Plan a new employee’s first week around safe access, clear responsibilities, supervised practice and a reliable person to ask for help. A welcome email and a completed payroll form do not show that someone can perform the work independently.
The Fair Work Ombudsman hiring guide recommends induction and early discussion of expectations and training needs. This article focuses on operational induction. Employment paperwork needs its own administrative checklist and should not be left until the first-week review.
Prepare the work before the employee arrives
Assign an induction owner and confirm the start time, reporting point, supervisor and required access. Check that a workstation or equipment is available and that approved systems can be used without sharing someone else’s login.
Ask about practical access needs through an appropriate private channel. Arrange relevant adjustments with the people responsible, rather than announcing personal information in a team introduction. Do not assume a standard desk or demonstration suits every employee.
Choose a small set of tasks for the first week. A long list of policies is not a training plan. Identify which work can be observed, which can be practised under supervision and what requires further training or authorisation.
A fictional first-week schedule
This schedule illustrates an office-support role in a fictional small business. It is not a mandatory timetable, safety procedure or a confirmed event roster.
| Stage | Activity | Owner | Evidence or follow-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before arrival | Confirm reporting point, access and equipment. | Manager | Employee has usable arrival instructions. |
| First morning | Introductions, workplace orientation and relevant safety processes. | Supervisor | Employee can identify help and escalation contacts. |
| First afternoon | Demonstrate one routine task and allow questions. | Assigned trainer | Employee explains the task back in their own words. |
| Days two and three | Supervised practice with checked examples. | Trainer | Record corrections and further training needs. |
| Days four and five | Practise a wider task set within agreed limits. | Supervisor | Confirm what can be done independently. |
| End-of-week review | Discuss progress, access issues and next priorities. | Manager and employee | Agree the next training actions and review date. |
Adapt the sequence to the workplace. A warehouse, kitchen or construction site has different hazards and training needs. Do not use a generic blog schedule as permission for untrained work.
Make responsibilities easy to find
Explain who allocates tasks, who approves changes and what the employee should do if instructions conflict. Provide a usable contact route if the normal supervisor is absent. A buddy can help with everyday orientation, but their role should not obscure who has management or safety responsibility.
Show the employee where current procedures live. Avoid relying on an old printed copy or a series of informal messages. When demonstrating a task, explain both the normal process and the point at which the employee should stop and ask.
Check understanding through practice
Ask the employee to walk through a permitted example and explain the checks they would make. Review the work and correct misunderstandings without treating every first-week question as a performance failure.
Keep a short training record: task, demonstration date, person supervising, practice completed and next action. Attendance at an induction alone does not confirm competence or replace required licensing, qualifications or employer authorisation.
The business.gov.au hiring guide provides the wider employment setup. Keep specialist requirements linked to the actual work rather than adding every possible course to an induction pack.
Finish the week with a useful conversation
Ask what is clear, what remains difficult and whether the employee knows whom to contact. Agree a few priorities for the next period and name the person responsible for each training action. Leave room for issues the employee did not feel ready to raise on the first morning.
For shift-based context, see our major-event workday guide. Employers can also review the current BOJ employer information. Operational readiness and completed employment paperwork are related tasks, but each needs a separate check.
