The first week determines whether your new hire becomes a top performer or starts job searching in six months. That’s not hyperbole. BambooHR says 70% of new hires decide whether a job is the right fit within the first month—including 29% who know within the first week (source).
And most managers completely waste this window.
Here’s what usually happens: Your new hire shows up. HR does their thing. IT sets up their laptop (maybe). Someone dumps a bunch of docs on them. “Read through these and let me know if you have questions.” Then the manager is too busy to meet until Thursday.
By Friday, your new hire is wondering if they made a mistake.
What the first week should actually look like:
Day 1: Belong
- Meet their team (even if just quick intros)
- Lunch with someone (not alone)
- One meaningful conversation with their manager
- Leave with one clear thing to do tomorrow
Day 2: Understand
- Context on the team’s current priorities
- Introduction to key stakeholders
- Access to everything they need
- Leave understanding how the team works
Day 3: Contribute
- One small, completable task
- Feedback on that task
- Leave feeling like they added value
Day 4: The First Easy Day
- They should walk in knowing what they need to do today.
- This is the first day they shouldn’t feel like the “new kid in the cafeteria.”
Day 5: Complete
- Tie off the week with them and ask if there were any outstanding questions.
- Your goal is to end the week on a high note so they’re happy to come back to next week.
- The main message is “you didn’t make a mistake, you hired on with a good team”
The goal isn’t to dump everything on them. It’s to make them feel like they belong, understand what’s going on, and can contribute—all in the first week. This is what I used to do for my new hires:
A week before, I’d send an email asking if they had any questions and we were looking forward to meeting them. I usually had my new hires start on a Monday, so the Friday before, I’d send them my phone # in case they had any questions, and tell them I’d be happy to meet them on Monday at 8:30. This gave me some time in the morning to review that everything was setup correctly.
I’d prep their desk and make sure they had their computer, a notepad, pencil, the monitor was setup and a “orientation” paper that had their name on it and the agenda for the first few days. I wanted to convey “I knew you were coming and I took the time to prepare for you.”
I’d setup a lunch with the team for Monday and get the invite out to everyone on the team.
On Monday, I’d go wait out front so they’d have someone to meet them when they got to work. We had a lobby that wasn’t staffed and so it could be a bit confusing where to go once you came in the front door. It’s not hard to beat the competition - most managers won’t bother to do this level of personal service. But I wanted them to feel welcomed, so I’d walk them in, guide them to their desk.
Then I’d personally introduce them to each team member, other folks who sat nearby, and then take them to security to get their badge photo. I’d wait for them and then we’d go back to their desk and I’d give them a bit of space and meet them again in bit to give them an overview of the team and what we were up to at the time.
It’s not hard to do something minimal - like meet your new hire at the front door - and be better than 90% of companies out there. It makes an impression on your new people as it says “I think you matter and I don’t have any more important that greeting you today.”
That’s the place I want to work, and I think that’s where you want to work too.
See you next week!
-Frank
