New Hire Listening Sessions: Misc.

The common themes we gathered from recent new hires:

• Volunteer shadowing (new hires could be matched with older hires in their department who they could turn to for guidance or any questions that may pop up. They would join the older hires on their weekly meetings and see how the day-to-day tasks generally go): New hires thought this would be a good idea, as the shadowing would allow them to see how the workday went, and they feel more comfortable asking questions
• Shadowing would be hosted by volunteers open to questions

• Buddy system: It may be helpful to have an assigned “buddy” (volunteer) who is a go-to person for questions and tips.
  • Compared to shadowing, this person wouldn’t have to work in the same department. They would be there to answer general questions about the department or about the university as a whole.
  • Cons of this is that it may be overwhelming for the buddy, but maybe a system can be put in place?
  • Possibility of creating department ambassadors? Still has the concern of added, unpaid work, but maybe the responsibility can be moved around or not always assigned to one person

• An open Slack for new hires is another possibility
• It may serve as an open forum for questions and can quickly become a reference as new hires may have similar questions
• This would alleviate the weight of added work as anyone can respond to/answer questions. Responsibility isn’t all on one person’s shoulders