What does a new starter’s first weeklook like from their side?

After almost nine years at my previous employer, I joined Doodle earlier this year and went through new employee onboarding for the first time in a long time. Something you can’t measure on paper or a screen is the warm and fuzzy feeling of meeting new colleagues and building working relationships in person, so I was very fortunate to be invited to the company offsite before I officially joined.

The first few weeks can make or break a new starter’s commitment to, and happiness with, their new employer. Think about it: it’s still the honeymoon phase, when both sides are supportive. The employer especially wants to give a solid onboarding experience that helps the new starter thrive in the months and years ahead. As the new starter, you’re keen to keep making a good impression and to hit the ground running by making an impact early.

Giving people that positive experience takes preparation and planning, from HR and from the hiring manager. Without it, you risk losing your new starter in their first few weeks. The old saying “failing to plan is planning to fail” rings true here.

In this piece: why the first week slips, what it costs, a CMI model for pacing induction, a toolkit for new starters, where Time OS helps, and an example first week you can adapt.

Because it depends on people who already have full weeks. The manager, the buddy and the colleagues the new starter needs to meet all have to find time, and the invites usually go out one by one, once the person has already arrived.

It shows. Gallup reports that only 12% of U.S. employees say their company does a good job of onboarding.

The handover between teams adds to it. In Enboarder’s 2025 survey of 1,000 HR leaders in the US, UK and Australia, only 36% described the onboarding handoff between recruiting, HR and hiring managers as “seamless.”

Sources: Gallup, Onboarding new employees: checklist and tips · Enboarder, 2025 HR Leader Survey: Winning the First 90 Days

New starters make up their minds early. A week of empty afternoons and rescheduled intros tells them how the company runs before anyone has said a word about it.

Early leavers are a growing worry. In the same Enboarder survey, 61% of HR leaders said early attrition had increased in the past 12 months.

The manager matters most. Gallup found that employees are 3.4 times as likely to feel their onboarding was successful when their manager takes an active part. In practice, that starts with the manager’s time being in the new starter’s calendar from day one.

In my view, the first week is the easiest part of onboarding to get right, because almost all of it can be booked before the person arrives.

Sources: Enboarder, 2025 HR Leader Survey: Winning the First 90 Days · Gallup, Onboarding new employees: checklist and tips

The Chartered Management Institute’s guide to organising induction says it should be paced over days and weeks. It sets out three stages, and suggests giving each newcomer a mentor and a list of the people they’ll need to get to know. Pick a stage to see how it maps.

The first week sits inside stage one and the start of stage two. Most of it is meetings, which is why it can be planned and booked ahead.

Source: CMI, Organising the induction of new recruits

Onboarding works best when the new starter takes part too. Talya Bauer’s report on onboarding for the SHRM Foundation says new hires “must facilitate their own onboarding by actively building strong relationships.” Here’s what the research suggests, and it’s worth sharing with your next new starter before day one.

Learn: ask questions early

1. 1.Ask about the unwritten rules. Bauer’s report warns that “very little insight about company culture and unwritten rules will emerge from passive methods,” such as reading the handbook. Questions also show you want to learn how things work.
2. 2.Get clear on what’s expected. Gallup found new hires want clear expectations and need to “understand why and how their job fits into the bigger picture.” Ask your manager in week one.
3. 3.Pace yourself. Gallup says new employees usually take around 12 months to reach their peak performance, so the first weeks are for learning.

Connect: build relationships on purpose

1. 1.Make time for small talk. Bauer suggests informal coffees and lunches, and joining company events, as ways to build working relationships early.
2. 2.Find a mentor. Gallup and the CMI both suggest pairing new hires with a mentor, someone to take the questions you might hold back from your manager.
3. 3.Book your own intros. Turn your list of people to meet into conversations in the first month, using colleagues’ booking pages.

Show: aim for an early win

1. 1.Ask for feedback early. Seeking feedback is on Bauer’s checklist for new starters. Put a date in the calendar a few weeks in.
2. 2.Pick one early win. The same checklist says to show success early on. Something small and useful you can finish in the first month is enough.

The plan below puts all of this on one page. Print it or save it as a PDF before day one.

If I could give a new starter one piece of advice, it would be to treat the list of people as their first project. The work makes more sense once you know who’s behind it.

Sources: Talya Bauer, Onboarding New Employees (SHRM Foundation) · Gallup, Onboarding new employees: checklist and tips · CMI, Organising the induction of new recruits

It takes the back-and-forth out of each intro, so the week can be planned in advance.

1. 1.Find Time for the manager. See when the manager, buddy and team are free, and book the welcome and first one-to-one in a few clicks. Find Time is on the Team and Enterprise plans.
2. 2.Group polls for team intros. Offer a few times for a team lunch or welcome session and let people vote. Nobody needs an account to vote.
3. 3.Booking pages for "meet the team" slots. Colleagues across departments share a booking page, and the new starter picks times that work.
4. 4.Sign-up sheets for training and orientation. When several people start in the same month, run each session once with a set number of seats. New starters pick the session that suits them, with no account needed.
5. 5.Rules that protect the week. Buffers and meeting limits stop day one turning into back-to-back introductions.

Who books the first week: HR or the manager?

Usually both. HR sets the plan and the polls, and the manager books the meetings that need them. Each person connects their own calendar and owns their own booking pages, so nobody books into someone else’s calendar on their behalf.

For me, the best first weeks I’ve seen were planned like a short project: a list of people, a few booked sessions each day, and space left to take it all in.

Pick a day to see who the new starter meets, what’s already in their calendar, and how it got there. It’s an example week to adapt to your own team.

An example week, based on the CMI’s advice to pace induction. Adapt the people and times to your team.

Where do you start?

1. 1.Write the list of people. Everyone the new starter needs to meet in the first month, with the reason for each intro.
2. 2.Book the fixed points first. Welcome, the first one-to-one and the weekly check-ins, before day one.
3. 3.Let the new starter book the rest. Share booking pages for intros, so they choose times around their learning.