Create a 30-60-90 Day Plan for a New Creative Hire

Many employers focus entirely on hiring and neglect the first three months. Without a structured onboarding plan, new junior creatives are left to figure things out alone, leading to slow productivity, anxiety, and early departures.

Employers have a structured 30-60-90 day plan that gives the new hire a clear sense of what is expected at each stage, what support they will receive, and how their responsibilities will grow. The plan is shared with the hire on day one.

The 30-60-90 day framework:

30 days: Learn

• Understand the brand, team, workflow, and tools
• Shadow senior team members on live projects
• Complete induction training
• Manager expectation: be present, be curious, be learning

60 days: Contribute

• Take on defined tasks within larger projects
• Begin producing work that requires minimal revision
• Receive structured feedback weekly
• Manager expectation: start contributing, ask questions, show progress

90 days: Own

• Own smaller briefs end to end
• Contribute ideas in team meetings
• Have a first progress review with clear feedback and goals
• Manager expectation: work independently on appropriate tasks, seek feedback proactively

A junior designer's 30-day plan includes shadowing the senior designer on a live campaign, completing brand guideline training, and setting up their workspace. Their 60-day plan includes taking on asset production for an ongoing campaign with weekly reviews. Their 90-day plan includes owning a small social media asset brief end to end, with a progress review that sets goals for the next quarter.