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PestFreeCanada's avatar
PestFreeCanada
Contributor 5
23 hours ago

What kind of small mistakes would you let slide on a new workers first day?

I just hired my first employee. He is a young, bright, articulate 22 year old fresh out of university. I took him on as a summer intern to help me during my busy months to start, with the hopes he likes the industry and wants to go further.

Yesterday was his first day and as he were loading up the truck after a job, and he left my $500 telescopic ladder on the customers lawn while I was speaking to the customer. I didn't realize until we got to our next job for the day. He reacted very professionally to it, apologized many times and even offered to take an Uber to the last place and grab it and come back! I didn't scold him or say anything negative but it did make me think... 

Has anyone had experience with a disastrous first day with a new employee? An instant red flag? What happened that made you pull the plug after day one? What are some mistakes that are expected on a first day?

2 Replies

  • JohnD's avatar
    JohnD
    New Member
    22 hours ago

    I tend to be fairly easygoing for the first few days. Its a highly stressful time for the new employee and they probably aren't thinking at their most efficient. After a few weeks, maybe a month I start to focus in a bit more and dial in on correcting mistakes. I think it would have to be a pretty significant mess up to fire a guy on day one. Only time I've seen it was when I was a foreman for a previous employer and a guy showed up drunk on day one, he wasn't allowed to come back, thats a red flag for sure!

  • sam-s's avatar
    sam-s
    Contributor 2
    16 hours ago

    Real red flags are usually personality traits: sloppy, disrespectful, slow to help, etc.

    Everything is new to him today. You, the vehicle, the Client, the clothes (if he's in uniform). It makes sense he'd overlook something small like that - especially because he can't take one look at the back of your truck and say "Something's missing here".

    If anything, his response to the ladder incident makes me think MORE of him, not less.

    Bottom line: congrats on hiring your first employee! That's HUGE. Your entire "business owner immune system" is hyperactive right now 😄. It's trying to protect your business!