A first week onboarding checklist for trade contractors
Turnover in field trades is high enough that onboarding is not an occasional cost. For many shops it is a monthly one, which makes it worth systematizing even in a company of eight people.
Why a library fails a new hire
Handing someone access to forty procedures on day one produces nothing. They do not know which matter, which apply to their role, or what order to read them in. A library is a reference for people who already know what they are looking for.
What a new technician needs is a path: a short ordered list with an end, so they can tell how far through they are.
Day one
Emergency procedure and who to call. Where the first aid kit and extinguisher live in the van. The ladder procedure, because it is the most likely way to get hurt in week one. Customer conduct: shoe covers, language, what to do when a customer asks about price.
Rest of week one
The three or four procedures for the jobs they will actually be sent on, not the full catalog. Van check. How to record a job. What to do when something is not going to plan, which is mostly a rule about stopping and calling rather than improvising.
Month one
The rest of the procedures for their role, spread out rather than dumped. Any certification or license check your jurisdiction requires. A review conversation with a named person on a set date.
Include a check, not just a signature
Ask two or three questions at the end of the important procedures. Not to catch people out, but because a new hire who guessed wrong will otherwise carry that guess into their first solo job, and neither of you will find out until it costs something.
Assign it, do not announce it
Onboarding fails in small shops because it depends on someone remembering. Assign the path when the person is added, let the system track completion, and let the reminders come from software rather than from the owner. It also gives you the record that the training happened, which is worth having independent of whether it worked.
The part people skip
Tell the new person who to ask. Most avoidable mistakes in week one come from someone not wanting to look stupid. Naming a specific person on each procedure, rather than saying ask if you are unsure, removes the hesitation.
Keep the record, not just the paperwork
Copy any procedure on this page into your own documents at no cost. What Intulix sells is the part underneath: a signed, dated, version locked record of which technician read which version, exportable as a PDF when someone asks. Start free or see pricing from $59 a month.