When you were new

Partners, friends and colleagues – do you remember your first day at a new job?  What do you remember, what was it like?  Was it an amazing experience or was it dreadful and uninspiring?

I remember at one of my orientation days, the presenters were all saying “we are so exited you are here” in a MONOTONE voice and NOT making eye contact.  Some presenters were late or did not appear to know the day’s agenda as one person didn’t show up at all!  It was a long day and very boring, and of course not energizing in any way.

So, what do you suggest we can do to create an amazing a grand “welcoming experience” for a new hire?  Their very first experience on their first day with Phillips?

(Let's NOT make it like this video clip below)!!!

 

Comments

[Helene Kershaw]

This is not an original idea but it’s something we did here at Phillips when we had Partners from India visiting us. We scheduled as many Partners at Hanover as possible to participate. We all gathered in the reception area in a semi circle and when the India Partners arrived everyone clapped and each Partner here shook the hand of the India Partners, welcomed them, introduced themselves and said something about their role. I know the India Partners were impressed by our greeting and felt very special. Why can’t we do something like that for new Partners?

[nardo]

When I went to visit India I was very surprised! When I entered the office, several partners were awaiting my arrival at the front door. Before I walked into the building they placed a flower 'necklace' around my neck and 'blessed' me with a sort of prayer. I later found out it was the ritual called Puja (or Pooja) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puja_%28Hinduism%29.

Amy, I know you were asking about new hires - I was not a new hire at this company but it was a very cool welcoming and I felt honoured.

I think it’s a great idea to get something going at Phillips, but just to play devil's advocate - I know some people are shy and are embarrassed by such public displays - how will that play factor into creating a generic 'welcoming experience'?

[Danny Kelly]

This post took me back to my very first day as if it were yesterday; although it was just 6 weeks ago. I personally enjoyed my entire process from the first call to my first day with Phillips. I think one idea would be to have current partners greet the new partner at the front door; it would speak volumes. If I sit here, I am sure I could think of a few more good ways offices can make a bigger impact on their new hire. I like hearing what everyone else is doing at their locations as well.

[Danny Kelly]

I tried to post this earlier but I believe there was a problem with the comments section of the blog. I see now that Nardo had a similar experience in India. I too think adopting this and having the entire office greet the partner would be great.

[Shelley Brady]

Great workplaces are unique environments and the idea of working for a great workplace is very appealing to most people. In my opinion, a great workplace is where employees, managers and leaders work well with each other, sharing a mutual trust and confidence that benefits the entire organization. To be considered a truly great workplace, I think there needs to be a universal commitment to creating a welcoming atmosphere in which people truly feel like they are part of something special.
It should be the goal of every leader and manager to ensure that each new hire be welcomed into the community and that they feel special from the moment they join the company.
So, how can we make people feel welcomed and special? Here are my ideas – some basic, some not so basic:
• The first day should be treated as if it is a birthday rather than a day of “ necessary paperwork”. Bright, colorful balloons tied to the new person’s work area (or orientation area), a universal Company gift of some kind (Company shirt, hat, pen, or something along those lines, but with the Company logo).
• Upon first day of work, the new Partner should have a working computer with all functioning software, a desk filled with all of the basic tools, a stocked van (if applicable), a key to the building, etc. No new Partner should ever have to experience the Company not being fully prepared for them. The new Partner should clearly be able to see that time and energy was spent on getting them ready for their new position – this will reassure them that they made the right decision to join our company!
• When the new Partner turns their computer on for the first time, there should be two “Welcome E-mails” waiting for them, one from Alan Phillips and one from their Team Leader
• Currently in the Hanover office, we welcome new Partners at our next Monthly Meeting, with a special, personalized introduction from the Team Leader. I really like this idea and think that all locations should start doing this, but what I think would make this practice even more powerful would be to have this presentation done on day one! Regardless. We would gather up whoever is in the office that day at 9:00 and officially welcome the new Partner with a personalized presentation. This would obviously take some up-front work, but sure would send a message that we are excited for the new Partner to be there!
• First day lunch with Team Leader, at least one or two co-workers, and if possible, the division Leader should be the norm.
• During “orientation”, I would really like to see speakers from different departments come and speak to the new Partner to give them a more thorough overview of the company, company culture, and starting to build cross team relationships.
• Someone else shared the idea of when a sports team signs a new player to the team and they have an official presentation of the jersey. I Loved this idea!

I will keep thinking about this! Stay tuned…

[Amy Yasneski]

THese are some great ideas everyone! I am certain to use some of them and I also have the challenge of making sure it will work in all worldwide locations (China, India, Canada, Netherlands) and also for the few times we might have someone in orientation in a smaller, remote office. That one is a particularly harder challenge since the new hire may only have one person in the office to welcome them.

Any thoughts about the remote orientation "welcome" ideas?

[Michael Garner]

When hiring a new partner at Jeffreys, I feel that all team members have done a great job at making new partners feel welcome and special. We now try to bring all new hires to the Jeffreys main office in Colfax. This gives them a chance to meet everyone in the office that they will be working with and hopefully make them feel that they are part of something a little bigger. Because of the geographic size of our organization it is difficult to really make each partner feel like they are continually part of something bigger than their role. I really think making new hires feel welcome and special is pretty simple. What I see as a bigger challenge is keeping partners engaged and feeling special as they carry out their role. At Jeffreys we have roughly 70 partners, 25 of these are Field Service Technicians and 19 are Salesmen, this is 44 partners or 63% who rarely visit an office or see another partner in person. These are the partners that create business and the need for the rest of our role descriptions. So when we hire a new partner for one of these roles, how do we continue to support them? It is our goal to not only provide Legendary Customer Service to our customers but also to our partners. How are you doing at that?

As for making someone feel special at the signing of an offer letter, orientation day, or start date, there are many ways that we can all participate in this at our individual profit centers. The key to this is partners being informed that someone new is coming on board and understanding that they are to provide this new partner with a Legendary Experience. No Rules just make it happen.

Below is one that I personally did when Carey Beevers agreed to accept our offer as Sales Engineer for Arkansas. He had been competing against us for several years with other distributors and I wanted to make sure that he knew he was joining a machine tool distributor that was second to none in all aspects. So I had the last minute idea to set up a signing table and make it like a sports standout that was signing a letter of intent. We set up a table in the showroom with Haas T-shirts & Hats and had him sign his offer letter. Only Carey can tell you how he felt, but the impression I received is he really felt special and new this was a big deal for him and us.

For his start date we flew him to Colfax where he went through new hire orientation with Kim Debruhl and then was treated to dinner with Brooks Barwick and Larry Hubbard. The second day he spent time with each person in the office that he would be working with. He was able to learn about their role and how they could benefit each other. Once he returned from Colfax, he spent the remainder of the week in the Arkansas office with me, going over our systems and his role. From their he and I spent a few days on the road calling on customers and he was off.

[Michael Garner]

To see a picture of Carey's signing day with Jeffreys click on the link

http://phillipscorp.com/images/signing.jpg

[Amy Yasneski]

Michael, I like the sports signing idea and thanks for the photo too. I think you have a great point about keeping those remote Partnrs engaged and feeling a sense of belonging on an on-going basis. That's a whole topic as well isn't it!