Much like the dreaded first day of school, the first day at a new job is rife with potential for embarrassing oneself—from getting lost on the way to the bathroom, to forgetting important paperwork, to not knowing the rules (both explicit and unspoken) about your new workplace. But as nerve-wracking as starting a new job is for new employees, it can be stressful for their managers also.

Charged with the task of making new employees feel welcome, establishing their responsibilities, orienting them in their new position and familiarizing them with the company culture, there's a lot for managers to cover and the process is often overwhelming and takes time away from completing their own job responsibilities.

Today and tomorrow, Promotional Consultant Today shares 10 tips for successful employee on-boarding.

1.    Be clear about the employee's role. Few things are more disappointing for new hires than the realization that the job they thought they were hired to do is sorely different than what they're actually doing. As an employer, misrepresenting your employee's new role immediately destroys trust, after which no amount of orientation efforts can undo the initial damage.

2.    Provide a written plan of employee objectives and responsibilities. A written plan detailing objectives, strategy and expectations of future results helps diminish any confusion about a new employee's job functions and opens up the floor to discuss concerns or new opportunities.

3.    Give your new employee your undivided attention. Letting email, phone calls or other employees distract you during orientation sessions sends the message, "I'm just not that into you" and kills morale. Prepare a checklist of subjects to review with your new employees, set aside the appropriate amount of time to do it and let others know you are not to be interrupted while you are orienting your new workers. This gives new employees the message that they are the most important item on your agenda.

4.    Have relevant paperwork ready. Make sure all administrative forms—such as employment, direct deposit and benefits—are ready to be completed on day one so you don't have to waste time dealing with it later, and so that your employee can start getting these important matters taken care of right away.

5.    Introduce the employee to other teammates. Provide staff members with the new employee's resume and job description, and advise them to follow a meeting format that includes sharing a description of their own positions, ways in which their roles interact with that of the new hire, and how they might expect to work together in the future. (This is also a good time to assign a mentor or work buddy to the new hire as an immediate resource for any questions and key information about organizational culture and goals.)

Check in with PCT tomorrow for more on-boarding tips.

If this article would be helpful to your clients, click the ClientSafe button below to share it with them.

Source: Michael Watkins is the author of The First 90 Days. He is also a professor at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and is a renowned leadership transition expert. This excerpt was featured on CareerBuilder.com.