Managing people is daunting. Use these for your first 1:1 meeting:
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How has your first week been?
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Anything that surprised or confused you?
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How do you feel about your workload?
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Do you have clarity on your goals?
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What else is on your mind? Listen and probe.
Catch up every week for 30 to 60 minutes. Never miss twice.
This ensures that issues are caught early on and addressed. There’s a small window when an issue arises and before it starts snowballing. If you don’t sit down to have a talk, it might not even come up. It’ll just be bottled inside and you won’t know. You can’t really do anything after they have already made a decision to leave.
Managing is caring.
Your report should never be left wondering: What does my manager think of me? If you think she is the epitome of awesome, tell her. If you don’t think she is operating at the level you’d like to see, she should know that too, and precisely why you feel that way. ― Julie Zhuo, The Making of a Manager