An employee handbook can be a valuable tool used to communicate company culture.

Think back to your first day at the job you currently have…and the first day of the job you had before that…what was it like when you started? Who was the first person to greet you and say hello? Were you required to spend some time with HR or did you dive right into the work? Was your desk or office ready for you? Were you given some sort of employee handbook to review, outlining various organizational operating policies? How about an office supplies catalog from which to order whatever you need?

What was the rest of your first week like? Your coworkers friendly and asking you out to lunch to get to know each other? Clients calling you to meet about what they have going on with their current/next campaign? Vendors stopping by to say hello? Other department members with whom you’ll be working stopping by to introduce themselves?

I hope you had a pleasant first day, first week, that set the tone for things getting started on the right foot. If not, hopefully you’re doing what you can to make it better for all of the other employees that start new at your same employer…trying to make things better for them and improving what wasn’t great for your first day and week.

Recently, I came across the blog of the CEO of Gibson Insurance, an insurance agency in South Bend, IN. Here is a link to that post: Strategies for Effective Onboarding. First of all, I think it’s great that someone at that level actually maintains a digital presence and secondly, actually considers the company culture, especially as it pertains to onboarding new employees. The way your company operates and treats its new employees says a great deal about how employees are valued, new as well as established and tenured.

At the very least, here are few ways to make sure your new employees have a great first day.
– Make sure their desk or office are completely setup with appropriate furniture
– Make sure their phone, voicemail and email accounts are all ready to go live, once the employees passcodes and passwords are set manually
– Assign someone (if not the hiring manager) to greet the new employee when they arrive; this person should also show them their new work space and introduce them to the other employees in the office or building(s)
– Arrange for a tour of the building or campus, if necessary
– Provide them with access to all necessary and critical software, hardware and other programs that require credentials to access (including special access badges and proximity cards)
– If your organization has an employee handbook, this should also be presented on the new employees first day (ideally this is a living document that is regularly updated, but not so exhaustive that it covers every detail, except where appropriate)

I know that the readers of Bill’s Sports Business Blog are in constant search of improvement and seek to be the change they want to see in the world, so I hope you take time to consider the image your organization is making with its new employees. You only have one chance to make a first impression, so make sure it’s a good one.

Go Forth and make a difference!