Showing posts with label new employee orientation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new employee orientation. Show all posts

Monday, June 15, 2015

Hello, I Love You

This post is taken from a completely fictitious interview I conducted with no one...or...everyone...who has ever been hired...by your company.

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Jay - Congratulations on your new job. You must be very excited?

Your New Employee - Yes, it's going to be great.

Jay - I'd love to hear about your experience joining your new company. Tell me about the process.

Your New Employee - Well, it's actually been more complicated than I expected. I saw the position posted online, and tried to apply, but their website was pretty old school, so I had to spend a lot of time just trying to get my application in.

Jay - That's too bad...but you know how applicant tracking systems can be...that's just how it goes.

Your New Employee - Um, I guess so.

Jay - Great! How about your interviews, I bet they were inspiring?

Your New Employee - Well, actually my screening interview was okay, but it was a real hassle getting to the next step to meet with the manager.

Jay - Oh yes, you know how meetings just clog up every one's calendars. That's the modern world of work...you know what I mean, right?

Your New Employee - I waited a couple of weeks to get my interview scheduled. Doesn't that seem a bit long to you? Particularly if the job was so important and needed to be filled right away? At least that's what the recruiter told me.

Jay - Yes! Those jobs are so important! This is great! Tell me about your first day, and the orientation you received. I bet it was awesome, right?

Your New Employee - Not exactly. I sat through a long day of lectures on benefits and policy reviews which probably could have been done ahead of time electronically.

Jay - Excellent! It sounds like they have a great program to get new employees up to speed. I love this! Keep going!

Your New Employee - What? I mean...okay. Once I found my way to my department the next day they didn't quite know what to do with me, so I sat around reading some more policies, and figuring out where to go for lunch.

Jay - Awesome! Lots of flexibility and no pressure as you got started. You must have felt so supported!

Your New Employee - To be honest with you, I didn't feel supported until a coworker reached out and helped me meet some people and show me the ropes. Then I started to feel like a part of the team.

Jay - Well, this has just been terrific. Congratulations again, it sounds like you have made a great career move. You clearly have joined a world class organization!

                         

How About You 
No, this wasn't real...or was it? What would your new team members say in an interview?

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.




Monday, December 10, 2012

First Time Guests

One of my favorite responsibilities is to address new staff members each month when they attend new employee orientation. I kick things off for the first hour and try to make it anything but normal. I yell, strut around the large conference room making jokes, using videos, a slide deck, and banter back and forth with one of our HR employees who goes along with my shenanigans as if we were a stand up comedy team.

I love it. I'm trying to impress all of those new people as a representative of my company. I feel pressure to send a positive message, because I know first impressions mean a lot. I want the employees to know that our senior leaders are not dull or boring or stodgy.

I want them to get fired up because new employees are just like first time guests.

Details Don't Matter...Yet
The advantage of early messaging to new employees is clear: no work routines yet, no daily grind mentality yet, no familiarity with the organization yet. Now is the time to connect in a meaningful way.

Attention HR leaders! Are you delegating this moment to someone else? Really? Let me guess, you're too busy with a turnover report? You might not have to complete that report if you engage with those anxious, excited, nervous, terrific new hires you just invested so much time and energy into bringing on board. Remember the fabled war for talent? Guess what? You won! You have talent in that room, now go get them pumped up about their decision to join your company!

How About You
How do welcome your first time guests? Do you take advantage of the opportunity and get them engaged right away? Do you help them believe in your organziation using emotion, stories, and for the love of God some energy! I hope so...because if they think they've made a mistake by joining your team, you'll be busier than ever working on that turnover report.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.




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