Welcome to Cube City

Remember the first day of your very first “real job?”

You were likely excited to be someplace that didn’t rely on free food or a merchandise discount to attract workers. Eager to showcase the skills you spent the last several years polishing. Exhausted from the various forms you completed, training you endured, and people you met.

Yes, the first day has to rank right up there on those “stress score” tests. It may not be as high as “death in the family,” or “serious illness,” but it certainly does create a series of physical and emotional challenges that impact new employees.

Part of this has to do with the fact that no matter how you pictured your first job – let alone your first day – it doesn’t turn out that way at all. Whether the first day was better or worse is immaterial; it was just different. And different is oftentimes frightening.

Why? Because you were trained to perform the tasks for which you were hired. But you had no effective preparation for the way things work in the business world. The pace. The expectations. The egos. Team projects completed in a sterile college environment pale in comparison to how things get done in corporate America.

Trouble is, it’s not a situation that can be easily addressed on campus. After all, businesses would be none too pleased if universities upped the focus on “soft skills” at the expense of core curriculum. As such, they turn out trained people who need help developing the instincts they will need to get along and get ahead.

Where will they get the help? There’s the rub. Companies with corporate training departments primarily focus on specific skill training – computer programs and such – needed to perform company tasks. Budgets for outside training are generally slim, and often allocated mostly to the high performers that the company has earmarked for success. And supervisors have even less time for meaningful mentoring than they did when you had your first day.

What’s the solution? (It isn’t to pitch ‘em in the water and hope they learn how to swim.) According to an informal poll of managers, the key is to focus your limited available mentoring time on a few essential skills that can help new employees feel more comfortable – and start producing – more quickly. Among those skills:

• Understanding the importance of saying what you’ll do, and doing what you say. New employees who want to make a positive impression often go out and do the work, without keeping the necessary people in the loop. Helping develop strong reporting (and, of course, follow through) skills reduces a supervisor’s blood pressure, while creating a brand image of trustworthiness.

• Learning how and when to present ideas. While you don’t want to stifle energy and creativity, you also want to keep that new employee from getting athlete’s tongue. The best advice? Have this conversation early and often.
  
  
• Handling disappointment. The more capable they are, the more disappointment employees will face as they take chances, make suggestions, and get put back in their place a time or two. Alerting them to situations where the risk is greatest – and being there to look for learning opportunities when trouble happens – builds savvier, more resilient employees.
  

The message? Focus your available mentoring moments on the key skills that can help new employees stand out early and often – for all the right reasons.