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[ Administrative Assistance ]
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Successful new hires begin with orientation
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by Phil Stella
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Yes! Andrea just accepted your offer to come on board as your new editor. Now, life can get back to normal -- you're worn out from three months of double duty while searching for a replacement for Tony.
Before you relax too much, however, realize that your extra efforts aren't over. What you do with Andrea during her first two weeks will significantly impact how quickly and how well she gets up to speed.
Get ready for a ride on the "Orient Express." What follows are best practices learned from many successful media department managers for creating an effective and efficient new employee orientation program.
Lay Of The Land
You want Andrea to quickly add value to your department, so create an orientation plan that will help her learn all she needs and wants to know to be an effective employee. Start with a solid overview of your organization -- its mission, vision, values, and strategies. Help her understand the political climate and culture of the organization, especially the unwritten "rules of engagement." Then, focus on your department and how it fits into the organization. Indicate what value you bring, who you serve, and who serves you. Help her learn about your primary internal or external customers, what you've done for them previously, and what they expect from your shop going forward. Let her view recent projects you've done for them and your shop's project planning forms.
Next, turn to the technical skills necessary for success in her new role as editor, and how that role might evolve in the next three to five years. Let her get her hands around your technology in a safe harbor. That means no real work until she's comfortable. Even a seasoned veteran needs time to adjust to a new shop and its workflow peculiarities. Have manuals, tutorials, and other resources at the ready.
Given the depth and complexity of Andrea's orientation plan, don't do it all by yourself. Assemble a team who can share in this important responsibility. Let HR do what it does best, providing information on employee benefits and company policies.
Try to get your boss to spend some quality time with her on the department big picture, strategies, value, etc. A few minutes with the big boss is a nice touch, too. Include your staff in the process by having different people show her around the facility. They can also help get her comfortable with the phone system, security procedures, and other operational details. Have a different person take her to lunch each day the first week.
Delegate these tasks logically, clearly, and in advance. This lightens your load and allows you to focus with her on customer needs and relationships, performance expectations, and your working relationship. You can also briefly introduce her to your primary internal customers so she'll be more comfortable working with them on their next project.
Pace Your Presentation
Anxious as you are to get her flying solo, take the time to do it right. Spread the orientation out over two weeks so it doesn't become an unmanageable information overload. Create a detailed agenda, integrating the HR meetings, boss meeting, staff activities, tours, reading assignments, skills training, project viewing, etc. Have it flow logically and at a comfortable pace.
Some of the orientation can happen before she actually comes on board. Even though she's wrapping up her soon to be former job, you can still ask her to spend some time reviewing your organization's Web site, reading selected employee materials, and viewing copies of a few recent projects. Busy as she will be, she'll be excited about her new job and happy to accommodate her new boss.
Depending on her existing skill level, have her observe edit sessions with other editors. When she's ready, have someone else shadow her until she's comfortable by herself. Face it, you've been without an editor for three months. A few more weeks won't matter much if the result will be that Andrea will be ready to get into high gear and stay there.
Lessons learned from your colleagues indicate that the better you orient new people, the faster and better they become productive, the better they feel, and the longer they stay. Plus, your orientation plan can also make a good impression on your management -- always a good thing.
Spend the time to create a multi-layered, team delivered, and logically scheduled orientation for Andrea. She'll appreciate the ride on the Orient Express ... and so will you.
Phil Stella runs Effective Training & Communication, Inc. and is a veteran video writer/producer, communication skill trainer & speaker. Contact him at (440) 449-0356 or etcpjs@aol.com.
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