Buzzing About HR
đď¸ Buzzing About HR
Straight-talking HR for real businesses.
By Kate Underwood HR & Training, this podcast makes people management make sense.
Hosted by award-winning HR expert Kate Underwood, each episode cuts through the jargon to share practical tips, real business stories, and smart ways to handle the people stuff that keeps you up at night.
From tricky conversations to team motivation and staying on the right side of employment law, Kate gives you what you actually need â no fluff, just advice you can use today.
If you run a small business, lead a team, or simply want to make your workplace a little less stressful and a lot more human, this is your weekly caffeine hit of HR wisdom â powered by cake, coffee, and the wisdom of Hazel, our resident Wellbeing Officer.
â Start by seeing where you stand: Complete a FREE HR Health Check for your business.
Buzzing About HR
Your First Week Sets The Truth About Your Business And Whether Good People Stay
In this episode of Buzzing About HR, we start with a first day that far too many people recognise. No logins. An induction from 2016. A team who did not know someone was starting, let alone their name. And by lunchtime, that new hire is already wondering if they made a mistake.
A messy first day tells people everything they need to know about your business. And it is rarely the message you want to send. This episode is about turning that chaos into a simple, repeatable onboarding system that helps good people settle, feel valued and actually stay.
If you run a UK small business or you are the HR team of one, this is a practical blueprint you can put into action straight away. We break onboarding down into five clear stages. Before they start. Day one. Week one. Month one. And the first 90 days. Nothing fluffy. Just what needs to happen, when, and who owns it.
I talk through why the first week matters more than most businesses realise. It builds trust, cuts mistakes and stops people quietly disengaging before they have even found their feet. We also cover the UK legal basics that need to be right from the start, including contracts on or before day one, right to work checks, correct pay, basic health and safety and handling personal data properly. Getting these right early builds instant credibility.
Then we get practical. I show you how to split onboarding roles across tiny teams without overwhelming anyone. Owner, buddy, IT, payroll and even virtual assistants all have a part to play. You will hear what a realistic first day actually looks like, including a calm start time, meaningful work before lunch and a clear finish with a plan for tomorrow.
You will also get quick wins for both on site and remote starters. Simple things like a one page day one plan, a booked lunch with friendly faces, short screen recordings for common tools and daily buddy check ins that stop small worries growing into big problems. I share simple scripts and templates you can reuse, from welcome messages to those slightly awkward wobble conversations that can make or break confidence.
We also talk about spotting early signs that someone might leave. Silence in meetings. Repeated small errors. Eating lunch alone every day. And more importantly, what to do within the first seven days to turn things around. Clear milestones keep it fair and focused, with simple goals, check ins and decision points that protect both the business and the individual.
Build onboarding once and run it every time. That is how culture becomes visible. Ready beats winging it. Kindness beats chaos. And cake always works better when there is a plan.
If this episode helped, follow the show, share it with a founder who is hiring, and leave a quick review so more small teams can find a calmer way to onboard.
Thank you for tuning in to Buzzing About HR with Kate Underwood!
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Have questions or need HR advice? Reach out to Kate Underwood HR & Training at www.kateunderwoodhr.co.uk, email us on buzz@kateunderwoodhr.co.uk or follow us on social media for more tips, resources, and updates.
Until next time, keep buzzing and take care of your people!
Picture this, it's Tuesday the fifteenth of July. New starter due at noon. Hazel, our well being officer, has found the welcome pack and is testing it with her teeth. Quality control obviously the laptop isn't set up, logins haven't arrived, the manager's stuck in traffic. Receptions never heard the person's name. At 9.12, they arrive. By 9.40, they've typed the same details three times. At 10.15, they're watching an induction video from a lifetime ago. By three o'clock, they're quietly browsing other jobs. Here's the real question: do you actually want them to stay? Because your onboarding tells the truth. Kettle on, cake out, let's fix this so the good ones stick. Welcome. Hello, I'm Kate, and this is Buzzing About HR. UK only. Plain English, no fluff. If you're a small business owner or the HR team of one, you're in the right place. Hazel is supervising and will accept payment in biscuits. Today we're talking onboarding. Why poor starts push out good hires. How to make it calm, human and doable when it's just you and a checklist. No jargon. No drama. Part one. What onboarding really feels like in July. It's hot. Half the team's on holiday. Payrolls mid-cycle. It is either you, your cousin, or a very patient friend. Your new starter needs a warm welcome and a simple plan. What they get is a treasure hunt with missing clues. You meant to send the contract earlier. You meant to tell the team. You meant to order the chair that doesn't squeak. You're not a villain. You're busy. But the message lands, we weren't ready for you. Great people can figure things out. The best people won't stick around if they have to. Part two. Why the first week matters. Good onboarding does three things. It gets people useful fast, it builds trust, it stops the quiet quit before it starts. The payoff isn't flashy, it's practical. Fewer silly mistakes, fewer early resignations, less firefighting, and fewer, where do I find interruptions? Managers stop giving the same welcome speech ten times. Teams stop rolling their eyes at yet another headless chicken week. Bad onboarding costs real money, overtime to cover levers, recruitment fees, and your weekends lost to catch up. And it chips away at morale. Also, cake on day one isn't a strategy, but it is a very good idea. Part three. The bare minimum legals UK. Keep this tight. Give the written statement of main terms on or before day one. Do the right-to-work check before they start work. Pay correctly from day one. Give a basic health and safety induction. Handle personal data properly. Get those right and you dodge the obvious tripwires. Now let's make the human stuff work. Part four. The five-stage plan light edition. Just enough to start. If you want the full playbook, shout. Think in five simple stages. Before they start. Day one, week one, month one, first ninety days. Before they start, contract out, kit tested, day one plan sent, team told. Day one, start at ten, real welcome. Two small real tasks by lunch. Finish at four with a plan for tomorrow. Week one. Steady rhythm, short daily check-ins, one end of week chat with the manager. Month one, give them one thing to own and one learning hour a week. 90 days. Three milestones at 30, 60, and 90 with a review booked from week one. That's the shape. If you want my full checklists, day one run sheet, and the talk tracks managers can read word for word, book a quick discovery call and I'll walk you through it. Part 5. Who does what when you're a small team? Lots of small businesses don't have in-house HR, IT, or payroll, or it's all outsourced. This version works when it's basically you, a buddy, and a couple of partners on speed dial. Owner or line manager. Send the welcome email and day one plan. Check right to work before they start. Book the buddy and the first three check-ins. Line up two real day one tasks. Run the week one recap. Buddy. Answer how do I questions. Sit with them for 15 minutes a day in week one. Flag wobbles early. Outsourced IT or your tech friend. Prep the laptop and test logins the day before. Share a short how to login clip. If there's no IT, you do one test sign-in and stick a note on the lid that says tested. Payroll or your accountant. Take the personal details form via a secure link. Confirm the first pay date. If there's no payroll partner, collect details once and enter them yourself. No duplicates. Admin or VA. Print the welcome card. Wi-Fi code and floor map. Book day one lunch. Chase LateBits. Everyone else, say hello. Share one useful tip. Remember the person's name. Hazel's Job. Quality control on cake. She takes it very seriously. Part 6. Owner Mode. The real world run sheet. Two weeks before, send the contract in day one plan. Ask if any adjustments would help them do their best. Book the buddy and three check-ins. Tell your accountant the start date. One week before, get the laptop set up and logins tested. Pick two small day one tasks that are real and safe. Tell the team who's arriving and what they'll do. Day before, put a start here sign on the desk, print the Wi-Fi code and a simple schedule. Test the laptop once and close it. Day one. Start at ten. Tour and names. T two real tasks before lunch. Buddy check in at three. Finish at four. Week one. One tool a day, one shadow and one you have a go. Buddy fifteen minutes daily, manager 20 minutes on Friday. Short note to the team about what the new starter now owns. Month one. Give one thing to own at the same time each day. Protect one learning hour a week, ask for one minute of feedback, and fix one small thing fast. Part 7. Quick, realistic. Wins you can start today before they start. A one page day. One plan with arrival time, who to ask for, what to wear, finish time. Tiny welcome pack if you can. Mug, pen, notebook, Wi-Fi code, logins on a sticky, and yes, KGIF budget allows. Day one. A start here card on the desk with three steps, two real tasks before lunch. Lunch booked in the calendar with two friendly faces. Forms done once. Then you copy to payroll and IT. Finish at four with a plan for tomorrow. Week one. One tool per day. Daily 15-minute buddy check-in. One shadow, then one you do, end of week note to the team. Month one. One thing to own. One learning hour. Quick stop start keep feedback. Celebrate one small win. Brownies count as culture. Remote starters. Post kit early, 10-minute login. Test on video the day before. Video tour and three intros first morning. Daily 15-minute huddle at 9.15 for week one. And one in-person day in month one if you can swing it. Light touch tools, calendar invites, one personal details form that feeds payroll and IT, a couple of two-minute screen recordings for common tasks, a who-to-ask page with faces, and a little photo board, so name stick. Part 8. Outsourced partner handoffs. Copy these. Email to IT. Subject. New starter kit for name. Start date. Please image a laptop, test Microsoft 365 sign-in and confirm by date. We need logins for email, drive in system. If possible, send two short clips for first login and password reset. Thanks. Email to payroll or accountant. Subject New Starter Payroll setup for name start date. Attached is the personal details form. First. PayDate is date. Please confirm setup and any missing information. Shout if you need the right-to-work reference. Welcome email to the new starter. Hello and welcome. Please arrive at 10 and ask for Joe. Smart Casual is fine. We finish at 4 on day one. Your buddy is Sam. If any adjustments would help you do your best work, reply and we'll sort it. Part 9. Mini dramas and quick fixes. Missing laptop. Keep one spare device with a clean login. Move them to their own kit within 48 hours. Manager disappears. Buddy runs day one. Manager pops in on video for tid minutes. The longer chat moves to day two. Form swamp. Collect details once, then you copy to payroll and IT. No triple typing, the same address. Lonely lunch. Put it in the diary with names on it. Humans work better when fed. Ghost job. No real work for a week is a fast track to a lever. Have two useful starter tasks ready before they arrive. Part 10. Spot the early leave risk. Watch for these in month one. Fewer questions, silence in stand-ups, eating alone, repeating small mistakes, random short notice time off, going home flat every day. See two or more, act now. Ask what help would make the biggest difference. Offer a simple seven-day plan. Make sure the buddy shows up. Do one quick skills practice together. Most people bounce back with one week of real support. Part eleven. Day one, set three clear goals. Week two, check progress and write three lines. Week six. If it's not working, say so. Offer one support week. With daily check-ins. Be clear about what good looks like. Week ten. Decide fairly. If you extend, do it once with clear dates and reasons. Keep notes in one file. It protects them and it protects you. Part 12. Scripts you can lift. Welcome email. Hello and welcome. We're excited to have you with us on Monday. Please arrive at 10 at our main entrance and ask for Joe. Dress is smart casual. We'll finish at 4 on day one. Your schedule's attached and you'll meet your buddy, Sam, before lunch. If any adjustments would help you do your best, reply here and we'll sort them. See ya Monday. Day one opening. Great to have you here. Today's simple. Quick tour. Meet the team. Two small real tasks before lunch. We finish at four. If anything feels odd or unclear, say so. We fix things fast around here. End of week one. Here's what went well and what we'll practice next week. Next week you'll run X yourself. Your next check-in is Tuesday at 10. You're doing fine. Keep going. First wobble chat. Thanks for saying this feels hard. That's normal in week two. Let's break the task into steps. We'll do it once together, then you'll do it while I watch. We'll check again tomorrow. Part 13. Your do next list. Pick one role with the highest churn and fix that onboarding first. Write three tiny checklists. Kit. People. Day one. Book buddies for the next two starters now. Create two real day one tasks per role. Put three check-ins in the calendar for the next starter. Print the 90-day plan and stick it on the wall. Tell the team what will be different next time. If this feels like a lot, you're not wrong. Build it once. Run it every time. That's where the calm lives. And yes, there's affordable tech that handles the doll bits so you can stop living in spreadsheets. Book a discovery call, and I'll help you pick something with a genuine return on your time. Hazel confirms the biscuit budget is ring fenced. Back to our opening scene. New starter, missing logins, and Hazel chewing the welcome pack like it owes her money. Onboarding tells the truth about your business. We're ready for you, or we're winging it and hoping. Pick ready. It's kinder, cheaper, and it works. I'm Kate. This is Buzzing About HR, Kettle On, Standards Up. See you next time.
