Once you’ve made your hiring decisions, you're ready to move forward with your staff. If you have to turn down people you thought had great potential, keeping communication open with them and showing them respect may help you in the future if you’re hiring again or if a first choice doesn’t work out.
From the outset, you’ll want to establish clear direction for each member of your lab. Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Staffing the Lab: Perspectives from Both Sides of the Bench recommends beginning lab members’ employment with an individualized development plan that includes year-to-year expectations and goals that can be used as a basis for periodic reviews and as a way to measure individual performance and progress.
