Onboarding New Employees

It's an exciting time – a new golf season is about to start! If you've hired new staff, like an assistant golf professional or apro shop manager, you can help set the stage for their long-term success by onboarding them effectively into their new position.

By onboarding, I mean the process of integrating a new employee into your golf operation and, by extension, the club. Done right, onboarding helps a new employee quickly settle in, become acclimated to his or her new environment, become more productive faster, know what to expect from your membership and in the process make you look better.

Below is a plan you can use to onboard new employees. Even if you haven't hired anyone this year, read on. The plan might spark some ideas on how you can continue to improve your team's cohesion and performance.

Before the New Employee Arrives

Before the employee's first day, email them some basic information like their working hours, where to park, dress code, schedule of team meetings, name of onboarding buddy (if you've assigned one) and so on. Set up their phone and email connections. Tell your team about the new hire.

The First Day and Week

Part of the employee's day will be taken up by orientation, which typically includes things like filling out employment paperwork, getting an ID badge and learning about the club's policies and procedures. After orientation, show theemployee their workstation and introduce them to the rest of your team and any club staff they'll interact with. Give them atour of the grounds and describe your procedures for areas like the bag room, driving range and putting green.

Explain the new hire's duties, and tell them what the reporting hierarchy is. Let them know how human-resources issues are handled, whether at the club or the pro shop organization.

This is a good time to introduce the recruit to the club's culture. Explain the values, mission and traditions of the club. Emphasize the importance of member service. Take the team out to lunch to jump-start the new employee's socialization with colleagues.

Early in the first week, give the employee their first independent assignment. Talk to them afterward, probe into how the assignment went and give them guidance for future tasks. As the week goes on and the employee takes on more tasks, be available to provide frequent and constructive feedback. Seek the employee's feedback too.

The First Month

After the first two or three weeks, the employee should be doing some tasks independently and starting projects on their own initiative. Keep track of their performance. Watch how they deal with club members and guests – are they courteous and professional? Do they remember details like a member's name and their playing preferences? Solicit informal feedback from the people the employee interacts with frequently, like members, staff and vendors.

After three or four weeks, you should have a good reading of the new hire's strengths and weaknesses. The new hire should have a firm grasp on what the job entails and what level of performance is required from them. Sit down with them and create a development plan with clearly defined goals and evaluation metrics.

Onboarding Past the First Month

If appropriate, have the employee accompany you on meetings, member lessons and club events. Have lunch after eight to 10 weeks, ask them how things are going, congratulate them on their successes and help them resolve any issues. Conduct a formal performance review mid-season. Continue to provide informal feedback as theemployment continues.

You took a lot of care to hire the right person. Take equal care to onboard them right. You'll be rewarded with better employee performance, longer employee retention and amore effective organization that delivers on your mission.