establishing expectations, creating connections, and keeping communication open can help someone better understand the workplace and how they can contribute to the team.
These opportunities are relevant whether someone is joining a warehouse, manufacturing operation, office, customer service department, or professional team. They also apply whether the employee is permanent, temporary, or temp-to-hire.
Provide Context: Help Them See Where Their Work Fits
Learning the tasks associated with a position is important. Understanding how those tasks connect to the larger operation provides another layer of useful information.
Consider someone working in a warehouse. They may understand how to pick an order, but they are also learning how their work connects to inventory, shipping, coworkers, and the next step in the process.
A new administrative employee may know how to use a particular system but still need to understand how information moves through the organization, who depends on their work, and which responsibilities should take priority.
The same principle applies across positions.
Employers have an opportunity to explain more than what someone needs to do. They can provide context around why the work matters and how it fits.
That might include explaining:
- How the employee’s responsibilities connect to other people or departments.
- Which priorities matter most.
- Who depends on their work.
- How their role contributes to the larger operation.
A little context can help a new employee see beyond the individual task and begin to understand their place in the work happening around them.
Set Clear Expectations: Make “Doing a Good Job” Easier to Understand
Experience with similar work does not automatically create familiarity with a new employer’s operation.
A warehouse employee may have years of experience but still need to learn the workflow and priorities of a new facility. A manufacturing employee may understand production work but not the processes and expectations of a particular operation. An administrative employee may know the software but not the organization’s procedures or communication practices.
Experience does not equal familiarity.
The first few weeks give employers an opportunity to make expectations clearer rather than assuming a new employee will pick everything up simply by watching the people around them.
What should they focus on first?
What responsibilities are most important?
Who provides day-to-day direction?
What does good performance look like in this workplace?
Where should they go when they are unsure about something?
Clear expectations can help someone understand not only the responsibilities of the position, but how the employer expects those responsibilities to be carried out.
Create Connection: Help Them Understand the Team Around Them
Starting a position also means learning a new group of people.
New employees are figuring out who they work with, who provides direction, who can answer questions, and how their responsibilities connect with coworkers.
Employers have an opportunity to make those relationships easier to understand.
That can be as straightforward as introducing the people the employee will work with, identifying who provides day-to-day direction, explaining how responsibilities move between team members, and including the employee in communication relevant to their work.
This matters for temporary and temp-to-hire employees, too.
Someone may be joining the workplace for an assignment, but they are still contributing to the work being done. They need to understand who they work with, where their responsibilities connect with others, and who can answer questions when they arise.
Employers don’t need to create an elaborate program to accomplish this. Sometimes it starts with making sure the people involved know a new employee is coming and understand their role in helping that person get established.
The goal is simple: help the new employee understand not only “What is my job?” but also “How do I work with the people around me?”
Keep Communication Going
The first day shouldn’t be the last time expectations, questions, or feedback are discussed.
The first few weeks are a period of learning for both the employee and the employer. A new employee is becoming familiar with the work, while the supervisor is learning where the employee is comfortable and where additional guidance or clarification may be useful.
Communication during this period doesn’t have to be formal or complicated.
A supervisor can ask:
- How are things going so far?
- Is anything about the job unclear?
- Do you know who to go to when you have questions?
- Is there anything you need more explanation or guidance on?
Employers also have an opportunity to provide feedback rather than waiting for the employee to determine on their own whether they are meeting expectations.
The objective isn’t constant oversight. It is to keep communication open while someone is still learning a new workplace.
The First 30 Days of Employment: From Filling the Position to Becoming Part of the Team
Finding the right person for an open position is an important milestone. But the hiring decision isn’t the end of the experience.
The first 30 days give employers an opportunity to help a new employee understand the bigger picture, establish clear expectations, develop working connections, and ask questions as they become familiar with the workplace.
Those opportunities matter whether the new employee has extensive experience or is learning a new type of work. They matter in a warehouse, on a production floor, in a customer service department, or in an office.
The details may look different from one workplace to another, but the underlying idea is the same:
Getting someone hired fills the position. Helping them understand how to contribute begins after they start.
Preparing for Upcoming Hiring or Staffing Needs?
Building a strong team starts with finding the right people—and continues with helping them get off to a good start. If you’re preparing for upcoming hiring or staffing needs, Wood Personnel is here to help. Contact your local Wood Personnel team to start the conversation.