Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • April 23, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 21 EXPERTS CORNER If you don't know how to onboard new employees, you're not alone By Pam Butterfield F or many employers, bringing on new employees is something they haven't had to do for years. The majority of their workforce was Baby Boomers who came and stayed. But today, those Boomers are leaving and employers are facing the impact of all that institutional knowledge go- ing out the door with them. Many are worried about how they will bring on new workers to fill all those slots. What I'm worried about is that many of these employers have forgotten — or never really knew — how to onboard new workers so they'll get up to speed and stay. Today, those processes are critical. This is especially true when you're hir- ing Millennials who make quick decisions about their workplaces and have no prob- lem leaving if they are unhappy. If a company doesn't onboard the Boomer's replacement properly, chances are they will leave. And by the time the next employee comes along to fill the spot, the Boomer (and his or her institu- tional knowledge) is long gone. Without that knowledge, the newest employee has a much higher chance of failing. Onboarding gets an employee up to speed about how to do their job, how their work contributes to the company goals, how things are done and how things are not done. Here are three things successful companies do to help new employees get off to a good start and become confident contributors: Onboard employees: Imagine this. You're standing with one foot on a boat and one foot on a dock. If you don't put both feet on one of the surfaces as the boat pulls away you fall into the water. The goal of a well-thought-out on- boarding process is to get a new em- ployee to move both feet solidly onto the boat (your company). If you have a new employee and they get drenched from falling in the water too many times, chances are they will not be loyal to you. And they won't perform the way you anticipated. Provide company and job-specific training: Training costs money and takes time. Not training your employees costs even more. Good people do not want to go to work every day and screw up. And Millennials, who seek engagement and development, will quickly sour on their jobs without new challenges. What that means is that you must have an established, repeatable in- house training program. This will help your employees develop the skills they need to do the job the way you want it done. It will reduce the likelihood of mistakes and rework, and help new employees learn the procedures that allow them to do it efficiently. Ongoing feedback: Regular on-the- job "guidance" catches problems before they become huge performance issues. With newer employees, it allows you to provide course-corrections, on-the-job training and feedback. Millennials expect constant, sup- portive feedback. You can make fun of that, but it's what they expect. The an- nual performance review doesn't cut it with this crowd. The big takeaways The lessons here are that today's employees aren't yesterday's employ- ees. And they never will be again. They expect more from a job and when they don't get it, they leave. This drives up costs, increases frustration and the ability for a company to move forward. Take a good look at your recruiting, onboarding, training and employee engagement processes. Start evolving them to meet the needs of the labor force you'll need today and tomorrow. Develop repeatable processes that can be used as these restless employees move on. Stop complaining and start learning from them. They may just have something to teach you. Pam Butterfield is the founder of Business Success Tools, a small business consulting firm. HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM POLL LAST WEEK'S POLL RESULT: Should the state pay off Hartford's entire $550M in general obligation debt? NEXT WEEK'S POLL: Do you plan to regularly use the Hartford Rail Line? To vote, go online to hartfordbusiness.com BIZ BOOKS Traits to be a world-class leader By Jim Pawlak "The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors that Transform Ordinary People into World-Class Leaders" by Elena Bothelo and Kim R. Powell with Tahl Raz (Currency, $28). No matter what rung of the orga- nizational ladder you're a CEO. Of what? "Me Inc." How you do your job determines the success of Me Inc. The authors' study of the leadership traits of over 2,600 CEOs shows that leaders are go-to people, not me-too people. Their research identified four go-to behaviors: 1. "Decide: Speed Over Precision" — Effective CEOs don't suffer from analysis paralysis. They know when they have enough information to make a decision. How? They "make the complex simple" by paying close attention to what drives value to the organization. By identify- ing and prioritizing "things that always matter," employees at all levels can "check the boxes" quickly, too. 2. "Engage for Impact: Orchestrate Stakeholders to Drive Results" deals with the ability to build relationships. Think about the people you work with inside and outside the firm. Their range of interests, needs, wants, motivation, etc., shift over time. Leaders must be able to identify and address those shifts to influence (two-way) value- oriented action on an ongoing basis. To identify and address they don't assume they know; they seek informa- tion by asking questions and listening. 3. "Relentless Reliability: Deliver Consistently" — It's all about get- ting things done. It's about following through on commitments. When employees know what to expect from a leader, they expect the same things of themselves. The major thing employees expect: realistic expectations. S-T-R-E-T-C-H works to challenge people — but the expected outcome can't be "pie in the sky." Employees should come away confidently saying, "Consider it done." 4. "Adapt Boldly: Ride the Discom- fort of the Unknown" speaks to under- standing that the future won't be a repeat of the past. Leaders understand that comfort zone and danger zone are kindred spirits. They take the attitude, "If I am not uncomfortable, then I am probably not learning and changing fast enough." 75.6% No 24.4% Yes READER COMMENTS: "Absolutely not. When was this ever publicly aired or debated? Why should Hartford be singled out for this relief, which will surely come at the expense of other cities and towns. If the magic formula to have your debt erased is to simply make bad decisions and be unable to meet your obligations, it's only a matter of time before everyone will qualify for relief." "I'm a little surprised (but only a little) that legislative leaders now say they had no idea what they were approving last year concerning Hartford's debt. The state is right to step in and help — for a limited period of time and only with sufficient controls to ensure the city doesn't add new debt if current debt is apparently transferred to the state." Pam Butterfield Jim Pawlak Book Review

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