A new hire’s first day on the job should be a memorable experience – a good memory! Remember, first impressions carry weight. You want your new hire’s first day to be one that (s)he remembers positively.
Imagine these two scenarios:
Scenario 1: Allan walked into the office at 8:45 AM his first day on the job. He introduced himself to the receptionist, “Good morning, I’m Allan Smith, and it’s my first day.” The receptionist responded, “Sit down over there,” pointing across the room. Ten minutes later, someone came out to meet Allan and took him to his work location. That person, who never introduced himself, told Allan to hang on while they found his manager. Fifteen minutes later, Allan’s manager came by, obviously flustered, shook Allan’s hand and said, “Good morning, Allan. I’m in the middle of solving an issue and will try to find someone to get you settled and show you around. Please wait here while I find someone.” Twenty minutes later, someone came by at the direction of the manager to show Allan around. It was only 9:30 AM on day one.
Scenario 2: Robert walked into the office at 8:45 AM his first day on the job. The receptionist looked up and before Robert could say anything said, “Ah, you must be Robert! Welcome to XYZ Company; we are happy to have you here. My name is Sara. It is an absolute pleasure to meet you. I know you’ll love working here. Take a seat right here. Can I bring you coffee, tea or water?” Robert replied, “Good morning, Sara. Yes, please, coffee would be great.” As Robert sat down on the chair, he noticed a video screen across from him. The following message appeared on the screen next to his photo: Robert Smith will join our team today! He’ll be working in Finance. Welcome, Robert! We are so happy to have you here with us! Just as Sara came back and handed coffee to Robert, his manager came out and welcomed him and said, “Come with me, Robert; let’s get you settled in. It’s great to have you on my team!” When Robert got to his work location, the entire team was there to meet him!
What scenario do you prefer? No doubt scenario #2! We all want to be in Robert’s position, but too often we find people are in poor Allan’s position. Feeling unwanted on day one on the job. Both are memorable experiences for sure! But only one is a positive one – an experience that will be talked about outside of the work environment; an experience that will get the new hire engaged in the job right from day one.
When an organization sets expectations for how new hires are welcomed into the company, the benefits are many:
- Positive perception of the organization
- Increased likelihood that the new employee will talk positively about his/her new job with others outside the organization
- Organization is more likely to attract and retain top talent (word of how the new employee was treated will get around!)
- A better place to work for employees
Do you need to do a better job onboarding new employees?
Contact Abudi Consulting Group today to learn how we have worked with organizations to create onboarding programs that make the new employees feel welcomed and wanted from day one.
