One of the tasks that is often given to a PA/EA is the introduction of new members of staff and having the responsibility for the induction process. Putting together an efficient policy is important because it ensures that all employees are integrated into the company and their role in the organisation quickly. Support staff should ensure the new starter has all of the necessary information they need to begin their job. This can be quite difficult sometimes because of the amount of information and computer equipment there is to give to a new starter. However,  the best way I have found to conduct this task is to put together two checklists, one for yourself and one for the new employee, so that all of the information is listed and the various tasks can be ticked off when completed. At the bottom of the blog I have uploaded the checklists I use for new employees.

Along with the checklists there are other points you should take into consideration when working with new employees:

• Put yourself in their shoes

When you first started your role how were you introduced into the organisation? Was there anything that could have been improved and if so can you add this to your process for new employees?

• Work with senior management and HR

It is important that you know when recruitment for new jobs are taking place, this includes temporary and contract staff. Senior members of the team may not be aware of how much you have to do before someone joins the company, so share your checklists with them and stress that you need to know as soon as the role has been filled.

• Start early

As soon as you know the new starter has accepted their job you should be working through your induction checklist. Ideally you should have a month to get everything ready, although I do understand this can sometimes be a complete luxury!

• Don’t do everything yourself

I have one checklist for myself to work through before the employee arrives and one for the starter to use during their first two weeks at the company. One of my previous employees also introduced a ‘buddy’ system so that everyone took turns looking after new members of staff.

The induction of employees isn’t the most exciting task we have as support staff but remember that we are the first person the new starter will meet and so we sholud represent the company in a good light. In addition quite often we will be conducting the process for people that are more senior to us and so showing how organised and helpful we are can only reflect well and may lead to other opportunites with them in the future.

Do let me know if you think I’ve missed anything from my checklist and if you include anything else into your inducted processes.

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Preparation Checklist for New Starter

Checklist for New Starter (on arrival)