You could have the best team in the world, but you’re just begging for support tickets by throwing new employees to the wolves. It's important for them to have an IT orientation while onboarding, along with a reference, or "welcome" sheet to refer back to.
There are different IT skill levels among employees, ranging from techies to people who need a lot of hand-holding. It’s also likely that even the sharpest new hire won’t retain everything that they’re taught during orientation. My team (at my previous company) created an IT welcome sheet for all new employees. It was a handy reference to which systems were available, how to get to them, and FAQs. We created sheets for the phone system as well, because we noticed that many people weren’t fully leveraging its capabilities. Starting a new position can be stressful, and it’s our job to help the business (and its people) succeed. IT teams can accomplish that by doing simple things, such as sharing (and maintaining) a good welcome sheet.
Here’s an example of one that could get you started. It's a controlled document (ISO standard) that we used in my department, which is okay to share because the company no longer exists. This orientation plan is for general onboarding and involves every activity associated with a new hire. It's extremely comprehensive, but a growing organization stands to benefit by having formal processes in place. After all, there's no second change for a first impression, and employee retention is more important than ever.
Not every organization is the same, but these templates are a starting point that will make an immediate impact. They’ll also impress auditors if you ever have to handle compliances. Forms and systems help IT to "get better every day."
While you're at it: Check out my amazingly talented colleague @pamlefkowitz's welcome guide for JumpCloud.
