How to Run a New Field Hire's First Week

Small contractors work hard to find good people, then hand them a hard hat and point them at the job. A week later, the new hire is gone, and the search starts over.

Field turnover is expensive. Every lost hire means more time spent recruiting, more hours of supervision spent on training that walks out the door, and a crew that stays short-handed. Many of those departures are decided in the first few days, when a new person is figuring out whether this company is organized and whether anyone cares that they are there.

A planned first week does not take much. It takes someone deciding in advance what the new hire will learn, who will teach them, and how you will know it is working.

Before day one

The first week starts before the new hire arrives. Have these ready:

• Paperwork, so day one is not spent at a folding table filling out forms
• Required protective equipment in the right sizes
• The job site address, start time, parking instructions, and who to report to
• A named crew lead who knows the new person is coming and what they will be doing

A text the day before with where to be, when, and who to ask for tells the new hire that someone is expecting them.

Day one: safety and the site

The first day is not the day to prove they can keep up. It is the day to make sure they understand how to work safely on your sites.

Walk them through the site hazards, where the first aid kit and emergency contacts are, how the daily huddle works, and what to do if something looks unsafe. Make it clear that asking questions is expected, not a sign of weakness.

Then give them real work that matches their experience, next to someone who can answer questions.

Pair them with one person

Assign one experienced crew member as the new hire's go-to for the first week. Not the whole crew, and not the foreman, who is busy running the job. One person.

Tell that person what you expect: show the new hire how the company does things, check their work, answer questions, and tell the foreman how it is going. Choose someone who is good at the work and patient with people. Not every strong tradesperson is a good teacher.

Explain how the company works

New hires pick up the trade faster than they pick up the unwritten rules. During the first week, make sure someone explains:

• How time is reported and when payday is
• How to request time off and who to call if they are sick or late
• How tools and equipment are checked out and returned
• What the company's standards are for quality and cleanup
• Who to go to with a problem

Write these down on a single page. It saves the new hire from guessing and saves the crew from answering the same questions every time someone starts.

Check in at the end of the week

At the end of the first week, the foreman or owner should spend ten minutes with the new hire. Ask what is going well, what is confusing, and whether they have what they need. Then ask the crew mentor how the new hire is doing.

Small problems found on day five are easy to fix. The same problems found at day thirty are usually the reason someone has already quit.

The payoff

A planned first week costs a few hours of supervision. Replacing a hire who left in their first month costs far more, in recruiting time, lost productivity, and a crew that stays short. Preparation before day one, a safety-first first day, a single mentor, and an end-of-week check-in are enough to change how many new people stay.