The second first impression
A poor first day can do plenty of damage. Nikki Murran discusses the importance of making a good impression to convince your new employee to stay
Print25 September 2026
We talk a lot about how difficult it is to recruit good people into grocery retail. We talk about candidate shortages, salaries, working hours and how hard it is to get somebody to accept an offer. Then, when they finally say yes, everyone breathes a sigh of relief and moves on to the next vacancy.
The problem is that accepting the job is only half the battle. The next challenge is getting them to stay. Their first impression of the business from the interview may have gone well, but their second first impression starts on their first day! Arguably this one is even more important.
Research from BambooHR suggests employers have around 44 days to convince a new employee that they have made the right decision. To be honest, in retail, it can take considerably less than 44 days to convince them they have made the wrong one.
First impressions
A poor first day can do plenty of damage. The manager was not expecting them, there is no uniform ready, nobody knows who is training them and their clock in or till login details have not been set up. They spend the first hour standing awkwardly beside the customer service desk while somebody tries to figure out what to do with them.
It may sound like a small thing, but first impressions matter. Candidates are judging a business just as much after accepting the job as they were during the interview.
Good onboarding really starts before the employee arrives. It begins with an accurate job description and an honest interview. If the role involves early starts, late finishes, weekends or regular duty-management cover, say so. Overselling the position might get somebody through the door, but it will not keep them there.
I regularly speak to candidates who leave roles within the first few months because the job turned out to be completely different from the one discussed at interview. Sometimes the responsibilities are different. Sometimes the hours bear no resemblance to what was agreed. In other cases, the promised training simply never happens.
Keep in touch
Once the offer is accepted, keep in touch. Candidates serving four weeks’ notice can easily feel forgotten, particularly when their current employer is trying to convince them to stay. A quick call from the hiring manager to say they are looking forward to having them join can make a bigger difference than you might think.
It is also worth sending the practical information in advance. Where should they park? Who should they ask for? What should they wear? What time will they finish on the first day? New starters do not want to chase these details, and nobody wants to arrive for their first shift already feeling like a nuisance.
When they do arrive, have a plan. It does not need to be anything fancy, but somebody should be expecting them and should take responsibility for showing them around. Introduce them to the team, explain how the store operates and give them a proper idea of what their first week will look like.
Assigning a buddy can work particularly well in grocery retail. Managers are pulled in every direction and may not always be available to answer every question. An experienced, approachable colleague can help the new starter learn the everyday things that rarely appear in a handbook, from where stock is kept to who has a habit of disappearing when the tills get busy.
Training day
Training is another area where good intentions often fall apart. Telling somebody to follow Mary for a few days is not really a training plan, especially if Mary has not been told.
Set out what the employee needs to learn in their first week, first month and first three months. Cover the obvious areas such as systems, procedures, health and safety and food hygiene, but also spend time on the standards that matter to your particular store. It’s fine for this learning to be self-driven – allow them to take come control and responsibility for getting through the areas – but the plan needs to come from the employer.
This is especially important for managers. An experienced department or store manager may understand retail, but they still need to understand your business. They need to know what authority they have, what the immediate priorities are and where the challenges sit within the team. Experience can shorten the learning curve, but it does not remove it.
Check in
Regular check-ins are also important. These do not have to be formal meetings with pages of paperwork. Ten focused minutes can be enough. Ask how they are settling in, whether the role is what they expected and if there is anything they need more support with. Crucially, listen to the answer.
Onboarding should not end after the first week either. New starters are often given plenty of attention for a few days and then largely left to get on with it. That is usually when the questions, doubts and frustrations begin to appear.
Recruitment is expensive, and replacing somebody who leaves after six weeks is frustrating for everyone involved. In many cases, the problem is not the person or even the job. It is how the move was managed.
Getting somebody to accept an offer is a great result. Making sure they are still happy they accepted it 44 days later is the real win.
Read more: Investing in strong staff
© 2026 ShelfLife by Nikki Murran
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