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Feeling Uncomfortable in Skinny Jeans


Optimize Blog - October 6, 2009 - 1 comment

They may lack the Emo haircut, the skinny jeans, the ‘in’ brands and labels but your new employees are much like teenagers on their first day of high school.  They don’t know anyone’s name, what room they should be in, if they have the required drawing implements or even where the bathroom is.  To top it off, their peers might resent them or not like them and they might make it obvious!
Unless you want your new hire running for the front doors by lunchtime, you’ve got to ensure that you welcome the newbie and treat him or her like part of the in-crowd.  Let’s face it; it’s not like the Vietnam war – where you purposely didn’t get to know the newcomers because it was unlikely that they’d survive until the end of the week.
This is about longevity – an investment for the future.  At the very least it is about getting a return on all the ‘recruitment’ dollars you’ve spent and making sure that both you and your new employee get off to a great start.
I’ve witnessed appalling on-boarding at first hand at a number of client sites.  You can imagine the scenario … there I am sitting in reception early in the morning when the next person to walk through the door is ‘the new hire’.
The receptionist looks at this stranger as if they personally are responsible that she wasn’t told to expect them… Already our newcomer is feeling out of place and you can guess the rest – no desk, no ‘phone, no PC log in, which doesn’t really matter because no one has ordered a new PC…
The fact that this newcomer will be ineffective for a couple of days doesn’t seem to compute.  The newbie still draws salary for those days as they twiddle with the corner of somebody else’s desk contemplating their next career move, whilst all the time receiving suspicious glances from the existing staff that make frequent use of the hallway that they’ve been deposited in.
Did you know that new hires make up their mind about how long they are likely to stay within the first ten days of joining?
If you’re serious about succession planning, recruiting and retaining talent then show them.  Make sure that you have an effective on-boarding process.  It’s not hard to do – just a bit of communication, consideration and planning – and the difference to everyone is incredible.
If your new and valued member of the team gets that warm and fuzzy feeling on day one, you can bet that they’ll be back for day two.

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1 comment

  1. Charlie Hatchet

    Unfortunately it also doesn’t only apply to fresh-faced-new-out-of-school-types & inappropriate inductions can take more than one form.
    I joined one company, and on my first day my total induction was “There’s your desk- & by the way thats my chair”. My job? Divisional Director for a British PLC… funnily enough I knew how long I was going to stay by day 2.
    My next experience wasn’t much better. Got to my desk on day 1… at least I had a chair this time, & a laptop to be fair -shame it didn’t work -… just to find it covered in balloons, streamers and a big Welcome cake. I’m 43 for goodness sake, not 6. My job this time, Commercial Director & MD designate. It took me 4 days to make up my mind how long I’d be around that time

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