Being the newbie comes with a stress level experience that consumes us in various ways until the exploration stage is over. Finding your place in the company, looking to make a good first impression, remembering new names and information – all these are tacit missions that challenges as much as the recruitment process.
The gears inside our social selves somehow evaluates the first impressions we make on others as a cornerstone for our future in that company. And that’s true to a certain degree, because people will relate to us according to the space we provide. The problem is that the amount of stress we are under meanwhile this inception routine could easily head us in the wrong direction.
We already talked about how important having happy employees is, but how can we ease the accommodation stage for new employees?
I was reading this anti-pitch hiring approach that Amazon uses and I completely agree that being authentic beats selling a glamorous package. The closer people’s expectations are to reality, the smoother the adjustment. So it all starts there. However, this doesn’t help with the rest of the barricades.
Usually, in order to get settled, new employees are assigned a responsible person to show them around. But everyone has daily tasks that they can’t just postpone for unlimited time, so new employees are also presented with a pile of documentations for internal politics and culture. And that doesn’t really help a newcomer feel less of an outsider. But there are ways to speed up the assimilation process. Like creating a dedicated knowledge base – like Quandora is organised.
Most managers feel insecure about giving access from day one to internal knowledge sharing tools, but what if you create a virtual space where new people can express their queries about different topics? This would be a great opportunity for them to open up and overcome that inhibitory feeling of nagging colleagues every time they have a question. Also, having access to a live and collective “information department” will help trigger interaction between employees, making the transition feel more like a natural process and animating trust connections. And it will help them to easier adapt to the culture you encourage for your organization.
There is a great deal of benefits on both sides that may materalize from starting on the right foot, so why not put some effort in welcoming new employees?
Happy Knowledge Sharing!
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