The typical question from friends and family is “How was your first day?” when you start a new job. What are you doing for your new employees on their first day that will make the answer to this question “Great!”
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“People leave managers not companies,” write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. |
We know that managers make a big impact on employee retention so why not begin building a strong relationship on the employee’s first day?
We can use the concept of imprinting to build the connection between employee and manager. In the 1930s, a researcher named Konrad Lorenz became very interested in imprinting, and he managed to prove that geese and ducks really will become attached to the first moving thing they see, whether or not it is another duck. He also learned that imprinting happens very quickly.
It may be time to examine the process of orientation in your organization to think about how to incorporate employee imprinting concepts with the immediate manager. A few ideas:
- The manager should be involved in the selection process so the candidate can make the decision during the interview that they would like to have him/her as their manager
- Have the manager be the person who greets the new employee first thing in the morning on day one
- The manager should be the person who introduces the new employee to the team, which includes everyone they’ll need to work with to be successful
- Although the human resources and/or training department may conduct the orientation, the manager should periodically check in with the new employee to answer questions and have a presence during the process
- Establish the manager as the “go to” person after orientation by having a one-on-one expectations meeting…what does the employee expect and what does the manager expect
On their first day employees are thinking: Will I be successful? Will I like my coworkers and my manager? And bottom line, did I make the right decision to come work for this company? Involving the employee’s manager increases the chance the answers to these questions are Yes, Yes and Yes.
Management Skills Resource, Inc. is pleased to offer interactive workshops to develop the confidence, competence and courage of your managers. To discuss your training plans, contact us at info@ManagementSkillsInc.com or call 972 881-5282.