Make the First Day Count

A new employee's first day on the job can be a frightening and bewildering experience. In fact, it can be anxiety producing for just about everyone in the office. Existing employees wonder what the new co-worker will be like. The manager is wondering if the right person was picked for the job. And new employees always wonder if they've made a mistake by accepting your offer.

Who Should Do the Hiring?

It's common for the physicians to reserve the right to decide who gets hired in their practices. But whether the manager decides which candidate is selected or the doctors do, we think the manager should be the one to actually extend the offer of employment.

Since the manager will be supervising the worker, it helps to cement the relationship when the manager hires the new worker. That means the manager should make the phone call that extends the offer and secures the agreement to come to work. It should be a positive, upbeat and friendly call--a celebration of an important event.

The call should also review the terms of employment: the pay rate, fringe benefits, hours of work, and so forth. It's a good idea to put this in writing by sending a new employee a welcome letter in advance of his or her arrival on the first day. The welcome letter lays out the employer's understanding of the work terms and can be sent as a cover letter along with the employee handbook (personnel policy) and a copy of the employee's job description, if those have not already been provided to the candidate.

First Day Routine

Extend the welcome celebration to the first day on the job. Be sure that every employee in the office is wearing his or her name badge to make it easy for the new employee to get to know everyone. It's a good idea to have the new employee's name badge ready when he or she arrives, too. It symbolizes your confidence in their success and your commitment to them as an important part of your team. Some practices even extend this to preparing business cards and memo pads ("from the desk of...") for every employee, having them waiting on their desks on the first day of employment. We recommend it.

Making new employees feel welcome and immediately part of the team will go a long way to putting them in a frame of mind to be receptive to training and indoctrination in practice procedures and policies. It also helps them decide quickly that they're in the right place when your welcome compares favorably with the hazing or cold shoulder they may have received starting other jobs. It's the first step in earning employee loyalty.