New Employees and Managing Expectations

Adam Payne • 25 September 2021

Managing Your Expectations for New Starters to Build that High Performing Team

What do you think is the most important characteristic of a high performing team?

Friendships? Trust? Communication? Playfulness? 

A combination of all of these things and more. But how can you build these relationships when you’ve just hired new people who don’t know each other yet? 

Often times, it takes time. But there are also little tricks that can help to get you on the right track. Here are some thoughts on managing expectations from both your new employee(s) view point and your own to help build that high performing team from day one.

It's always a big step in hiring new employees, you've picked the right candidate(s) and now you want to hit the ground running, but be aware that both you as a employer and they as an employee are going through a transition curve, a change curve, a process of denial, doubt and acceptance.

From a team building stance it's known as storming, forming, norming and performing and all individuals (including you as the employer) will go through it. Focus will be needed in managing your expectations, helping them manage their expectations mixed with a whole lot of communication, support, training, and patience. 

Not all people will go through this at the same time. Not all people will hit the ground running.
Woman with fist towards the camera - Small Business Growth Coaching

***HOW TO WIN WITH LESS***


Your inbox is overflowing, and your list of tasks grows with every new email. It doesn’t make sense. You need more time on your business, not more things to do.


In our Business Mentoring Power Hour meetings, we will help you rethink your current strategy, give you clarity on the most important things, and help you decide what actions need to be taken right now.- Click Here

Not Every Lead Is a Win: A Show Week Guide to Sorting Your Trade Show Cards Before You Quote

by Adam Payne • 28 October 2026
A show week guide for UK manufacturers and engineering firms on what to do with the business cards collected at NEC exhibitions such as Advanced Engineering: capture notes on the stand, send a personal note within two working days, then sort every lead by fit, capacity, margin and payment risk before quoting.

The Strategy Day Is Not the Strategy: Why Two Days Away Only Pay Off If They Change Where Your Leadership Team's Attention Goes

by Adam Payne • 21 October 2026
A two day strategy session only pays off for UK manufacturers and engineering firms turning over £3m to £25m if it changes where your leadership team’s attention goes. Discover four outputs worth closing the diaries for: one clear direction, a boundary list, one strategic uncertainty and measures that run by exception.

You'd Never Run Your Factory Like You Run Your Strategy

by New Way Growth • 14 October 2026
UK manufacturers run their shop floor on daily boards, fixed rhythms and root cause analysis, yet run strategy through an annual away day, so priorities quietly fade within weeks. This post explains why strategic drift starves margin work first, and how applying production disciplines stops a plan becoming a document.

One Business, Four Scoreboards: Why Your Directors Disagree About What's Capping Growth

by Adam Payne • 7 October 2026
Why directors of UK mid sized manufacturers often disagree about what's capping growth without realising it, what that hidden misalignment costs in split budgets and stalled initiatives, and how the Four Answers Test reveals it in one 45 minute meeting using a scored alignment total and a confidence gap.

Count the Decisions You Made Last Week That Someone Else Could Have Made

by New Way Growth • 30 September 2026
A quiet diagnostic exercise for MDs of UK medium sized manufacturers: list every decision you made last week, mark those that reached you through habit, history or a missing written rule, then note how long each one waited, to see how much critical knowledge runs through too few heads.

You Won the Order. Did You Win the Money? A Cash Walk for UK Manufacturers

by Adam Payne • 25 September 2026
Follow one £186,000 UK manufacturing contract from quote to bank and see exactly where the margin goes: a discount agreed in the last five minutes, stale material prices, panels scrapped after a drawing revision, ten days of invoice drift, a bounced part number and five months funding someone else's business.

You Committed to the Next Growth Number. Did You Commit to the Structure That Carries It?

by Adam Payne • 17 September 2026
UK manufacturing growth numbers get committed in the boardroom, the bank, to a group MD or across the kitchen table, while the capacity, decision rights and reporting lines needed to deliver them are quietly assumed rather than built. A practical look at where that gap comes from and what closing it actually requires.

The Number Doesn't Fit Through the Structure: What Really Stops UK Manufacturers Growing

by Adam Payne • 9 September 2026
UK manufacturing firms stall at roughly £3m, £10m and £25m for structural reasons, not effort. This guide explains each growth ceiling, the warning signs (decisions queueing on the owner, revenue rising while margin flatlines, knowledge trapped in 3 or 4 heads), and the specific changes that break through each one.

Under NDA: How UK Engineering Firms Build Authority Without Showing the Job

by Adam Payne • 1 September 2026
How UK engineering, defence and confidential contract manufacturers build authority when NDAs, IP restrictions and export controls block the obvious approach.

The UK Manufacturer's Risk Register for Marketing: Ten Roadblocks and What to Do Before They Hit

by New Way Growth • 25 August 2026
A practical risk register for UK micro and medium manufacturers: ten marketing roadblocks, including capacity limits, late payment cash flow squeezes, key person dependency, platform changes and staff turnover, each paired with an early warning sign and a specific contingency to plan around before it derails growth.