Planning to welcome and orient new teachers and therapists into your school takes lots of preparation and careful consideration. When you take the four Cs of onboarding into account – Compliance, Clarification, Culture, Connection – it can become even more confusing where to start. If you want to maximize your employees starting days at your school and keep them engaged and engrained with your culture for the long term, use the following tips from the experts at Spotter Staffing to help.

Make Time for New Teachers and Therapists

Every new hire in your school should be given one-on-one meeting time with school leaders and administrators. While it’s not necessary to have a formal agenda, this is a great opportunity to check in on things like what they think is going well, any areas for improvement, and upcoming events or planned activities they are looking forward to.

Make Sure There Are Open Channels of Communication

Share upcoming events, school news, and important information with all team members, including your new staff. Keeping them updated through a staff flyer or weekly email can help them feel like part of the team, and give them a place to respond with honest feedback or questions they may have. Make sure you have multiple avenues of communication (in person, phone, email) shared with all employees so they feel they can contact you in a way that is comfortable to them.

Assign a Mentor to Each New Employee

Teachers and therapists might not always feel comfortable sharing every question or concern with higher-ups in school, so assigning them a peer mentor as a go-to confidant can help them overcome initial reticence and learn to be more comfortable in your school’s culture. If you ask them to complete weekly or bi-weekly check-ins for even as little as 15 minutes, you can help new employees better integrate into the school environment and create lifelines within the staff.

Host a Social Event

Make time during regularly scheduled work hours (like during the first 30 minutes of an all-staff meeting) to let teachers and therapists socialize and introduce themselves to each other. Instead of asking them to devote after-work time to a happy hour, let them use time they’re in the building to create connections and form professional relationships with their co-workers.

Is Your School Looking to Hire New Therapists or Teachers?

Spotter Staffing makes lasting connections between schools in Illinois and Texas and high-performing Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists, Social Workers and Special Education Teachers. We don’t require buyouts or non-compete contracts, because our mission is to keep money is the schools where it can be most beneficial to students and our community. If you want to learn more about how Spotter Staffing can help your school, click here to contact our team of expert recruiters today!