A new employee's initial experiences go a long way in determining how quickly he or she becomes an effective, contributing member of your team. As a supervisor, you play a critical role in providing tools and resources to ensure that your new employee feels welcomed, valued and prepared for what lies ahead. Some of the most important information to have is whom to contact with questions about policies, benefits*, payroll, performance management and similar types of information.

Orienting a new employee to your department and the University is a process. It takes time and a little planning to get new team members up to speed so they can start contributing to the department's success. You should complete the Departmental Orientation Checklist the first day your new employee is in your department. This checklist covers a variety of topics (including issuance of ID cards, reviewing parking information, reviewing University and departmental policies and procedures, explaining the roles of the new employee and the department) that meet the basic needs of the employee and also provide a foundation for understanding how the department and the University operate. See the information in the Manager's Tools and Templates below to assist you in onboarding your new employee.

Select the campus where your new employee will be working to review the New Employee Orientation requirements:

 

The following orientation tools and templates are intended to be modified to fit the specific needs of your department.

Tool and/or Template	Description
New Employee Checklist	This checklist has guidelines on information and activities you can provide for your new employee before the first day, on the first day in the department, during the first week, and during the first month of employment.
Getting Your Team Involved	This document describes ways you can actively involve your team members in orienting the new employee. It explains when it is beneficial to use a buddy system, and provides guidelines on implementing a buddy system.
Announcement Email	This sample text can be used to announce the new employee to your team.
Sample Training Schedule	This sample schedule can be used to coordinate the items listed on the New Employee Checklist, especially when getting your team involved in orienting the new employee.

 

We need your assistance to ensure that new hires or employees changing to benefit eligibility status attend New Employee Orientation and return their completed benefit enrollment forms to the Benefits office within the first 30 days of employment. Doing so prevents a new employee from being subjected to restricted or reduced benefits for the remainder of the calendar year.