Onboarding Fridays

Domain: Employee Experience - Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Most companies will choose a Monday as a new employee's start date. Why? Because it's administratively easier. It's cleaner from a payroll perspective. This is a great example of how the easiest option is not always the most effective.

Today, we'll share our recommendation for onboarding someone on a Friday to create a truly memorable start to the next stage of their career. Starting on Friday's allows you to send a stronger cultural signal to your new employee while also leaving them more engaged and motivated.

This is not a full schedule for day 1, but rather a few key principles we recommend for a strong start…

Don’t train

This first point seems counterintuitive, but you will do absolutely no training on day 1. Most companies start a new employee on Monday and immediately turn-on the training fire hose. As a result, the new hire is overwhelmed and only learns a fraction of what was shared. It's too much and it's the wrong approach.

We are going to start the same employee on a Friday and will intentionally do no job-specific training that day. Day 1 is all about culture and team dynamic. They'll start technical training the following Monday when they are refreshed and have had a chance to process all the cultural and team inputs over the weekend.

Meet the manager

We want them to start their first day meeting with their direct manager. That may be you or one of your directs. The purpose of this meeting is for both individuals to become a little more familiar with one another.

While we are not going to train them, you might consider discussing things like leadership/communication styles, team goals, one-on-one cadence/scheduling, etc. We also recommend having the manager outline what the first few days and weeks will look like.

This is the opportunity to start building a strong working relationship, so don't be afraid to also discuss non-work related topics if they come-up.

All hands

We want your entire team involved in creating a welcoming culture for your new employee, so everyone is going to play their part. One person may do the tour of the facility, another may help with equipment/desk setup, another might introduce the employee to key stakeholders, etc. Find a way to get as much of your team involved as possible.

There are multiple benefits to this approach. First, most teams are busiest on the traditional Monday start days. Starting an employee on Friday and having the entire team share the responsibility makes it much more manageable for your existing staff. They will be able to give more attention to the new employee and it will be an overall better experience.

Peer lunch

A great way to get much of the team involved is to have available employees take lunch with the new hire. We recommend that the manager not attend this particular lunch as it gives the new hire an opportunity to socialize more openly with their new peers without the boss's presence interfering.

Meet the mentor

While you might have multiple people involved with training the new hire in the weeks to come, we want one person who is going to act as the new hire mentor for that individual. This isn't a mentor in the traditional sense, but more a guide who is there for support and direction should the new employee need anything.

Debrief with a gift

At the end of the day, the employee will return to meet with their manager for a debrief. This is there chance to share initial impressions and ask any questions they may have.

I also recommend giving the employee a gift certificate to take their spouse/family out to celebrate their new job. If you can do some reconnaissance to find their favorite restaurant, that's ideal! You might even have your team extract this information during the course of the day. If you can't figure out their favorite spot, simply pick a popular local option.

This gesture will be the finishing touch on what is likely the best start to a new job your new employee has ever experienced. They'll head into their weekend even more excited and motivated about the role than they were to begin with. All it took was a few small and easy adjustments.

Thank you for reading. My hope is always that you've found something helpful and easy to implement.

This week’s action items:

1. Start new employees on Fridays.

2. On the first day, focus on team and culture over technical training.

3. Have the new employee meet with their manager at the beginning of the day in order to start developing the relationship.

4. Get your entire team involved in different aspects of welcoming and onboarding the new employee.

5. Encourage the team take the employee out for lunch for a chance to socialize.

6. Introduce the new employee to their onboarding mentor or guide.

7. Have the direct manager debrief with the new employee at the end of the day. End strong with a gift card that they can use to celebrate their new role with loved ones.