A new person arrives. Somebody shows them a desk, explains a few things between phone calls, and then everybody gets on with their work.
Three weeks later they are still not useful, and everyone privately wonders whether the hire was a mistake.
What the first day should include
- Somebody expecting them, by name
- A working seat, login and phone
- Introductions to the people they will actually deal with
- One small thing they can finish that day
That last one matters more than it sounds. Finishing something on day one changes how somebody feels about the whole job.
Week one: watching, not doing
Sitting with the person who currently does the work teaches more than any document. Let them watch, ask questions, and take their own notes.
Those notes are also the beginning of the process document you have never got round to writing.
Week two: doing, with checking
Real work, reviewed. Not "let me know if you have questions", which people do not use. A short scheduled check at the end of each day, so mistakes are caught while they are still small and correcting them is normal rather than a confrontation.
Day 30: an honest conversation
Both directions. What is going well, what is not, and importantly what they have noticed that you have stopped noticing.
A new person sees your business clearly for about a month. After that they stop seeing it. That window is worth using.
Say what good looks like
Most new employees are anxious mainly because nobody has told them how they are doing. One sentence at the end of week one fixes that, and costs nothing.
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