So you found your new office employee and they start on Monday. Now what do you do with them?

The first thing we do at A Royal Flush is give them a good idea of what our company does. We go over territories that we service, products that we offer, dispatch offices, etc. I don’t expect them to remember everything that I tell them in this first meeting, but this basic information helps them understand what they see, hear and do over the next couple of weeks.

With that basic knowledge, we then move them to a lead employee to listen in. Depending on whether they are hired for customer service or special events, I then put them with the busiest desk in that specialty. For example, if the person was hired for customer service, I then pair them with our New York desk, as it is by far our busiest. I also make sure that they are sitting with a seasoned employee. You don’t want them to learn incorrectly. That is just a waste of everyone’s time.

The newbie generally sits with that person for a day or two, just listening in on calls and watching him or her work. It gives them a really good idea of the calls we take and the type of orders that come in. This also allows me to see how “into” the job they are. Some people really listen and ask good questions. Others just sit there and waste our time.

The next step is to have the new hire learn our computer system. We run off of Clear Computing’s TAC. The system isn’t hard to learn but there are seven tabs of information screens per customer and it takes time to learn where everything is.

The best way to learn is to start putting in orders and doing pick-ups or removal of equipment. We have them put in a couple of orders with someone sitting with them. They are given a step-by-step process to follow, but the other person is there for any questions or problems. But after a couple of orders, it is really important to cut the strings and let them try everything on their own.

At that point, we have them start to work on their own and then someone periodically checks their orders for mistakes. Making a mistake isn’t a bad thing, but I want to catch it before one of my drivers goes miles out of his way. It is important to show this new hire their mistakes so they can learn from them and avoid them going forward.

This whole process takes about two weeks. I expect questions and mistakes after that time period but you really want to hire someone who can do the job without you holding their hand. After all, you have a job to do too.

About the Author: Alexandra Townsend is co-owner of A Royal Flush, based in Philadelphia.