1. How to Effectively Jump Start New Financial Aid Employees
Thomas Ratliff
MASFAA President
AVP, Indiana Wesleyan University

2. Investing In Your New Hire

3. Investing in Your New Hire
First Day Job Orientation
How many of us have experienced
something similar?
Click on ‘First Day Job Orientation to play short video (56 seconds). Discuss first job experiences.

4. Investing In Your New Hire
What are your goals for your employees?
Strong Work Ethic
Performs role well
Works well with other staff members
Assimilates into office cultures
Passion for their work
Brings a fresh perspective

5. Investing In Your New Hire
What you do in the first few weeks directly impacts whether your new hire meets your goals.
You Set:
the culture of your office
the expectations and standards
the tone of the office
the response that others have to your new hire
the work-life balance behavior

6. Welcome To Our Office!
Make it clear that new hire is wanted and welcome
Set office/cubicle up before new hire starts with all office equipment
Tidy up the office/wipe off surfaces
Be transparent about concerns/issues within the office
Consider a “Welcome to the Office” gift

7. The Human Element
“What does it mean to build an organization that’s as human as the human beings who work there? Many organizations have never left the factory mentality behind even as society’s challenges have changed.”
(Polly LaBarre; Former Sr. Editor, Fast Company Magazine; Business Book of the Year Best Seller: “Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win” ).

8. The Human Element
Anticipate your New Hire’s office culture questions before they ask.
What do we do for birthdays?
Is anyone allergic to anything?
Can I decorate my office?
When do I go to lunch?
How do I ask for vacation?
How flexible is my work schedule?

9. The Human Element
Allow for several ways that your new hire can relate to current staff:
When introducing new hire to others, mention what they have in common with each other
“Tell us your story in 30 seconds”
Include new hire on staff s immediately
Invite new hire to have lunch with you and your boss

10. Provide Ongoing Support
If possible, hire two employees at the same time to provide solidarity.
Adapt your techniques and goals to fit employee’s strengths and preferences.
Point out a colleague who can answer questions whenever you are not available.
Be approachable to both the new hire and to current staff. New hire is watching how you treat everyone else, too.

11. Provide Ongoing Support
Spend time with the New Hire daily
Introduce New Hire to everyone in the office the first week and everyone in key additional offices in the first month
Keep an open door policy
Provide frequent and concrete feedback
Be blunt—ask them what is working and what isn’t once you develop a rapport with them

12. Provide Ongoing Support
Provide honest and open feedback often. Don’t wait for a formal review or for new hire to ask you for feedback.
Don’t force New Hire to share, but encourage them to interact with other staff whenever possible.
Quickly address any concerns that current staff may have about New Hire.
At the end of formal training (60-90 days), debrief and ask for feedback on what worked well for them and what could have gone better during their training.

13. Training – Where to Begin
Environmental Training
Identifying resources
Support services
Intangibles
Setting expectations
Building encouragement

14. Training – Emphasize Basics
Computers
Ensure access is crystal clear
Write out a basic template
Give paths to key screens or terms
Build an understanding of one primary area right away

15. Training – Emphasize Basics
Timing
Give an overview of normal expectations for their job
Have them shadow a peer during a time when they can learn something
Quality Control

16. Training – Emphasize Basics
Pick one thing they can master quickly
Select an aspect of the new employee’s job that they can likely learn quickly
Teach them that early in the training process
Let them take some ownership of that step as soon as possible
This will help them know they are contributing while also growing

17. Variety

18. Training: Variety = Who?
Direct supervisor should be well engaged
But, you shouldn’t do all the training
Get help from around the office or division
Increases the variety of the experience
Reinforces personal support for the newbie
Relieves pressure from you
Builds relationships

19. Training: Variety = How?
Use a variety of tools
FSA Coach
Basic, Intermediate, Advanced Training options
Requires a username and password plus some instructions on how to use it and what to complete, but good federal overview information is here for the taking

20. Training: Variety = How?
NASFAA Authorized Training Events
Excellent topical resource for fundamentals
Can easily pick and choose the subject matter that is applicable for a given day of training
PowerPoints and written materials readily available
Credentials (Go WV!!)

21. Training: Variety = How?
Personal touch
Pool a combination of resources together to give variety to the day’s work for your new staff
Let the different segments compliment each other
The staff member is likely to connect with one of the ways the info is delivered

22. Training – Big Picture
Resist the temptation to just train them on their specific jobs only
Help them see their involvement in the bigger department and school goals
Staff may commit more to the quality of their work if they see where it fits in a greater movement

23. Make it FUN Life is better when you enjoy it
The more creative and fun the training is, the less likely your new staff member will second guess their employment change
Give them reasons to go home happy each night
(Do the same for your other staff!  )

24. Repeat and Test
Using a variety of tools can help reemphasize the information from different angles
Formal tests are scary – don’t go there
Pop quizzes work
Use them frequently without warning during conversations

25. Whatdoyathink?
What other successful new employee approaches have you seen or experienced?

26. How to Effectively Jump Start New Financial Aid Employees
Thomas Ratliff
MASFAA President
AVP, Indiana Wesleyan University