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I have had the experience of not only overseeing my own employees, but being a new employee at a couple different corporate settings in the past year or so.  I’ve learned a lot from both sides (the corporate on-boarding experience has certainly changed a lot, I’ll say that).  A bad start can have ripple affects that can hurt your business.  These key tips will make your new contractor or employee feel secure, so they can start kicking butt for you – and have fun doing it!

Give your employees the basics.

At a 5-star hotel I worked at recently, I was personally introduced to the entire corporate staff and as much of the banquet staff as possible. It was incredible – sure, I couldn’t recommend everyone’s name right away, but it gave me a solid sense of how the company worked, and also made me feel less shy when I saw new people in the hallways.  I was also shown every single common area, bathroom, and other important spaces.  No wonder people stay at that property for years!  The culture left a lasting impression on me.

Don’t feel you are pandering to someone or wasting time by methodically showing them around to all relevant colleagues in your organization, and showing them every nook and cranny of the space that they will be using.  They will feel like a stranger in a strange land, otherwise, and struggle to interact with people at first. It also makes them feel ignored or cast aside. Not a good start.

Ritz Carlton Ocean View wedding OrangeCounty Dana Point Employee

Photo by Studio Purdy.  I was based in L.A.; this event in Dana Point required me to work with Orange-County based contractors that I found via my network of high quality fellow event planners.  Making sure I sent these new contractors my manual ensured consistent service to my clients, despite the fact I hadn’t worked with them frequently before.

Have collaborative docs ready to go.

Be sure to do your homework and set up collaborative docs and systems before they arrive (google docs, Aisle Planner, etc).  It takes some time to delegate – if it’s your first-ever associate, you need to do the hard work of which assignments to give them, and how you two will use your shared systems.  But it only takes a couple days to get someone indoctrinated into most online project managers and documents – once you’re in, it’ll flow. But you absolutely have to do the carving up of assignments and adjustments of your systems before they arrive – otherwise, they may not have enough to do at first, and start off with confusion. This could lead to mistakes and wasted time – things no business can afford.

Write an employee manual.

If you work with ICs, this can be a contractor manual. Your payroll company or lawyer can advise on exactly how to work on this – but it’s super important for all employees to read and sign off on this. For event planners in particular, you need to lay down some ground rules, such as: No chewing gum, no social media sharing of events during event (or after, if client does not give permission), dress code, etc.

About to hire your first employee or contractor?  Need advice?  I’m here to help! Email me at dee@noworriesep.com!