Onboarding Your New Staff Member
When someone accepts your job offer, it is time to celebrate. But it is not time to unplug. As a big part of your search comes to a close, another chapter is just beginning for your new staff member. There are people to tell, houses to sell (and buy), not to mention the stress that a move can place on a family. We’ll give you some practical (and often missed) ways to support and encourage your new staff member during this transition period, and provide a checklist to make sure their first day (and months) go incredibly well.
Key Takeaways
Just because you’ve hired someone (and they’ve accepted your offer), doesn’t mean your job is done. Actually… it is just beginning. Here are some tips to make sure the transition of your candidate (now an employee and team member!) goes well:
And you should do that. Celebrate.
But your work is not done yet. Hardly.
Sometimes things can sour a little between the accepted offer and the first day in the office.
But we'll guide you through some steps in this section that will help the love to grow and blossom during this stage when so much can go wrong.
Their acceptance of your job offer sets a whole series of events in motion for your future staff member. Suddenly, they need to communicate this new role to their family, friends, and current church family. They have a house to sell (and another one to buy). They need to make arrangements with a moving company and re-enroll their kids in a new school system. While you and your team may be feeling some closure to a long and time-consuming search, for your new staff member, their life for the next weeks is filled with new life-changing decisions and a stress-filled list of to-dos that has to be tackled before they ever step foot in the office for their first day at your church.
Constant communication and support are not only appreciated but needed. YOu are adopting them into your church family, so while you are not officially paying them yet, you should be caring for them however possible during this transition period.
Make sure they have an office (and that it's clean).
Be sure they have all the tools set up and ready to go (including a computer, email address, database access, etc.)
Be sure to set up a meeting with their direct supervisor.
Schedule a lunch on day one with your entire team. And be sure that your team knows the new person's start date so they can be expecting him/her.
Consider a gift basket with snacks and meaningful gifts from the community. (Maybe a locally made treat, a gift certificate to a local business, or T-shirts for their family from the local school district).
Make all the employment paperwork as painless as possible.
Do whatever you can to INTENTIONALLY create a welcoming environment.
30 days - get rooted in. get essentials down. regular check-ins.
60 days - what are you learning? what are you seeing that we don't see
90 days - how are you doing? how is your family adjusting? how can we help?
Additional Resources
We’ve assembled some great supplemental learning tools that will help you in your search for a healthy, long-term fit for your staff team. All of these exclusive Chemistry Staffing resources are available for free download for you and your search team.
Ask Us Anything...
Questions about how to best make your new candidate feel welcome? We’re happy to give some advice if needed!
Your Presenters
Todd Rhoades
Matt Steen
Need help with ?
As part of the purchase price of this course, you also receive a free 30-minute consultation with one of our Church Coaches at Chemistry Staffing to help you in any area of your search. Need some help finding qualified candidates, sorting resumes, or developing your compensation and benefits package? We’re here to help and guide you in any area of your staff search.