From offer acceptance to day one: own the handoff

Recruitment, People Operations and the hiring manager may all contribute before the first day. Agree how their responsibilities connect instead of assuming that a system status change transfers the work.

Name a primary contact for the new hire and a backup. Decide who sends practical information, who answers role questions and who updates the plan if the start date or arrangements change. The manager involvement guide helps define the manager’s part.

Check the start date, work location or remote arrangements, role and team, agreed contact details and outstanding preparation. Confirm what is already recorded so the new hire does not have to repeat information unnecessarily.

Pass relevant actions to the people responsible for them. Keep personal documents and confidential information in the authorised process, with access limited to those who need it.

A handoff is ready when the receiving owner knows what happens next and which action is still waiting. A filled vacancy or accepted-offer label alone does not answer those questions.

Send a short welcome message that confirms the next step. Include the primary contact, when practical details will arrive and how the person can raise a question or change.

For example: “We are looking forward to your start on [date]. [Name] is your contact for practical arrangements. We will confirm your first-day location or joining link by [date]. Please let us know if anything changes or if you need help preparing.”

Adapt the message to confirmed arrangements. Avoid sending a generic promise when equipment delivery, location or the start date is still unresolved. The employer authenticity guide explains how to keep recruitment promises consistent with the support the employee actually receives.

Share the first day at work guide when the new hire wants help preparing their own questions and introduction. Your team still needs to confirm the arrangements specific to their start.

Agree a sensible contact plan with the new hire. Someone with a short gap may only need a welcome message and final logistics. A longer gap may call for another conversation or a buddy introduction, depending on their availability.

Make optional introductions and company information clearly optional. Explain which practical requests need a response, why and by when. Check any proposed required pre-start work with the responsible People or employment adviser before assigning it.

A missing reply can have several explanations, including availability, delivery problems or an unclear request. Check the agreed contact channel and follow up directly. Do not infer commitment or an impending withdrawal from email opens, response times or activity completion alone.

Use the internal communication channels guide to agree how the new hire will receive an update, find practical details and ask a question.

Use the employee onboarding checklist template to connect tasks with owners, due dates and dependencies. The new hire should know what to expect; your team should know who is preparing it.

Acas lists first-day expectations, practical workplace details and equipment arrangements among information to send before the start. It also recommends planning introductions to the manager and, where assigned, a buddy.^[1]

Confirm the manager’s availability, equipment arrangements and who handles any unresolved setup. If something cannot be ready, explain the alternative and who will help. The onboarding buddy guide can support the peer introduction.

Use the employee onboarding overview to connect this preparation with role learning and manager support after arrival.

This is a suggested sequence to adapt, rather than a required weekly campaign. Check the new hire’s availability and keep the contact useful.

Consider a fictional stablecoin company with a Partnerships hire starting in six weeks. Recruitment confirms the accepted offer and passes the start details to People Operations. The manager owns role questions; IT owns equipment preparation; People Operations remains the practical contact.

The team offers an optional introduction and sends confirmed first-day arrangements. Product and other specialist conversations are scheduled for after the start, when the employee can ask role-specific questions. Restricted operational material stays in the company’s authorised systems.

The stablecoin-company people guide explains the wider role-specific journey. For this handoff, each contributor needs a named action and the new hire needs one clear place to ask for help.