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Supervisor Orientation Toolkit

Preparing for your Employees Arrival

First impressions are important. How you welcome your new hire on his/her first day is very important in building strong connections from the start. Communication with your new hire from the offer acceptance to the first day of work is key for a smooth orientation process.

1. Confirm your new employee's acceptance of the position. Consider sending the new employee a letter regarding the specifics of the job including position description, salary, reporting relationship, and start date. Send a copy of the communication to your center's human resources contact.
   
   
   • Offer Letter template: www.nova.edu/hr/orientation/onboarding/forms/new_employee_offer_letter_template.pdf
   • Offer Letter with contingency template:
     www.nova.edu/hr/orientation/onboarding/forms/new_employee_offer_letter_contingency_template.pdf
   • Faculty Offer Letter template:
     www.nova.edu/hr/orientation/onboarding/forms/faculty_offer_letter_template.pdf
     
     Note: Offer of employment letters contingent on passing a background check should include contingency wording.
2. Stay in regular communication with your new employee via email or phone during the period between the acceptance and the start date. Provide the new employee with the link below so that he or she can register for NSU orientation. www.nova.edu/hr/orientation
   
   
   If your center conducts an internal orientation, find out when the new employee is scheduled to attend.
3. Provide you new employee with critical information for the first day such as
   
   
   • arrival date and time
   • parking information
   • where to report
   • dress code (e.g., uniform, professional, business casual)
   • first-day schedule
   • campus map ( www.nova.edu/locations/index.html)
   • local area resources
4. Verify your new employee is available to meet with you or your human resources contact one to two weeks before the start date to complete the new hire package. Your new hire needs to bring to this meeting the completed, signed new hire forms, which can be found at www.nova.edu/hr/orientation/new_hire.html, along with acceptable proof of identification (See Form I-9 page four) If applicable, original transcripts will also be needed.
   
   
   Remember: Completed New hire paperwork will facilitate assignment of NSU ID and email.
5. Prepare the new employee's workspace including desk, chair, computer, phone, supplies, business cards, name plates, and mailbox label, if appropriate.
6. Once the new hire paperwork is processed, you can arrange for access to the computer systems the new employee will need (e.g., Banner, Outlook, Kronos, Ariba, etc.).
7. Announce the hiring of your new employee, and ask others to welcome and show support such as hanging a welcome sign at the workstation or other area. A short email announcement should include when he/she is starting, the role the new hire is taking on, and a brief bio (e.g., previous employment, education, experience, job position, and reporting structure).
8. If possible, designate an experienced person as a mentor to answer questions, give support, and check in with the new employee to make sure they have everything they need to do their job.
9. Prepare a Welcome Binder for the new employee for the first day. To access a template of a recommended Welcome Binder, click here.
10. Prepare an agenda for the new hire's first day and establish a plan and timeline for training based on your department needs. www.nova.edu/hr/orientation/onboarding/forms/supervisor_new_employee_checklist.pdf