Our series of interviews with experts in HR has led us to the door of Todd Raphael, Editor-in-Chief of ERE.net, one of the foremost online magazines covering HR and recruitment. He is a vastly experienced recruitment expert and commentator. He regularly appears on radio and in print as an industry voice.
Todd agreed to be interviewed on the topic of employer/employee communication and, in particular, on the communication required in the initial stages of an employment. We started by talking about how employers should approach communicating with employees.
Q1. How should employers communicate with employees to make them feel valued? I had been thinking about the ways in which things such as challenge, reward and team dynamic are communicated to employees. Some companies are clearly able to do this well – Apple, Zappos, etc. – but I was keen to hear your take on it.
Todd – I think you have to know the individual. This sounds like a boring, common-sense, statement, but I think it’s often ignored. For example, a receptionist gets applauded for being a good receptionist, but they really are trying to show they are ready to do sales. A salesperson gets applauded for being a good salesperson, but they really want to be a good manager. You have to know who the person is and what they are good at and what their career goals are, and then you have to be sure they are valued for that. You should speak to employees’ goals and aspirations. Do this on an individual as well as a group basis.
Also, managers often don’t fully understand what their employees are doing, but customers do. The manager says, “Happy Thanksgiving, I hope you relax” and the employee is thinking, “Doesn’t she know I have to work through Thanksgiving to finish project X?” In this case you should ask employees where they are at. Your first communication should be a question.
The manager says, “I heard one of our customers is unhappy with the service you provided last week” and the employee is thinking, “Sure, but why did no one notice the customer who I helped last week and who’s head over heels about me?” With that in mind, perhaps companies can have employees share their favourite letter-of-the-month from a customer. There are lots of ways in which to recognize unsung, unappreciated employees good work.
Q2. HR departments are being pushed to provide metrics to predict when an employee may leave or to predict who the perfect candidate may be for a role – is there a place for employers to simply listen to their employees?
Todd – Heck yes. What if the metrics predict someone who’s going to leave, but who’s really not? Plus, what if the metrics show an employee wants to leave … and … is that so bad? Perhaps they just want a better life. Perhaps their wife or husband has a new job in a new town and they need to move. Perhaps they need to make more money. Perhaps they want a new title. Wanting to leave may be a reflection of a good (driven) and not bad employee! Try to open communications so that management can be privy to what is going on.
Q 3.How can companies on-board new staff efficiently and in a way that integrates them successfully to the company culture?
Todd – For one thing – prepare employees already on the staff for the new employee. Perhaps it’s a new manager who has a reputation for being eager to do layoffs, or for being abrasive, mean, or firing people easily, or for the opposite – for being a pushover or soft on staff. Current employees really need to be as prepared for a new employee as a new employee is for the job.
For the new employee, perhaps they can talk to some current employees before starting to get the inside scoop on the unwritten rules or ways of functioning of the company. Perhaps a lunch with a veteran who knows the company really well. Perhaps even a founder, vendor, partner, board member, or something like that.
Perhaps there are some great videos by the company, or about the company. A Facebook page they can follow, or a happy hour to attend.
Maybe current employees can put together a list of 20 things the new employee might want know about the company but might not know. Perhaps current employees can list the best things about their jobs, to excite the new employee about theirs. A company is an enterprise but it is also a community and a place where staff spend a large proportion of their week. Start to see it as such and the difficulties of integration may seem more manageable.
If you would like to learn more about on-boarding training solutions then contact us here.
