Establishing good communication with your new starter is one of the central ways to build a good relationship between the two of you and ensure you work well together. With good communication:
- a new employee is more likely to feel they can come to you with any issues;
- the employee is more likely to come to you with ideas;
- it will be easier for you to feedback to the employee about their work;
- you will get to know the employee and be able to spot when they are struggling;
- you will have opportunities to show the employee they are valued and appreciated; and
- it will be easier to get feedback from the employee on how they feel they are settling in and progressing with their learning journey.
Communication is particularly important in today’s working environment, where employees expect to be trusted by their employer to get on with their job, rather than to be micromanaged.
Getting to know your team member takes time, but you can get things off to a good start. It can be a great idea to create a communication schedule that both you and the new starter can work to (which will be role-dependent), diarising regular “check-in” points.
These catch-ups might be very frequent at first (even daily) and then less frequent (weekly or fortnightly, for example), depending on the employee’s seniority and role.
Alongside task performance, also cover the softer aspects of work to ensure you get good engagement and the new starter feels listened to.
Below are some ideas about areas to cover with a new starter during your regular one-to-one meetings:
- Try to get to know the employee – ask them about their family and interests outside work.
- Ask how the employee feels they are settling in.
- Ask if they need any help with specific people in their network.
- Find out whether they need any additional introductions.
- Discuss whether there are any blockers they need help with.
- Give any feedback you have, or that you have received from colleagues or other stakeholders, on the impact the employee has had and their performance to date.
- Ask for any feedback the employee has for you. Asking this question may feel uncomfortable but often reveals useful information on how you can best work together. You could ask them whether they are enjoying their role so far, and whether they feel the balance is right in terms of the different aspects covered during onboarding.
- Discuss whether the employee needs additional support, guidance or training.
