Adding a new person to your Internal Communications Team? Integrating a new member right helps the individual and your team put their best feet forward.
I have been inducted into a few organizations and noticed that those teams which invest less time to integrate newcomers often end up alienating people in the long run. Very often you are expected to ‘swim or sink’ and it takes a lot more energy to appreciate what is expected from you. The stress of figuring out stuff on your own can be debilitating. If you want your colleagues to be successful and make your organization excel (assuming that is why you hired them) then the onus is on you to make their transition smooth.
Here are some practices that can improve your chances of making your new hire into the internal communication a painless experience.
Plan the entry and induction: Prepare a rough outline of the objectives and expectations from the individual’s induction. While most organizations expect the new hire to get started from day 1, it isn’t always possible for newcomers to begin without knowing the people they will work with, the surroundings they will be in and the type of work they will handle. List the people the individual needs to connect with, conduct an office walk through and introduce the person informally to those around. You may not get all stakeholders in a room but you can definitely plan to send out an introductory note.
Logistics and paperwork: Often the basic requirements to get connected and move forward are the stumbling blocks to getting a team member up and running. Pre-empt the needs ahead of the individual’s joining so that the time spent getting infrastructure in place is lesser. Be it laptops or approvals prepare a checklist and assign ownership among the team for completion.
Introducing the new person: Seek the individual’s background, interests and hobbies to top up the note which introduces the hire and explain the role and expectation upfront. Be sure you are using the right designations and inform the appropriate leaders that the person will be reaching out to get connected and understand their work better. This helps clarify conversations that stakeholders can have with the person and allows better conversations.
The Big Picture as well as the nuts and bolts: Apart from people the individual can meet you can list out specific topics that key leaders can cover in their conversations. For example, the business overview, how the organization wins clients, what it does to retain talent, how people receive and share information among others. The Internal Communication team members can take turns to address topics such as channels, recent surveys and trends, upcoming initiatives, plans for the year and intranet content management process. Explain the rhythm of business – team meetings, expectations, work timings, workplace dressing, ethics etc.
Understand the individual’s expectations: To get started the new hire will be expected to know more about the organization’s goals, the business groups’ plans, the internal communication team’s plans, the supervisor’s goals and his or her objectives for the year. While most of the information may be available on the company intranet it helps to have a conversation with the individual and clarify doubts.
Getting comfortable with the workplace: Take time to familiarize the individual with the usual hangouts – the cafeteria, the breakout zones, the beverage counters and the sports facilities among others.
Welcome fresh perspectives: It isn’t only about what you can share. Seek feedback on what the individual notices different about the workplace or processes. Maybe, you can discover things which miss the eye since you are too close to the action. For example, the individual (assuming is coming in from another organization) can compare and contrast how the induction is done at other workplaces.
Help identify a mentor: Navigating the corporate environment can be confusing and difficult. Without a mentor life can be tough for a new hire. If you have been in the system long enough make the effort to identify the right person to make the transition smooth. The mentor needn’t be from your team and it isn’t necessary for the individual to have context on the role. The expectation is that your new hire has someone to go-to and bounce off ideas and take feedback.
Set expectations on feedback: You may want to be cognizant that as the new hire meets with stakeholders there is a possibility that the individual will get unsolicited feedback and comments either positive or negative. Be open about he or she receiving requests for work and clarify that the expectation is to listen patiently.
Have other ideas to make the internal communication new hire’s transition easier? Share them here.
