Getting to know you

Organizations that must rely on membership dues, pledges and other forms of support for their funding know that the key to success is getting supporters involved early and often.

Churches seek out the newest voices for their choirs and find teaching opportunities for those who are so inclined. Professional groups stage events that encourage member mingling and enlist those with leadership skills to serve on committees. And charities often reply to a donor’s gift with a thank you letter, a receipt, and a fact-filled solicitation for additional support.

The object of all this activity is to move the individual quickly through the non-profit version of a sales cycle, trying to build an emotional commitment that will protect the relationship when budgets or schedules become a challenge and choices have to be made.

If non-profits have perfected this routine why, then, are businesses so far behind in performing a similar ritual with the professionals that are essential to their success – their employees?

Today, the typical employee orientation program in large companies tends to be a day-long parade of corporate execs making the same brief, “you are the difference” speeches they make every time, sandwiched in-between HR housekeeping tasks. In smaller companies, it’s usually a series of meetings with people from various departments, designed to put faces with names and e-mail addresses (plus the same HR activities).

These approaches may get the employee indoctrinated, but they ignore the natural, human need to feel “in on things.”

What “things” do people want to feel “in on?”

• Company facts. Knowledge that long-term employees take for granted is all foreign to new hires – even those who boned up on company details before their interviews. Knowing the most basic corporate data gives new employees the confidence to carry on meaningful conversations with their co-workers sooner rather than later.
• Company history. Each company has its share of milestone moments – steps taken in the past that stimulated growth, opened new markets or in some other way pointed the company in a new direction. Understanding these corporate legends helps new employees feel more connected.
• Company culture. What’s the best time to find managers dining in the company cafeteria? What charities does the company support, and why? Do people prefer to communicate via e-mail, telephone or face-to-face? Every company has certain culture quirks that make it unique. New hires will catch on faster if you give them hints about what works – and doesn’t work – at your company.

How to get this information to employees? Beware of the temptation to add one more segment to your training program, or to create a massive tome that becomes required reading for new hires.

Instead, find a way to give new employees a steady diet of these critical facts, figures and legends during their ramp-up time with the company. You might, for example, create a booklet for employees to use during their first 30 days at the company. Each “day” would have space where new hires can document assignments and write questions, plus a spoon-feeding of facts, company history and culture information. Or, you could send a series of “did you know?”-style voicemail messages to new employees. You could even have fun with an existing company newsletter by creating an “Everything you always wanted to know about our company, but were afraid to ask” version.

Whatever format you choose, the message is this: Connectivity equals productivity. The sooner you bring employees into the “family,” the sooner they can begin to make the family proud.