New faculty coming on board can bring excitement, apprehension, or sometimes just plain fear to the new employee. As the administrator it is your responsibility to accommodate your new hire to make the new environment welcoming and inviting to your new employee. It is your duty to help remove all obstacles in the path of your new member to ensure a smooth transition.
As far as possible, new faculty members must be given every opportunity to be ready to go, confidently on the first day of school. Alert existing employees to the new hire and encourage them to reach out to the new hire with excitement and welcome them aboard. If possible, have an existing employee reach out to the new employee before they ever arrive. This will give the new employee a sense of knowing someone before they even arrive on campus.
Cultivating a Welcoming Environment
First and foremost, the administrator should be open, inviting, and welcoming in making the new hire feel welcome. It is important that the new employee feels like part of the family from the first day. One way to accomplish this is to be organized and prepared to give your new hires the time they need with you to get started. Also, have veteran staff available to mentor the new employee. If possible, this person should be in the same teaching area as the new employee.
Orienting New Faculty to the School
Upon arrival, the new employee should be given a tour of the facility by you or your designee. This tour should be relaxing, informal, and informational. Important areas such as restroom, teacher work rooms/staff lounge, cafeteria and the reporting office should be included. The teacher supply room and any other areas the employee needs to be aware of should be included.
The designated mentors’ room should be made known to the new employee as well. Complete the tour with an introduction of the employee to their new work area/classroom. Make sure this workspace is clean and inviting and has a feel of the employee’s new home.
Supporting New Faculty in Course Prep
As the curriculum leader, you must supply your new employee with all the resources she will need to prepare for the school year. Show a willingness to assist the employee in preparation by giving direction and a listening ear as they prepare to make the new environment their own. Supply the new employee with current course curriculum, standards, and any test material data that you have available.
Be careful to select a mentor that is going to be happy to help the new person get set up and ready to go on the first day. Ensure that the new employee has a copy of the teacher handbook, student handbook, bell schedule and school calendar. Additionally, the new employee needs to be aware of duty schedules and their responsibilities.
Facilitating Acclimation to the New Classroom
Empower your new employee to set up their workspace and “make it their own” from the first time they enter the room. If possible, make resources available to help them with this endeavor. Within reason allow them latitude in setting up the room in their own way and offer help where necessary to accomplish this goal. It is amazing what a fresh coat of paint, new blinds or other little amenities can do to make the work area feel like home to the new employee.
New Faculty Professional Development
Make sure that the new employee’s professional development is necessary and pertinent to the new job. Avoid meaningless meetings that simply eat up valuable time. Make sure all required professional development is well organized and enjoyable to attend as much as possible. Never add unnecessary fluff to professional development just to fill a time quota.
One major professional development area is payroll. Ensure that your new employees have all of their tax paperwork, banking information, and other pertinent information on file. Nothing frustrates someone new more than a late paycheck due to missing information. Remember the more time the employee has in their room and meeting with fellow staff members, the better.
The main key to empowering newcomers is to make sure that the job you hired them for is the job they thought you hired them for. Most of the time people take new jobs because of the relationship they built with their new supervisor during the interview process. As their new leader, you must give them every opportunity for success and supply them with what they need to be successful.
Also, remember they are new and take care that they are aware of protocols within their new environment. Talk with their mentor frequently to ensure they are off to a good start and to be alerted of any areas they may be struggling. Be prepared to help them early and often if the struggles of a new environment are becoming problematic. Remember, you hired them for a reason. Do everything you can to ensure their success. Bringing in new employees and then helping them grow into great employees is a sign of a great administrator.
A graduate degree in administration prepares you to lead as a principal, superintendent or other school administrator and help shape the future for generations of students. Check out our available administration and leadership graduate degrees and get started today!
