New starter’s first two weeks: a training plan AI builds from your SOPs

A new hire’s first two weeks often go on shadowing whoever has time, and the safety briefing or the system logins get missed. Once your jobs are written down as SOPs (step-by-step instructions, see our SOP guide), AI can turn them into a day-by-day training plan in about 15 minutes: who trains what, in which order, how you check it was learned, and a sign-off sheet for the file.

How to use it:

1. Collect the SOPs the new person needs: the role’s own jobs plus the ones everybody does (opening up, phones, safety).
2. Open Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini on a business account and give it the SOPs:

Tool	How to give it your SOPs
Claude or ChatGPT	Upload the files with + in the message box, or connect your SharePoint or Google Drive folder
Microsoft 365 Copilot	In Copilot Chat, type / and pick the SOP files from OneDrive or SharePoint
Gemini	Upload the files, or add them from Google Drive with +

3. Paste prompt 1, fill in the [square brackets] and send it.
4. Use the follow-up prompts for the welcome email, the buddy briefing and the checks.
5. Before day one, walk through the plan with the people named in it.

1. The training plan prompt

I’m hiring a [role, e.g. “office assistant, 80%”] for my [type of business, number of staff, town]. They start on [date]. Their buddy (the colleague they shadow and ask) is [name, role]. The people who train them are [names and what each knows].

The attached files are our SOPs. Build a training plan for their first two weeks (10 working days, [hours] a day).

Rules:

1. Day 1 morning: welcome, workplace tour, logins and keys, and the safety instruction for their workplace. Nothing else before the safety instruction.
2. Teach jobs in the order the person will need them on their own. Daily jobs first, monthly jobs in week two.
3. For each SOP: who trains it, how long, and the method: “show” (trainer does it), “do together”, then “do alone, trainer checks”.
4. Leave at least one hour a day free for questions, reading and catching up.
5. End each day with a 10-minute check-in with the buddy, and day 5 and day 10 with a 30-minute review with me.
6. Use only the SOPs I attached. If the role clearly needs a job that has no SOP, list it under “Missing SOPs” at the end instead of inventing steps.

Output: a table per week with day, time block, SOP or topic, trainer, method and “done when”. Then “Missing SOPs”. Write in [English / German / French / Italian]. Dates as 12.10.2026.

2. Follow-up prompts

Send these in the same chat:

• Welcome email: “Write a short welcome email to [name] for [date]: where and when to arrive, who meets them, what to bring (ID, AHV card, bank details for the salary), what the first day looks like. Friendly, no jargon.”
• Buddy briefing: “Write a one-page briefing for the buddy: what to do each day, which SOPs to show, and what to watch for.”
• Checks per SOP: “For each SOP in the plan, write three practical checks the trainer can use to confirm the person can do the job alone, for example ‘Create a test quote without help’.”
• Part-time version: “Rearrange the plan for [3] days a week over [3] weeks. Keep the order.”
• Calendar list: “List every training block as a calendar entry: date, time, title, people invited.” If your AI assistant is connected to Outlook or Google Calendar, ask it to create the entries. Otherwise, add them from the list in one go before day one.
• Translate: “Translate the plan into [Swiss French / Italian]. Keep SOP titles and button names unchanged.”

3. What comes back

Illustrative excerpt, for a made-up 12-person joinery office:

Week 1

Day	Time	SOP or topic	Trainer	Method	Done when
Mon 12.10	08:00–09:00	Welcome, tour, keys, logins	Sandra (owner)	Show	Can log in to email and bexio
Mon 12.10	09:00–10:00	Safety instruction: workshop access, PPE, emergency exits	Marco (workshop lead)	Show	Signed the sign-off sheet
Mon 12.10	10:30–12:00	SOP “Answering the phone and taking messages”	Lea (buddy)	Do together	Took three messages correctly

Missing SOPs

• Ordering office supplies: mentioned in the job, no SOP attached.

4. Sign-off sheet

Ask: “Make a one-page sign-off sheet from the plan: one line per SOP and per safety topic, with date trained, trainer’s signature and new starter’s signature.” Print it, fill it in as training happens, and keep it in the personnel file. For safety topics, this is the record Suva recommends you keep.

5. Swiss checklist for the first two weeks

• Safety instruction first, and documented. New employees have a 50% higher accident risk in their first six months. Swiss law (Art. 6 VUV) requires you to instruct them when they start; Suva recommends a record of each instruction (Suva).
• Written key terms within one month. If there is no written contract, give the employee in writing within one month of the start: the parties’ names, start date, function, salary and benefits, and weekly hours (Art. 330b Code of Obligations, Fedlex).
• Probation period. Without another written agreement, the first month is the probation period, with 7 days’ notice. It can be agreed in writing up to three months (Art. 335b, Fedlex). Put the day 5 and day 10 reviews in the plan so you know where you stand well before it ends.
• AHV number. New staff without an AHV number must be reported to your compensation office within 30 days of starting (SVA Graubünden). Everyone else goes on the year-end salary declaration.
• Personal data stays out of the chat. The plan needs first names and roles, not salaries, ID numbers or health details.

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Legal note: This article is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and every business is different, so always get advice from a qualified lawyer or your fiduciary (Treuhänder) before you act on it.