3 Steps to a Great First Impression with New Hires

3 Steps to a Great First Impression with New Hires

Remember your first day at your job? Did you feel excited? Did you feel welcome? Did you feel like the organization was prepared for your arrival and happy you were there? Or, did you leave that day with a serious case of “buyer’s remorse” thinking you made a terrible decision? Here are three simple steps to make sure you make a great first impression with your new hires!

Talk to new hires before day one.

What happens after a job candidate accepts an offer of employment? Does anyone speak to that person again before his or her start date? If not, consider doing a few little things between the job offer and the new hire’s first day to reinforce that he or she made a great decision to come work for your organization. Send a note of congratulations, flowers, gifts, or logo items to the person’s home. Have the person’s supervisor or future co-workers reach out and offer a congratulations. Send a schedule for the new hire’s first day or even first few weeks of employment including a list of items and information they may need. Send paperwork that can be completed prior to the first day to make sure the new hire’s time is more productive starting on day one. Make that person feel like he or she just made one of the best decisions of their life.

Be ready on day one.

Have you ever showed up for your first day on a new job and you didn’t have a desk, a phone, business cards, pens or pencils, or any idea who you needed to meet with, for how long, or for what? If so, then you already know that the fastest way to make a person start second-guessing their decision to work for you is to make them feel invisible on day one! You should be ready for your new hires when they walk in the door. Plus, the better prepared you are, the faster you can get that new employee trained and actually contributing to your organization.

Talk to new hires after day one.

Check in at 30, 60, and/or 90 days. Conduct a “new-hire survey” to see if the experience of your new-hires during the recruiting process prepared them for your workplace culture and performance expectations. Ask for suggestions. Use the information you collect to help improve your recruiting processes, communications, and interviewer skills. Make your employees feel like they aren’t just special when they’re being recruited or on their first day – reinforce that they, and their opinions, are important from here on out.

You don’t get a second opportunity to make a great first impression, but when you’re proactive and well prepared for your new hires, you can create opportunities to make many great impressions throughout the recruiting, hiring, and orientation process.

Other Resources:

HR University: Orientation & Performance Management Practices
New employees at your organization need to understand their role, what’s expected of them, and how this fits into your business. Going forward, they’ll need feedback on how they’re doing, in order to reinforce positive behaviors and discourage negative ones. This session will cover the basic steps of a thorough orientation process, how HR can help supervisors manage their direct reports’ performance, and what to do when a performance management program needs adjusting.