First Impressions

In the past, we’ve discussed the importance of Infusing Company Culture Into New Employees before they are new employees.  After all, company culture begins taking form in your future staff before they are hired – specifically by the way they are treated during the interview and hiring process.

Big news: those future employees are here!  They were impressed by your efforts in creating an excellent first impression, and they are hungry for more.  Now is not the time to sit back and relax, satisfied in landing those top recruits.  You must keep the momentum going to build your ideal company culture, and all eyes are on you.

A new employee’s first day should always be spent in some form of orientation to the company, its values and mission, new coworkers, and business operations.  This is your opportunity to showcase what is of value to your organization, its top leaders down to the front line.  If a new hire’s first day is spent engulfed in paperwork, policies, and handbooks, he or she will quickly learn that rules and record-keeping hold top value in the organization.  Instead of creating that impression, try putting your values in action by showing your new staff what truly is important to the company.  By focusing on your values and mission, you demonstrate the importance of your company’s purpose and abiding by the standards and principles that have created its success.  Show your newest employees who values them by arranging an introduction, welcome, and discussion of company values with your top leaders so that new staff feel your executives have a personal interest in them, and truly care about living-out the values every day at work.

The paperwork, policies, and handbooks are an important part of onboarding new staff, but your organization halts the construction of an ideal culture if those things are the entire onboarding process.  Give your newest employees a meaningful first day orientation focused on what your company values, and watch your dream culture take root.