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Set Your New Employees Up For Success!

Written by: Doyle Slayton

Article Overview: When a new employee walks in the door, they should feel like you've been expecting them!

Set Your New Employees Up For Success!

When a new employee walks in the door, they should feel like you've been expecting them!

Make sure your company has an onboarding system or process to welcome new employees. If the company doesn't have an administrative assistant or HR point person, then it's up to the manager to make sure everything is ready.

I used to grab a brand new trash can, go into the storage closet and build a new employee "starter-pack" with note pads, sticky notes, pens, stapler, tape, hanging folders, and a canvas bag with the company logo. I'd greet the employee with their supplies and a big "welcome to the best team in the country!" The trash can thing is funny as I look back on it now, but it worked! They new I was expecting them.

Let me tell you a little story about the first time I set foot on the campus at Syracuse University. I had just driven for 24 hours, over a two day span, from Waco, TX to Syracuse, NY. I'd packed everything I owned, including my 5 month old rottweiler, into my beat-up '89 Ford Probe and began the journey. I was thrilled! I had just been accepted into the nation's best broadcast journalism school, and I was ready to become the next Bob Costas, Marv Albert, Dick Stockton, Mike Tirico... and the list of Syracuse sports broadcasting talent goes on!

When I arrived, I walked into the first administration building I could find and introduced myself proudly. "Hi, I'm Doyle Slayton. I'm one of your new graduate students and I'm wondering where I need to go to check-in and register for classes." My excitement quickly turned to concern as I was sent on a what seemed like a scavenger hunt, bouncing from one building to another, trying to reach my destination... or should I say, "starting point." Concern quickly turned to disappointment. I thought, "Are these people even expecting me?"

It was time to take matters into my own hands. I went straight to the Newhouse building and asked to speak with the chair of the department. There was no wait time, he welcomed me and brought me straight into his office. After a few minutes of getting to know each other, I said, "I don't mean to be any trouble, but I've gone from building to building and no one seems to be able to tell me where I need to go." Within seconds of sharing my story, he jumped on the phone and ripped into the person on the other line. His next statement, I will never forget. "I will not have my people walking around this campus trying to figure out what it takes to be a part of us!" Needless to say I was well taken care of after that.

My guess is that I was the first student to arrive on campus that semester, and maybe I was a couple of days early. In either case, the point is clear. Were it not for the department chair making sure I had what I needed, my opinion of the institution, would have been drastically different. I would have been disappointed and wondering what I'd got myself into.

Looking back, my experience at Syracuse was incredible! It all started with a leader who made sure I felt welcome and set me up for success. It left a lasting impression.


What do you do to make your employees feel like you've been expecting them?

How do you set them up for success?

What would your employees say about how you made them feel on their first day?

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Article Tags: administration building, bob costas, broadcast journalism, dick stockton, ford probe, journalism school, marv albert, mike tirico, new graduate, newhouse, point person, slayton, sports broadcasting, starter pack, storage closet, syracuse ny, syracuse sports, syracuse university, waco tx, wait time



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