Supporting Your New Hire

Transitioning to a new job and Institution can be both exciting and overwhelming. While the Human Resources team at BU will provide an orientation to your new hire, here are a few things you can do to prepare for your new hire.   

• Review information on the HR website related to onboarding your new hire
• Start the process for obtaining the necessary equipment and software
• Start the process for getting them an ID and necessary access to buildings as needed
• Check-in with them to ensure they are completing the onboarding process and if they have questions
• Prepare your team. Invite them to be part of the welcome process
• Invite your new hire to explore the New Hire – Great Place to Start page on this site
• Identify a ‘buddy’. This can be a member of your team who can help answer questions, take them out to lunch on their first day, and help them become oriented to the Institution
• If your new hire will have remote work arrangements, review these tips to help you onboard them successfully
• If the new employee will be on-site, even partially, plan for team members to be available to welcome, onboard, and meet them
• Prepare materials to provide on new hire’s first day, such as an organizational chart, mission, and values statement, list of important names, and contacts, and a ‘who to call if…’ list, and any other information pertinent to their role. Download the BU Acronyms & Terms list and feel free to add your unit-specific information to it. 
• Prepare their physical space. Ensure their phone is set up and instructions are available for setting up their voicemail. Provide a few office supplies to get them started 
• Include items to help them feel welcomed, such as a card signed by all members of the team, flowers, or BU swag, depending on the team budget
• Send an introductory email to your team and to key departments that the new hire will work closely with. Include their bio and photo

Partner with Your New Hire

The first day and weeks are an excellent opportunity to help your new hire feel welcomed, inspire them, and help them become engaged not only with your department but also with the larger Institution. Plan to spend time with your new hire:

• Provide an onboarding schedule with details for meetings and tasks for the first few days and weeks
• Support to complete any paperwork
• Review the functional area – its purpose, organizational structure, and goals
• Share how your department’s work impacts and adds value to the Institution
• Review their job description, the outline of tasks, and expectations; explain how their role fits into the work of the department and how they will add value. Share details and check for understanding and clarity
• Share how you like to communicate – be as specific as possible. Let them know when and how they can access you
• Schedule ongoing check-in meetings – this might be weekly at first and then bi-weekly or monthly. Regardless of your preference, ensure new hire knows when and how they can access you between meetings
• Share information about staff meetings and regularly scheduled activities, how the team manage, communicate, coordinate, and share calendars
• Provide information on the platforms (ex. Slack, Zoom, WebEx, Trello, Outlook MS Teams, etc.) your team uses to communicate and connect. Offer training on the use of tools if necessary
• Clarify when remote employees must be online and available and which forms of communication require an immediate response and which are less urgent
• Discuss how meaningful feedback will be shared and the best way for the new hire to provide feedback and ask questions
• Explain your process for goal setting and how you review performance. Explain what success will look like as clearly as possible
• Schedule the three- and six-month performance check-in. This should be in addition to and separate from your ongoing check-ins

Help them Build Relationships with the Team

• Review your department organizational chart with new hire
• Schedule meetings with team members and other key employees
  • Plan for meetings with key members of the team and cross-functional partners
  • Plan an informal meet and greet to allow team members to get to know the new hire. If your team is hybrid/remote, please schedule virtual meetings or plan for everyone is on-site that day

Prepare Your Team: 

• In addition to preparing for the new hire, prepare your team. When new people enter a team, this often creates a change in team structure and might even impact the roles of existing team members. Taking the time to help your team will result in better team relationships in the future. 
• Share how new hire’s expertise and strengths will add value to the team’s work
• Clarify any change in roles or expectations for existing members because of the new hire’s role
• Invite team members to share their concerns and provide clarity and reassurance. Be open and honest

Invest in Their Professional Development

• Provide role-based training
  • Identify which colleagues and central departments are available to answer questions and provide support while new hire is training
  • Follow up and ask how you can support them to practice what they learned
• Explore the What We Offer section to learn more about the learning opportunities available to your new hire and provide suggestions

Help them Engage with the BU Community

Employees feel most fulfilled at work when they feel connected and included in the community and larger Institution. We are all in this together. You can help BU achieve the Community, Big Yet Small pillar of the Strategic Plan 2030. 

To meet the goals outlined in this plan, BU has launched many initiatives and created spaces and programs to help all employees find the right community. Ensure your new employee has information about these opportunities. Below are a few examples.

• Share the Life@BU resources
• BU’s rich history, discoveries, and campus life.

• Newsletters such as BU Today, D&I, and more. 

• Initiatives across the BU campuses: Sustainability, etc.

As your new hire settles into their role, you have had an opportunity to assess their strengths and opportunities informally and formally. 

Plan for a three-month and six-month conversation. This meeting should be in addition to ongoing check-ins and might be a good time to discuss their interests and strengths and set performance and professional development goals. 

Continue to Build the Partnership with Your New Hire

• Prepare for a three- and six-month performance check-in.
  • Share the impact they are making on the team and department. Give specifics on the meaningful contributions they are making
  • Ask what questions they have and how you can support them 
  • Share meaningful feedback. Please note: any behaviors or mistakes should be addressed in a timely manner and not be saved for this conversation. 
  • Develop performance goals

Help them Build Relationships with the Team

• Continue to support the new hire with building relationships
• Provide Institutional and contextual information to help new hires navigate interpersonal relationships
• Invite feedback 

Invest in Their Professional Development

• Stay abreast of the learning opportunities offered across the BU campus
• Continue to offer role-based training
• Ask about their interests and areas they want to explore and strengthen
• Help them align their interests with the needs of the department 
• Support them to transfer learning into practice 

Support their Engagement with the BU Community 

• Stay abreast of the benefits and resources available at BU and share them with new hire
• Check if there are benefits or resources, they have questions about
• Support their interest in participating in the BU community
  • Provide time to attend meetings, events, or training hosted across the BU campus, such as Faculty Staff Community Network groups, BU Sustainability Initiative, or others 
  • Ask what they learned and give them opportunities to try new ideas they have learned
  • Invite them to do a share back at a staff meeting. This can help them become engaged and feel connected to their team

The six to twelve months period is a vital milestone in a new hire’s first year. You have an opportunity and responsibility to help them continue to feel successful in their role but also feel inspired to chart their career at BU.

Partner with Your New Hire

• Prepare for the annual performance review process and discuss:
  • Their experience at BU to date
  • Check if the role met their expectations. Share your near term and long term vision and strategy for the department and their role 
  • Share accomplishments and successes 
  • Acknowledge their strengths and share areas for growth
  • Ask how you can continue to support them. What do they need to be successful?
  • Plan the year ahead and set goals

Help them Build Relationships with the Team

• Keep a pulse on interpersonal relationships  
• Ensure new hire feels connected and included 
  • During ongoing check-in, ask how they are doing 
  • Ask how you can support them 
  • Actively and intentionally include them during meetings and events
  • Introduce them to colleagues at department or Institutional gatherings or events. As part of the performance review, ask them to list a few people you can reach out to for feedback on their performance. The goal is to help them improve, not to gather complaints
    • When reaching out to team members for feedback, ensure you ask for specifics – what did they do well, what can they improve 

Invest in Their Professional Development 

• Ask about their career aspirations
• Share openly and honestly about what the opportunities are within your department 
• Commit to helping them explore other opportunities.  

Support their Engagement with the BU Community

As they become an active participant in your department and the Institution, their needs and interests might change. Continue to support their interest in participating in the BU community. 

• Provide time to attend meetings, events, or training hosted across the BU campus, such as the Learn More Series or other events
• Ask what they learned and provide opportunities to try out their new ideas
• Invite them to do a share back at a staff meeting