HR Update - FY 25 Issue 03

Issue Date: December 18, 2024

In This Issue

• Successfully Onboarding a New Employee
• Checking In With Your Employees Through the Year
• DOPLR Comings and Goings

Successfully Onboarding a New Employee

After the recruitment process is over and the applicant has set a start date, the process of onboarding that new hire begins. The onboarding process is not just about what happens on the first day, but the steps that are taken to make sure that the first day and the days that follow run as smoothly as possible. Here is an overview of what should be done at each step in the onboarding process.

After Applicant Accepts and Gives Start Date

Once an applicant has given a start date, it is important to inform the necessary staff of the start date to get the pre-hire action started in IRIS ADV. If you are unsure who the necessary staff are then please reach out to your department recruitment staff (aka talent acquisition team).

Once the pre-hire action gets started in IRIS ADV this will trigger the initial account creation with IT staff. This then requires a ticket to be submitted to OIT to ensure that the new hire has all necessary accounts set up and in Microsoft Teams phone number assigned. This would also be the time to look at any other IT requests that need to be completed for the new hire’s Day One.

This is also a good time to make sure that you understand and start the process for any physical building access processes or parking access, if applicable. If it cannot be set up prior to Day One then it is important to understand what the new hire will need to do on Day One. It is also good to spend this time getting them set up with all the tools that they will need to be productive on Day One.

It is recommended to make sure that you give a minimum of one week before an applicant starts in order to give human resources (recruitment services and Payroll Services) and IT staff time to get everything set up for a smooth start on Day One.

It’s also a great time for you to go to AspireAlaska. You can watch a short video on preparing for a new hire’s arrival and even watch the playlist “State of Alaska – New Hire.”

Day One

The first day of a new hire’s time on a job sets the tone for what working for the State of Alaska, the Department, and the Division is going to be about. The first day focus is:

• getting the employee set up with the access they need (IT and physical),
• starting to go through the new employee orientation provided by the Division of Personnel, and
• getting the correct appointment paperwork completed and sent to Payroll Services in the Division of Finance.

This is also a great time to

• give an overview of the department and division that they will be working in,
• provide a copy of their Job Description,
• explain any department or division mission and vision,
• introduce them to their co-workers,
• give a tour of the office to include the restroom and any breakrooms,
• make sure they understand the organizational hierarchy, and
• any division or department level expectations or policies.

It will be good to give some time for a new hire to process this information because it can be a lot that comes at them on Day One. It might be that it needs to be reviewed in later check-ins over the first month.

Week One

It’s good to have frequent check ins during the first week. This is the time to:

• establish expectations,
• answer questions,
• make sure they understand their position description,
• get access to any training available in AspireAlaska,
• get access to training available in AspireAlaska and have them watch the five classes that comprise “State of Alaska – New Hire Orientation,”
• get introduced to the performance management process, and
• explain to them how their work fits in the overall mission of the division.

This is also the best time to establish how you as the supervisor will work with the new hire. Some questions that are good to ask yourself as a supervisor:

• What is your expectation for the new hire taking leave and requesting leave?
• How and when do you want the new hire to communicate with you when things come up?
• Is there any specific competencies, skills, or abilities that the new hire might need to focus on improving and steps they can take to help get them there?
• How does your new hire want to receive feedback?

The first week on the job can really help build a road map for the new hire to be successful in their new position.

First Month

Most of the information that has been provided to the new hire does happen in the first week, but there are a few things that will take longer then the first week to fully figure out or complete.

One of the big things that must be completed before the end of the first month (30 days) is to make sure that any retirement and benefits paperwork has been filled out and submitted. A lot of this information cannot be completed until after the employee receives their first paycheck.

The other thing that needs to be completed before the end of the first month is a performance plan established and entered into AspireAlaska (not available for short term non perm / on call appointments). This requires that the following be completed

• expectations established and agreed between supervisor and employee,
• at least one goal established by employee with supervisor input, and
• development plan for training needed during probationary period.

To help the new hire with how the performance process works they should go through the Performance training in AspireAlaska to help them understand the process to be able to complete a performance plan. Consider assigning the new hire a peer mentor. A peer mentor is a colleague who can provide guidance, support, and training in areas requiring a subject matter expertise.

Probationary Period

During the probationary period, whether that is 6 months or 1 year (depends on the position), it is important to have frequent check-ins with your new hire. It is good to take a little extra time to make sure that things are going well and that they have everything they need to do the job. If there are certain expectations that they are not meeting then this allows you the ability to give them additional direction and see if they can make adjustments.

As part of the probationary period the other important piece will be to complete the probationary evaluation. Most of the time there is a mid-probationary evaluation and an end-of-probation evaluation, but if you are not sure of the timing for these evaluations, please reach out to Employee Relations in the Division of Personnel for assistance.

Making sure that you are getting a new hire set up, getting them the information they need, and making sure that they have an understanding of expectations and how performance will be managed helps create a successful launch for the new hire in the State of Alaska.

Checking In With Your Employees Through the Year

As 2025 is right around the corner we thought this would be a good time to remind supervisors to check in with their employees throughout the year. The annual performance process is just one important piece in the overall performance management process. Doing regular check-ins through out the year can help both the supervisor and employee recognize if there is a problem or any adjustments that need to be made to meet expectations, goals, or the development plan that will be used in the evaluation.

This does not have to be a formal process and does not have to take a lot of time. It can be anything from small check-ins every week, to a longer check-in at the halfway point of the performance period. The important thing is that the employee and supervisor are communicating, know how things are going, and where things need to go so that when the annual performance evaluation time comes around they are both prepared.

DOP Comings and Goings

Goings (leaving DOPLR)

• Sara Mason (Classification)

Comings (New to DOPLR/Internal Promotions or Transfers*)

• Austin Eastham (Employee Relations)
• Anna Soma (Employee Relations)
• Danelle Beck (Employee Relations)*
• Megan Patterson (Employee Relations)*
• Lauryn Spells (Employee Relations)
• Becca Hanson (Employee Relations)