Chapter 11

The Supervisor’s Toolkit

What’s in This Chapter

• Purpose and objectives of a supervisor-facilitated departmental orientation program

• Suggested approach to departmental orientation

• Checklists and other tools for supervisors to use in the onboarding process

If you are a supervisor or manager responsible for welcoming and integrating a new employee into your department or work unit, then this chapter is for you!

New employee orientation that introduces employees to the organization is just the beginning of the onboarding process. After employees have attended the organization-focused group program, they now need to be integrated into their respective departments and work units. As the manager or supervisor, you play a key role in this process. You are usually the most influential person in developing the new employee’s attitudes and impressions. You are responsible for giving the new employee the tools and resources he or she needs to be successful in the new position and coaching him or her throughout the integration process. As you plan the various strategies and activities for assimilating the new employee into the actual work environment, please keep in mind the following goals of departmental orientation:

• Develop good communications with new employee from the start.

• Introduce new employees to departmental goals, policies, procedures, customs, and traditions.

• Convey responsibilities and expectations clearly.

• Provide new employees with information that will ease the transition into the workplace.

The following checklists, sample memos, and tools (located in Chapter 15) will be helpful to you in preparing for the new employee’s arrival and continuing the onboarding process:

• Tool 8: Sample Welcome Message to the New Employee

• Tool 9: Checklist of Tasks to Do Before the New Employee’s First Day

• Tool 10: Sample Email to the New Employee’s Co-Workers

• Tool 11: Checklist for Preparing the New Employee’s Work Area

• Tool 12: Checklist of Activities for the New Employee’s First Day

• Tool 13: Checklist of Information to Communicate During the New Employee’s First Day

• Tool 14: Checklist of Suggested First-Day Work-Related Assignments

• Tool 15: Checklist of Activities for the New Employee’s First Week

Setting the Tone

New employee department orientation should begin even before the employee’s first day on the job. It’s important that as the employee’s supervisor you make a personal telephone contact or send a letter welcoming him or her to the organization. (Tool 8 provides a sample message you can use as a template for a letter or email message.) Make every effort to ensure that the new person feels part of the team.

Preparing for the Employee’s Arrival

Because the relationship between the supervisor and the new employee is so important, you should make every effort to help the new employee become comfortable in his or her new environment. Your personal involvement (including communication, preparation, and planning) is critical. Tool 9 suggests actions you should take before the employee’s first day on the job.

You want your whole team to be ready for the new employee as well. Inform the staff that a new employee will be joining the department. It’s a good idea to send an email telling them when the employee will arrive, what he or she will be doing, where he or she will be located, and share some information about the employee such as previous job, background, qualifications (see Tool 10 for sample email you can adapt for this message.)

Make sure that the new employee’s work area is ready when he or she arrives. The way in which the work area has been prepared creates a powerful first impression. Pay careful attention to details and make sure the new employee has everything he or she needs to be a full-fledged member of the team. Of course, you can delegate this task, but use a checklist such as Tool 11 to make sure nothing is forgotten.

Select a department member to be the newcomer’s “buddy” to show the new employee around, make introductions, answer questions, and, in general, help make him or her feel welcome and part of the group. The person selected should possess many of the same qualities as a designated trainer. In fact, the “buddy” and the designated trainer could be the same person. The advantage of using two different people is that the new employee will be exposed to more people and in different relationships and situations.

Considering New Employee Concerns

The new employee’s comfort level should be a primary consideration, and it’s your responsibility to aid the employee’s adaptation to the work environment.

The first day is critical to the employee’s success and for that reason, plan and orchestrate it very carefully. As the supervisor, you will need to take care of the basics and help the employee adjust quickly so he or she can concentrate on doing what he or she was hired to do. Failure to orient the employee properly could result in poor attitude, low morale and productivity, performance problems, and, in some cases, the loss of a valuable employee. The sooner an employee adapts and feels comfortable, the sooner he or she becomes productive.

Begin by taking a look at the employee’s immediate needs and concerns and putting yourself in his or her shoes. Think back to your first day on the job. How did you feel? What were your concerns and expectations? What did you want and need to know?

New employees are filled with anxiety and confusion. In short, they are overwhelmed. They may begin to question the decision they made: Did I do the right thing? Am I really qualified to do this job? Will I like my boss and the people I work with? Will I fit in? The way in which new employees are treated on their first day will determine whether or not their fears and anxieties are warranted, and as a result, how they will approach this new experience.

New employees also have certain wants and expectations. They want to know what is expected of them and how they will go about learning their new jobs. They want to know how they will be rewarded and how they fit into the total picture. We tend to overlook or forget that most people begin a job with success in mind; they genuinely want to do a good job. This commitment and enthusiasm can be either squelched or encouraged within the first few hours on the job.

You will be on target in addressing the new employee’s concerns if you approach orientation from the basic who, what, where, when, why, and how questions:

WHO

• Who is senior management?

• Who can I go to for help?

• Who do I report to?

• Who do I interact with?

WHAT

• What are the job requirements?

• What are the manager’s expectations?

• What are the standards of performance?

• What are the policies and procedures regarding . . . ?

coffee pot

lunchroom cleanup

smoking

dress

sickness

vacation

parties

call-in

travel and expense reports

• What is the structure of the department?

• What advancement/developmental opportunities are available to me?

WHERE

• Where will I find . . . ?

restrooms

lunch area

my work area

employee lounge

supplies

equipment

reference material

files/records

• Where should I park?

WHEN

• When do I go to lunch and take breaks?

• When will I be paid?

• When will I be evaluated?

• When should I report for work each day?

• When can I expect to leave each day?

WHY

• Why do we follow that procedure?

• Why do I have to do this?

HOW

• How do I operate the . . . ?

telephone

photocopier

postage meter

computer

• How do I fit in to this department?

• How will I be trained?

• How will I be evaluated?

• How will I be compensated for overtime?

• How do I process the mail?

• How do I order supplies?

• How do I use email?

Use these questions to guide you in creating your own department-specific checklists.

Employee’s First Day

As standard in many companies, the new employees will report first to the human resources department to receive benefits information, sign the necessary employment processing forms, and receive an employee handbook or equivalent outlining the company’s policies and procedures. With today’s technology, most of these activities can be done ahead of time enabling the new hires to report to the worksite more quickly.

Regardless of when the new employee arrives, you should greet him or her personally and set aside adequate time to introduce him or her to the work environment. First-day orientation is not something you should delegate. This initial interaction establishes lines of communication between you and your new employee. Set the tone and create an environment that helps reduce the employee’s anxiety. Take time to get acquainted with the employee, relating on a personal level. Ask questions about the employee’s family and how he or she feels about starting a new job.

The next step is to review the job duties and responsibilities, performance expectations and standards, and company policies such as sick time, vacations, hours, pay, dress code, overtime, smoking policy, and customs. Make sure that new employees receive a departmental information packet containing an organizational chart, department and organization telephone directory, manuals, safety rules, health regulations, and other helpful information such as company brochures, the employee newsletter, annual report, and list of resource people. In some cases, new employees receive these from human resources prior to their first day or during an organization-focused orientation session. To ensure uniformity and consistency, you should prepare a checklist of topics to be addressed during the employee’s first day (Tool 12). Be sure to give a copy to the new employees so they will know what to expect.

An important and often overlooked area is an explanation of the unwritten practices within the department—the social norms such as kitchen cleanup, coffee pot etiquette, birthdays, lunch/breaks, and other accepted behavior unique to your department. Failure to do so can result in a real disaster such as in this example:

Such an unfortunate experience could have been avoided if Joan’s supervisor had just taken a few minutes to explain the department’s “coffee rules” to her. (The supervisor might also want to take another few moments to explain to Marie the department practice on welcoming newcomers!) These unwritten practices should be communicated to everyone new to the department—not just new hires. Often, current employees who transfer to a new department are overlooked in orientation programs. Remember that this is a totally new environment for these employees as well.

With the preliminaries out of the way, you can begin acclimating the newcomer to the work unit itself by giving the individual a few minutes to settle into his or her own work space. Then you can tour the work area with the new employee, introducing him or her to co-workers, pointing out locations of restrooms, supply areas, lunch facilities, the photocopy machine, bulletin boards, the mail room, and adjacent departments. At this point, it would be appropriate to introduce the new employee to his or her “buddy” or mentor and break away to allow the two of them to get acquainted. This get-acquainted process could be facilitated by having the buddy show the new employee how to operate the telephone system and photocopier, how to order supplies, and other operational details. The buddy could also accompany the newcomer to lunch, taking care to introduce him or her to others in the organization. Tool 13 identifies critical information the new employee needs to receive on his or her first day on the job.

New employees are eager to get to work. Although the first day will be devoted to getting acclimated to the new environment, it’s important that the new team member begins to get a sense of what the job and the work unit are all about. Tool 14 presents a checklist for suggested first-day work-related assignments that new employee can do with little or no direct supervision.

At the end of the day, you should meet once again with the new hire to answer any questions, review important information, give encouragement, and reinforce how pleased everyone in the department is to have him or her on the team.

Employee’s Second Day

On the second day, the on-the-job training process should begin with the designated trainer greeting the new employee first thing in the morning (this may be the supervisor or a co-worker). Schedule a structured on-the-job training to get the employee working comfortably on his or her own as soon as possible. The buddy or mentor should remain in the picture, arranging to go on breaks and lunches together and offering support.

Employee’s First Week

The entire first week sets the tone for the employee’s relationship with the supervisor and with the rest of the staff. The focus of the first week should be on helping the new employee gain a basic understanding of the organization and how he or she fits into it. A detailed and more nuanced discussion of “the big picture” might be more relevant and meaningful if delayed until after the employee’s initial adjustment period.

At the end of the first week, meet with the employee once again to check on his or her progress, answer questions, and provide additional information such as department goals and objectives, the performance planning and evaluation process, and career development opportunities. At this point, you may also want to review the company’s mission statement and goals and explain how the department and the individual fit into the total organization.

The Bare Minimum

• Manager and supervisor involvement in onboarding is essential in ensuring that new employees feel welcome, informed, prepared, and supported.

• Communication is key. Good communications with the new employee are needed from the employee’s very first day. Even if you don’t get some of the details right, active listening skills and an open, welcoming attitude will go a long way toward establishing productive working relationships.

What to Do Next

• Adapt the tools and checklists in the Supervisor Toolkit to reflect your specific work group, team, department, and organization situation.

• Develop a structured orientation program for your department that you can implement with each new hire.

• Partner with human resources personnel to clarify your role in the orientation process. Make sure that what you do as a supervisor neither duplicates their efforts nor leaves critical gaps in the process.