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Tom Gable
Posted by Tom Gable
The PRSA Counselors Academy discussion board provides ongoing stimulus for improving the profession. Bright members from agencies of all sizes contribute ideas on emerging trends, social media, measurement challenges, mentoring and other key topics. Occasionally a more fundamental request lands, such as how to properly onboard interns (or any other new hire) when the agency is running full tilt.
The key: figuring out what the new hire needs to know to be successful and then establishing a process to make it happen. Our favorite approach over the years is to outline what needs to be covered and then develop a detailed checklist to get there. We’ve borrowed liberally from the classic book by Michael Gerber, e-Myth Revisited; and The Checklist Manifesto:How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande; plus others. This leads to responding to the Counselors Academy request and providing the Gable PR Orientation Checklist.
It has seven sections, which can be shared among different members of your team for implementation. This spreads the wealth, while also exposing the new person to the different personalities in the firm, even if it’s a two-man (woman) shop. You can assign deadlines to each section and have updates with the new person to see how things are progressing. The new person will feel more valued and a part of the agency, rather than just another summer serf.
