The way you welcome a new hire sets the tone for his entire work experience with you.  The more positive his initial encounters, the more welcomed and prepared he will feel in his new role.  This, in turn, will give him the confidence and resources needed to quickly make a positive impact within your company (which is why you hired him in the first place, right?).

Beyond an employee’s first days with your organization, effective onboarding can also have positive long-term effects on your organization – lowering turnover, improving employee satisfaction and even smoothing operating functions.

So get ready to roll out the red carpet with your next new hire.  Use these tips to make him feel welcomed, valued and prepared to hit the ground running:

• Welcome a new employee with a letter. Before the individual’s first day, send a friendly and informative letter to welcome him and review his first day’s schedule, helpful tips for parking, details about to whom he should report, etc.  Alternately, you can post new employee schedules, materials, benefits forms and a FAQ on your company Intranet, and make it accessible from a link in a welcome e-mail.
• Prepare a corporate “family tree.” Familiarize new hires with your company’s “who’s who.”  You can make photos, names and job titles available on your company’s Intranet, or maintain a simple bulletin board with the same info to facilitate the getting-to-know-you process.
• Pre-orient existing staff members. Provide employees with your new employee’s résumé and job description before he starts.  Advise each team member to conduct a meeting with the new hire in which he shares a description of his own position, reviews the ways their roles interact and covers how they might work together in the future.
• Approach the process from the employee’s point of view. The onboarding process can be complex and overwhelming for your new hire.  To keep your new team member feeling valued, try to create orientation procedures that make the process fun, interesting and as painless as possible.
• Provide and review a written plan of employee objectives and responsibilities. This step will eliminate confusion about job functions and will open the floor to discuss concerns or new opportunities.
• Give the new employee your undivided attention. Be careful not to let e-mails, phone calls, or other employees distract you during orientation sessions, because this sends the unintended message that the new hire is not worth your time – a real morale-killer.
• Make day one personal. Prioritize interpersonal relationships with key colleagues as soon as your new employee starts.  Make sure you welcome the whole person – not just a set of job functions – from the outset, and you’ll be sure to make a great first impression.

A.R. Mazzotta works to make new employee transitions as successful and simple as possible.  Our stringent screening process ensures that the candidates we refer (whether temporary or direct) have the skills, experience and traits necessary to integrate seamlessly with your existing workforce.  Contact us today to learn more about our staffing services for Connecticut employers.

Unlike personal e-mails, your professional digital communications need to follow certain guidelines to be effective.  So before you hit the “Send” button on your next work-related e-mail, be sure to review this list of quick tips:

1. Fill in the “To:” e-mail address last. Wait until you are completely through proofing your e-mail to fill in the recipient’s address.  This will keep you from accidentally sending an e-mail prematurely – and save you from the potential embarrassment of typos or forgotten attachments.
2. Be professional. Skip abbreviations, texting lingo and emoticons.  Mind your manners and follow the basic rules of courtesy you learned while growing up – like using the words “Please” and “Thank you.”  Keep your tone professional at all times, striving to come across as respectful, friendly and approachable.
3. Create a descriptive subject line. Make it easy for your recipient to tell what your e-mail is about; otherwise, it may be overlooked or deleted.
4. Address the recipient by name in the body of the e-mail. It adds a personal and courteous touch to your communication.  Only address someone by his first name if he implies that it’s okay to do so.
5. Avoid the following: USING ALL CAPS (it’s the written equivalent of YELLING!); over-using punctuation!!!!!!; HTML (not everyone can view it); forwarding unsolicited e-mail (not everyone will think it’s cute or funny, and you may wind up offending or annoying someone).
6. Be concise, but thorough. Respect the recipient’s time by getting to the point of your e-mail as quickly as possible.  Additionally, make sure you include all relevant information the recipient needs, to avoid a string of unnecessary additional e-mails.
7. Use office e-mail exclusively for office communications. Work e-mail is official company property.  If you want to e-mail friends or family, use a separate Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail account.  Remember, your IT administrator and/or boss has the right to open work account e-mails at any time.
8. Always use a signature line. Do not assume that the recipient knows who you are.
9. Use your spellchecker, but don’t rely on it. Spellcheckers have their value, but may not catch missed words, incorrect information, etc.  Always proof your e-mail yourself before sending.

A final note to job seekers:
When you are applying for a job via e-mail, follow the instructions given to the letter.  In general, you should copy and paste your cover letter into the body of the e-mail.  If the posting asks you to send your résumé as an attachment, send the file as a .doc (Microsoft Word document) or .pdf (Adobe Acrobat file).  Before sending the e-mail, send yourself a test message to make sure everything displays properly.

Looking for more great career advice?
Visit A.R. Mazzotta’s Employment Corner, located under the Job Seekers menu on our home page.  It’s filled with employment-related articles, training information and other useful links for Connecticut job seekers.  Have a specific question?  Contact an A.R. Mazzotta employment specialist today.

Sound familiar?

These days, getting an honest and reliable reference can be a real challenge.  HR is cautious.  Supervisors are too busy.  And often, the references a candidate has provided are afraid or unwilling to give honest feedback.  So how can you improve the results of your next reference check?

Beyond the standard length of employment/position/job responsibilities questions, here are a few unexpected ones you can try asking.  Designed to start conversations, these open-ended questions may entice a reference to “drop his guard,” and help you solicit more candid feedback:

1. Did the candidate ask your permission to be a reference for him?
2. What was his greatest strength?  Weakness?
3. What circumstances frustrated him the most?
4. How well did the candidate manage time?  Pressure?  Crises?
5. What did he learn during his time with your company?
6. If you could give him a single career suggestion, what would it be?
7. What was his biggest accomplishment while working for your company?
8. Would you rehire this person?  Why or why not?
9. Is there anything else I haven’t asked that you would like to share with me?

Thankfully, you don’t need to ask questions like these when you work with A.R. Mazzotta Employment Specialists.  You can rest assured that every candidate we refer has been carefully screened, tested and reference-checked for you.  To learn more about the measures we take to ensure candidate quality, please visit our website.