First day - what do you like to see in a new starter?

glider3560

Deleted%20User wrote: »

Don't ask about holiday until after 3 months.

I don't agree with this.

I manage three people. One asked about taking holiday (already prebooked before accepting the job) when I made contact before they started, another asked on their first day (again, already prebooked travel) and the other asked within the first two weeks.

All three had their leave requests accepted.

I've also asked about leave early on and had it accepted.

glider3560

Elinore wrote: »

I did a drive-by just to get an idea if it's modern or old big or small and if they have a large presence likely to have a canteen/kitchen

My view is that once you've accepted the job, you're free to ask a small number of "silly" questions. If you find some reason to need to email them about something job related, you could always slip an extra line on the end, e.g. "Can you let me know if you have a canteen on site, so I know whether to bring a packed lunch on my first day". It's quite a reasonable question.

Sharon87

glider3560 wrote: »

I don't agree with this.

I manage three people. One asked about taking holiday (already prebooked before accepting the job) when I made contact before they started, another asked on their first day (again, already prebooked travel) and the other asked within the first two weeks.

All three had their leave requests accepted.

I've also asked about leave early on and had it accepted.

Agree. You need to be open and honest with your holidays. What if a deadline is coming up before a pre-booked holiday? They may need to find cover - either someone internal or hiring a temp. At most interviews I attend or people I interview, I always mention holidays. I'm different as my industry is all short term contracts, so if we know we can't have someone on holiday between certain dates, then that's good to know if the person has a holiday or not then. I've rearranged plans because of getting a new job before.

Elinore

I mentioned leave at my interview (there was a note-taker so there should be a record) - I explained at the time that my current role books to a year in advance and I have some super important commitments next year which are paid for. I advised I was happy to provide evidence to support, being one leave period was just shy of 3 weeks and swallowed up a bank holiday.

JustAnotherSaver

I don't ask for a lot in new starts.


Don't start telling me how to do the job. Where it could be improved, so on & so forth. Yeah you're keen but show it in other ways. This just puts you across as a potential trouble maker down the line.


Listen ... and do. I've been in the job 20+ years so i think it's safe to say i've tried ways that haven't worked and i've whittled it down to ways that do work. Occasionally someone will suggest something fresh but it's rare. So whatever i tell you to do ... do it, as it wont be an unreasonable request.


Don't complain. You can do that later sure & you'll still likely not complain as much as me but on day 1? No.



Always look for something to do. Finish a job, come see me asking if there's anything else. If you see anything that's a mess that other people are ignoring, tidy it up. Goes a long way.

Elinore

I agree! our current new starter keeps telling us over and over how manual all our processes are and there HAS to be a better way.

There is, and it requires a metric tonne of money - it's cheaper to get the minions to do it.

DCFC79

Elinore wrote: »

I agree! our current new starter keeps telling us over and over how manual all our processes are and there HAS to be a better way.

There is, and it requires a metric tonne of money - it's cheaper to get the minions to do it.

Have you suggested if the new starter knows of a way to get the money needed to improve the processes ?

Elinore

Being that our MD took us into a meeting earlier in the day and advised there is a recruitment freeze. Even though some of the departments are struggling with people doing the job of two or three. Also we are not getting a payrise this year, not even to match inflation you would think the new starter would realise that the purchase of a new system, build and development might be a bit out of scope currently.

To be fair - he is not wrong. We ARE ridiculously manual we don't have a single automated process for tasks that would totally suit automation and really should be system driven. The flip side of that coin is then you don't need a full time paid staff member to do that work.....him lol

He's a nice guy. I think that despite being told clearly in the job description and interview that it was heavy data entry and collation with manual template infilling that he was going to rush in and manage it into a smooth efficient process. We were going to gasp in awe and immediately give him the car parking space he is due.

Now he's seen the light i think we broke his heart a bit.

getmore4less

Elinore wrote: »

I agree! our current new starter keeps telling us over and over how manual all our processes are and there HAS to be a better way.

There is, and it requires a metric tonne of money - it's cheaper to get the minions to do it.

The trick is to analyse where the best returns will come from so you spend a small amount initially to start getting return on investment.

Depending on the tasks there will be returns like reduced errors more timely outputs making others tasks more productive.

Why do you think it needs to be expensive to find solutions to productivity?

Elinore

I didnt, that decision is well above my pay grade.

It would make more sense to have a system that would do all these chores, I would say that it would free up three members of staff for other tasks.

That in itself would pay for the system. But staffing and IT are different budgets.....