subject: Leadership Strategies: Welcome to Our Work World [print this page] Leadership Strategies: Welcome to Our Work World
What were your first impressions. It is often said, "In the beginning is everything" and that is truly true. When I was a family therapist in my past life, before becoming an executive coach, I could predict what the real problems were in the first five minutes. Same goes for my coaching clients. Also when I do team building, it takes five minutes to see all the pot holes down the road.
So, if you are on the hiring end and add to the better bottom line congratulations. If you are thinking about hiring in the next few months, good for you. And if you are still hesitant, your time will come soon. You are a vital force for how a new employee will join your organization.
Wherever you are on the continuum it is important to think about your workplace culture and workplace etiquette. Integrating new employees is always a challenge. It is even more so when individuals have been unemployed for many months, maybe even a year or so.
There are certain cardinal rules to follow and they are as important as filling out the required forms for insurance and all the legalities that are part of running a business. These are the emotional factors that are there whether you want them to be or not. When you tackle these emotional areas you are guaranteed to have a better change of new employees ready to sprint from the starting gate.
1. WELCOME with cupcakes. Well, not necessarily cupcakes, it could be with cold cuts, or even a pizza. In other words do something that is inexpensive yet shows your workplace culture is more than pie charts and to do lists. Here is the rationale: eating together is about as basic as you can get tot he core of relationships. It has a deep meaning. In fact, in older cultures no real business (like how to start or end a raid on a rival clan) was done without first breaking bread.
2. SHARE stories. No, I don't mean, "Hello, my name is and I'm..." you get the drift. And no, I don't mean gossip. Research and just good common sense shows that people work better with people they know and like. So, take a coffee break, gather the troops around, and simple talk about where you like to go for vacation, sports, anything that gives some clues to personalities and preferences. It pays in the long run to know just enough to make the day working together more fun.
3. SET boundaries. While you are sharing stories set the guidelines about the practical part of working together. Stuff like who tends to making coffee in the morning, how to be mindful when on the phone, who to tell when taking breaks, how to reach someone should there be an emergency. This is always done better in the group (while you are sharing stories, salad or cupcakes) than when the official papers are being filled out.
These few, relatively small additions will help the new employee quickly feel part of the team and will add value in a New York minute. Remember, work is both a logical and an emotional place. Leave out logic and you have the real life version of the TV Show, THE OFFICE. Leave out emotions and you have an ugly real life version of the movie, Wall Street.
Sylvia Lafair, Ph.D., author of the award winning book, "Don't Bring It to Work" and "Pattern Aware Success Guide", is President of CEO, Creative Energy Options, Inc., a global consulting company focused on optimizing workplace relationships through extraordinary leadership. Dr. Lafair's unique model has revolutionized the way teams cooperate, relate and innovate.
She can be reached at sylvia@ceoptions.com or 570-636-3858; http://www.sylvialafair.com
