Lisa Earle McLeod* says just as first impressions count for a lot, first-day experiences at a new job can set the tone for future attitudes…
Do you remember your first day of your current job?
What was it like?
As organisational tenure declines, the gig economy ramps up, and an entire new generation enters the workforce, the task of “getting new people up to speed” has become challenging.
The foundational elements of a good on-boarding program (logistical information, clear expectations, training plans, etc.) are seldom missing.
However, the majority of programs leave out three crucial elements.
Organisational Norms:
In some organisations, not responding to an email for a few days is expected.
In others, ignoring an email for more than 12 hours is considered an act of war.
Organisational norms go beyond the traditional what-to-wear and where-to-park first day memo.
They cover things like meeting norms: Should every meeting have a formal agenda?
Whereabouts norms: If you’re going to be more than an hour for lunch, is there an expectation to tell your boss?
Calendar norms: Is it assumptive to book time on someone’s calendar?
These seemingly small inflection points are the difference between fumbling through a few organisational faux pas and feeling like you’re right at home by the end of the week.
Anticipated Challenges:
Employers tend to shy away from mentioning potential challenges to new employees so as to not scare off their fresh recruit.
However, no job is all sunshine and rainbows (not even Disneyland).
Imagine this: You are on-boarded with no mention of challenges.
That Friday, you go to run your first report. 404 error.
You try again. Another error.
Now you’re frustrated. Your confidence is fading, along with your new-employee enthusiasm.
Compare that to an on-boarding experience that’s exactly the same, but with a small addition.
“A lot of people find the reporting process in our system difficult at first, let me know if you run into some system roadblocks, or you can ask your team to take a look.”
First Friday. 404 error, but this time you’re prepared; you know this is expected, common, and solvable.
Ultimate Impact:
Hyper-specificity of job function should not be achieved in sacrifice of the larger context.
Take this example from the private sector: A social media manager for an athletic wear company.
They produce content, distribute content through company social platforms, and monitor customer engagement. That’s the function.
The impact they have is that for every successful interaction, someone is inspired to take their fitness to the next level.
Healthier people are happier, they live longer, and they’re kinder to their community.
Mapping a new employee’s role back to the ultimate impact their work will have helps them emotionally connect to the organisational purpose and deepens their commitment.
A bad on-boarding experience is like a bad first impression: Really hard to bounce back from.
In their book, The Power of Moments, Chip Heath and Dan Heath dive into the John Deere first day experience.
After painting a picture of personalised welcomes, warm hand-offs, impact-focused conversations, here’s how it ends:
“You leave the office thinking, ‘I belong here. The work we’re doing matters. And I matter to them’.”
A new employee is going to go home, sit down at the table with their family, and divulge every detail of their first day.
As a leader, you have the ability to make that conversation one of excitement or one that goes: “Eh, it was fine”.
* Lisa Earle McLeod is best known for creating the popular business concept ‘Noble Purpose’. She is the author of Selling with Noble Purpose and Leading with Noble Purpose and can be contacted at mcleodandmore.com.
This article first appeared on Lisa’s blogsite
