Blog · · 3 minute read
Week one for a new DSP
Someone starts Monday. They've been through orientation, they've signed everything, and they still don't know which cabinet the coffee filters are in.
Orientation is done. The policies are signed. What happens next is the part no binder covers, and most of it comes down to who's standing next to them.
Most of week one is names
A new DSP spends their first days learning people. The folks who live in the house — how each of them likes a morning to go, what a good day looks like, what a rushed one costs. And the team: who's on overnights, who picks up the phone, who to text when something seems off at nine at night.
The binder has the procedures. The rest comes from whoever's on with them — things like one of the guys needing ten quiet minutes before anyone asks him anything, and the whole rest of the morning depending on him getting them.
Which makes the first shift a staffing decision
Every house has one: the DSP who's been there six years, knows every routine, and can explain what they're doing while they're doing it. That's who you want on a new person's first shift.
The pull is to pair the new hire with whoever has the lightest week. Worth resisting where you can. People copy what they see in the first few days, and whoever's next to them is setting the standard whether anyone said so or not.
Tell them what week two looks like
Here's something new hires think about a lot and rarely bring up. Their hours.
They took the job on a number — thirty-two, thirty-six, full time. In week one that number is still a promise. The real schedule is being built around training shifts and whoever's free to train them, and it can look nothing like the job they accepted.
So say it before they have to ask. "Your first two weeks are training hours, so they'll look strange. From the first you're on the regular rotation, Tuesday through Saturday, two to ten." Thirty seconds, and it answers a question a brand-new employee may not feel comfortable raising yet.
Five things for the fridge
Obvious to everyone who's been there a year. Invisible on day one.
Where the things you only need in a hurry live. First aid kit, fuse box, spare keys, flashlight.
Who to call at 2am, and who to call at 2pm. Different people, and nobody ever says so out loud.
Which door sticks. Also which burner runs hot, and which van's sliding door needs the trick.
The one thing about each person in the house that makes their day go well. The kind of thing you'd mention to a friend who was covering for you.
What to do if they're running late. One number, one text, and nobody left guessing.
And ask on Friday
Not a review. Five minutes at the end of the first week: what surprised you, and what are you still unsure about.
A new DSP is unlikely to walk up and announce they've been guessing at something since Wednesday. Asked directly, most people will just tell you.
It's also the best read you'll get on your own onboarding. They're the only one in the building who can still see what isn't obvious.
Two things on our side that make a first week easier. Once you publish the week, a new hire sees their own shifts on their own phone, so their schedule isn't something they have to ask for. And if you record certification dates, the check runs against the date of the shift — so a certificate that's fine today and expired by a shift three weeks out is caught rather than missed. It never refuses the shift: when you publish the week, we name everyone whose certificate has lapsed before a shift they're on and ask you to confirm.
Try it on this week See what it costs
Fourteen days, your real schedule, no card. $20 a month plus $1 per staff member.