Employee orientation plan

An orientation plan is essential Welcome new employees into your agency

Good news! You found a talented candidate who will be a terrific fit for your agency. The offer has been accepted and the new hire will show up in two weeks. Then, it hits you: You don’t have a desk for the person; and you will be out of the office and your in-house subject-matter expert is swamped. Suddenly, the good news begins to wane and you feel like an awful lot of work is ahead of you to prepare this new candidate for job readiness. However, with smart planning and ongoing communication, it will all get done. Let’s face it—an immediate positive impression will go miles. Just as you strive to create the right first impression with your clients, the same respect needs to be displayed to your new hires. This article will outline ideas for creating a smooth orientation and transition plan for new employees. Get everyone in your agency involved in creating a welcoming culture to everyone who joins your agency—regardless of position. It’s cause for celebration! Interestingly, interviews with employees who decide to leave a job reveal that their first sense of regret can be traced back to the first day on that job. Here is a sample of what we have been told: • “I had nowhere to sit.” • “They forgot I was coming that day.” • “I showed up; no one knew I was starting that day and they left me in the waiting area for 30 minutes.” • “I thought it was just the first day—but they are always like this around here—unorganized.”

Prior to start date This candidate will soon become your new team member and employee. A smooth assimilation will enable you to continue your firm’s productivity and create a positive impact and impression. We always recommend connecting two to three times prior to the individual’s start date. Once the offer is accepted, you want to make sure that the candidate submitted a resignation to his or her current job, and that the employee is committed to the start date you discussed. In many cases, a candidate

24 might be asked to leave his or her firm sooner than the two weeks—especially if the candidate is going to a competitor. No need to feel the pressure to move up your start date. It’s wiser to have an orientation plan mapped out first— don’t sacrifice on preparation, no matter how much you need that person. Set up an early coffee meeting or a lunch prior to the start date. Chat about what the first day and first week will look like. Ask your new employee for suggestions. Your new hire might bring along some ideas that you can incorporate as well. Discuss your new employee’s expectations for the first two weeks. This opens the door for your first coaching session with your new employee. To stay on plan, create a checklist. This will help you to find ways to delegate now instead of waiting until you have time tomorrow to do it yourself. Here are some items to include on the checklist: • sign offer letter; • create personnel file; • send out welcome letter along with new hire kit—benefits package, payroll information, noncompete and I-9 form requesting completion by start date; • plan for workstation—rent the furniture temporarily if you have to—but make sure you have a desk with supplies by start date; • order computer/schedule set-up; • create the necessary passwords; • phone system set-up; • orientation booklet—company policies; • business cards; • announcements—to staff, to carriers, etc.; and • pre-arranged lunches with various staff members.

Orientation Tightly map out the first two days filled with meetings and overviews. The first day in particular should be tightly organized with confirmed meetings all around. It’s always essential for the new hire to understand how he or she contributes to the firm. Never underestimate the impact of meetings with principals. One of the worst mistakes you can make is to pair up the new hire with your senior account manager that first day by 8:30 a.m. It will limit that individual’s view of your organization, overwhelm your senior account manager, and limit access to in-house expert advice. Here’s a suggestion for the first day: 8:30-9:15 a.m.: Welcome and meeting with office manager—discuss policies, hours, formal walkthrough of the office areas. 9:30-10:15 a.m.: Meeting with agency president. 10:30-11:30 a.m.: Meeting with assigned trainer or team leader to review upcoming training schedule and expectations. Review of provided materials/ job tools, etc. 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.: Assigned reading of coverages/products. Lunch: Team member—positive impact. 1:30-2:30 p.m.: Corporate overview of divisions by senior vice president or principal. 3-3:30 p.m.: Meeting with assigned producer. 3:30-4:30 p.m.: Back to trainer or team leader with assignment— pick a core responsibility and map it out with a task. Give the new employee a project for the evening or early morning.

Skills training Does your organization have a skills or competency map? If not, look over the individual’s job description before you create a skills map. The trainer or team leader should make a point of connecting with the new hire prior to start date for the purpose of identifying the skill gaps. This will feed directly into your training plan. You can’t use the same program to address various skill levels. The core elements of a training program should be curtailed if your new hire is proficient in a particular area— just jump to your agency differences. When it comes to technical skills training—whether it means the agency management system or coverage/product—new skill acquisition will require starting with small tasks and building progressively to more challenging tasks. For coverage or product training, make up client scenarios that occur frequently and drill the appropriate responses. Ask the individual to create a coverage matrix of product differences as an assignment. A smart approach is to have each new trainee contribute to the job tools library that can be used by every new staff member, and even the existing team. The duration of training will depend on the starting point to job readiness. When you feel the new employee is

close to ready, role-play for practice. The new employee doesn’t need to have all the answers in order to handle client calls. View an organized training plan as an investment for your agency. By tailoring orientation/start-up programs for new hires, over time you will have a variety to address varying skill levels. This will enable you to cater to a wider talent pool, rather than conducting a narrowscoped search with the unrealistic expectation that this individual will be able to mesh into your agency’s approach the first day.

Goals and feedback Right from the start, everyone should have goals. Short-term goals

of the first 30-60 days are ideal for the new hire. Keep goals focused on job and client readiness—what’s expected and how it will be measured. It’s good for your employee to know that his or her client contacts—in person or via the telephone—will be monitored. The feedback will strengthen the employee’s further development and success. At the 60- and 90-day mark, conduct a formal review process. Yes, we mean document it to file. This is the segue to annual goals. In some tough cases, it’s an indication that there are too many challenges to overcome to make it a successful match. Some agency managers tell us they know quickly if the individual is going to be a success, while others procrastinate by dealing with performance issues until the individual decides to voluntarily leave. We strongly recommend a formal review of goals and performance for every agency. Clear expectations, explicit goals and quarterly feedback are essential. And, feedback means a balance of good and constructive observations and insights to encourage the employee. Harwood is a founding partner of New Level Partners, a career advisory firm located in Princeton, N.J., that consults with agents and brokers on a variety of human resources strategies. Harwood has more than 25 years of experience leading numerous insurance businesses. He can be reached at (973) 868-1903 or via email at bharwood@newlevelpartners.com.

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