Are you a manager who’s about to onboard an early career hire to your team and is wondering how to get them ramped up quickly?
If so, know this: if a new hire struggles, it’s rarely because they're lazy or uninterested.
New hires struggle because they don’t know the unspoken rules of navigating a professional environment—and their manager either didn’t take the time to explain it to them, or didn’t explain it well enough.
Did you know? Developing effective communication with early career hires is crucial for fostering a positive work environment. According to Gallup, managers account for 70% of the variance in team engagement, making your choice of words the primary driver of employee success. Furthermore, employees who receive regular, meaningful feedback are four times more likely to be engaged.
The good news? A few simple scripts can make a real difference not only in your early career hire’s ramp-up time, but also in the quality of your collaboration and, in turn, your own time savings as their manager.
Here are 7 key scenarios every early career hire struggles with and the 7 simple scripts that any manager can use to accelerate the productivity of their new hire.
7 Must-Use Scripts for Front-Line Managers
1. Who to go to
Try saying this: "[Name] is the person who's in charge of [area]. Talk to them when [situation]."
Every manager wants a direct report who’s resourceful. The problem? It’s hard for your direct report to be resourceful if they don’t know who to go to (let alone if such a person exists at all).
This script is especially important when inviting your new hire to a meeting. You explaining who’s going to be in the room, how those people might behave, and what your new hire should keep an eye on can mean the difference between them paying attention to the subtleties—and being able to navigate them effortlessly—and them simply sitting there.
2. What terms mean
Try saying this: "In plain English, [jargon] means [definition]. So, instead of saying [jargon], you'd say [plain-language version]."
The corporate world (and the broader professional world as a whole) has its own language with a dizzying array of acronyms and jargon. Knowing when and how to use these terms can mean the difference between your new hire sounding like an insider and sounding like an outsider.
If your teenage self wouldn’t have known the definition of something—such as a term like “MECE”—explain it.*
*To follow my own advice: MECE means “Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive.” Mutually exclusive means categories that do not overlap. Collectively exhaustive means everything being analyzed fits into one of the stated categories.
You can find my corporate workplace jargon dictionary here.
Did you know? Clear communication is key to preventing misunderstandings. Research published in the International Journal of Business Communication (2025) found that excessive jargon lowers “processing fluency” and reduces employee confidence. Defining terms is therefore more than just about accelerating a new hire's time-to-productivity; it’s also about building psychological safety.
3. Where things are located
Try saying this: "[Resource] is located [location]. To access it, you'll need to [step]. You may also need to [additional step]."
One of the most frustrating and time-consuming aspects of any new job is figuring out where things are. A minute spent explaining the structure of folders and the logic behind how critical files are organized and version control is managed can mean the difference between hours spent clicking around and hours spent actually working.
4. When things are due
Try saying this: "Looking forward, [event] is happening [timeframe]. Working backwards, we need to [action] by [deadline]."
As I explain in The Unspoken Rules:
“In the workplace, if a task has a deadline, it typically has two or more deadlines: a final deadline (which is often the one you'll hear about) and at least one interim deadline (which is usually unspoken). The final deadline is when something will be released, published, or sent out. The interim deadline is an internal check-in to make sure that you are on track.”
Minutes spent explaining all of the invisible deadlines and how you work up to each one could save you hours of worrying and micromanaging later.
5. Why things are the way they are
Try saying this: "The process for [task] is [process]. First, you'd [step]. Then, you’d [step]. This is because [reason]."
The longer your organization has existed, the more processes there will be that will be completely foreign to an outsider. It gets even more complicated for that outsider if they happen to be a new hire with little to no corporate experience.
So, the better your direct report understands the appropriate procedures for getting things done, the more likely they will stay out of trouble (and keep your and their reputation intact!).
Not a fan of bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake? Try a line like this to encourage some entrepreneurial thinking: “Just because this is how things have been done in the past doesn’t mean it should be done this way. So, if you can find a more efficient approach, let me know.” This script is especially useful in startup environments where you need everyone looking for the most efficient way to solve problems.
6. How you think
Try saying this:
- "When I encounter [situation], first I [step]. Then, I [step]."
- "My logic behind this is [reasoning]."
- "When I look at [document/data], my eyes immediately go to [detail]."
- "What's going through my mind is [thought process]."
- "I learned this the hard way when I [mistake]. So now I make sure to [habit]."
Every manager dreams of scaling themselves. It’s possible—and it begins with clearly articulating how you approach problems.
Once others can see the world through your eyes, they can start to behave as you would. Then, they can go on to develop their own approach to problem solving.
7. How you work
Try saying this: "I'd love for you to join [meeting/task] and take notes on how I approach [situation]. Afterward, let's discuss [question]."
Think back to how you learned in the earliest stages of your career. Chances are, most of your training was through “apprenticeship” or, simply put, observing others, taking notes, trying it yourself, and then getting feedback.
Whether it’s phone calls, meetings, or “look over my shoulder while I skim this document” moments, every observational opportunity is another chance to get your new hire ramped up.
Assess your tacit knowledge
A phrase I say time and time again in my manager trainings is this: what’s obvious to you may not be obvious to other people.
There is no more critical time to remind yourself of this reality than when a new hire joins your team. What you consider your tacit knowledge was probably something that someone, at some point, taught you how to do.
So, be that person for your new hire! Assume they know nothing, so share everything and in plain language. Before long, your new hire will be as productive as you are—and maybe even surprise you with an insight, proposal, or solution that you hadn’t thought of yourself.
Hope this helps,
Gorick
FAQ
How can managers help new hires ramp up faster?
Managers can speed up ramp-up times by proactively sharing the “unspoken rules” that new hires don't know to ask about: who handles what, what certain terms mean, where resources live, when things are due, why processes exist, how the manager thinks, and how the manager works. Explaining how you approach your work in plain English can remove the guesswork that typically slows new hires down.
Why do new hires struggle in their first few months?
New hires struggle because they don't yet know the unspoken rules of their workplace—how to navigate their environment and best work with their manager, their coworkers, and/or their clients. It’s not because they're lazy or uninterested—they may just be stuck or unsure. It can be easy to assume as a manager that your knowledge is obvious when it isn't, leaving new hires second-guessing their own culture fit and long-term potential in the organization.
How does workplace jargon affect a new employee's confidence?
Research in the International Journal of Business Communication (2025) found that excessive jargon lowers "processing fluency" (or the speed and ease with which someone processes communication), which negatively affects employee confidence in completing tasks. Defining terms in plain language, like what “MECE” means (“mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive”—a way to organize data), can help new hires feel more confident and be more capable more quickly. For a detailed list of workplace jargon that can become invisible landmines for early career hires, check out Wall Street Journal bestselling author Gorick Ng’s Workplace Jargon Dictionary.
How much does a manager's communication style affect employee engagement?
Gallup research shows managers account for 70% of the variance in team engagement, making a manager's word choice one of the biggest drivers of whether an employee thrives. The good thing is: these are the 7 scripts that any manager can use to get new hires up to speed fast.
What's a simple way to explain jargon to a new hire?
Use this script: "In plain English, [jargon] means [definition]. So instead of saying [jargon], you'd say [plain-language version]." Translating terms on the spot levels the playing field for all new hires, ensuring that every new hire—regardless of background—has a fair shot at thriving. Click here to access Wall Street Journal bestselling author Gorick Ng’s Workplace Jargon Dictionary.
About Gorick
Gorick Ng is a first-generation college graduate turned Harvard career advisor turned Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting Your Career Off Right — called “a blueprint for anyone starting their career, entering a new role, or wanting to get unstuck” by Arianna Huffington. He speaks at Fortune 500 organizations, non-profits, and collegiate institutions on new hire onboarding, manager training, recruiting, and new grad success in the workforce. He is the creator of How to Say It®, a flashcard system teaching high-stakes workplace scripts, and Fast Lane to Leadership, an online course to accelerate the ramp-up time of early career professionals. His weekly newsletter reaches 35,000+ professionals with practical, script-based career strategies.
