What to Expect from Your New Member of Staff

You’re run off your feet, so you’ve finally made the decision to recruit an additional staff member to ease the pressure on your team… but of course, before they can get started, you need to step away from the mountain of work on your desk to help them settle in! A decent induction will give your new staff member a head start in their new job, but thankfully the responsibility in those first few days is not all yours – your new recruit has an important role to play too. So what can you expect from your new member of staff?

In our experience, an ideal candidate will:

• Be prepared to read training materials or attend induction sessions before diving into the work.

• Ask sensible questions and feel confident enough to make you aware when they’re not sure of something.

• Get up to speed quickly so you don’t have to keep giving them the same information.

• Take notes – the best welcome gift you can give a new employee is a new notebook, so they can get to grips with new systems, processes, people and vocabulary in their first few weeks.

• Make themselves useful – if they find themselves at a loose end, they should speak up, offering to help or asking if they can observe and learn from their teammates.

• Pay attention to the culture of the workplace, observing core hours and adhering to policies such as dress code, phone usage and music at work.

• Make an effort with their new co-workers. This is not just about getting to know their colleagues (and hopefully making some new friends!) but also about understanding their style of working and the team’s dynamics, so that they can see where they fit in and what they can contribute.

• Use their initiative – as their confidence starts to grow, they will be able to look for ways to solve problems and complete tasks without having to check everything with you.

Of course, not all new starts will have the necessary confidence or experience to hit the ground running, which is why, at Time Recruitment, we keep a careful eye out for these qualities during the recruitment process. We work closely with our candidates, taking the time to get to know them and ensuring they are fully prepared for their upcoming role.

If you’d like help with recruiting your new member of staff, and you want to ensure they can make a positive contribution from their very first day on the job, please get in touch at carolineburns@timerecruitment.co.uk.