Social Onboarding…Easing the Transition.
It’s one of the most daunting human experience we must endure in our professional lives; first day of work at a new job. As our 5th grade children (we have twin 11 year olds) were nearing the end of their summer vacation and preparing for the new experience of being a 6th grader their ability to eat, sleep and play was paralyzed. Changing classes was a new concept and they were concerned if they could meet the challenge. Added to that was the expectation of fighting their way to a locker that was higher than they were tall, enter a combination, gather their essential items and make it to the next class before being tagged as tardy. But the overruling thought was the inevitable requirement to change clothes in front of all the other children for P.E. For the preceding 5 years, they knew their peers, they knew their environment and during their 5th grade year, they were the kings of their elementary school.
Absorbing into a new environment is difficult for anyone. We assume because we are adults our ability to become a member of a new society is easy because we lived through the transition into middle school. Heck, we even lived through the transition to high school, college and our first job. I personally lived through the transition of moving to an aircraft carrier while in the United States Navy.
So how do we help new employees transition into our culture? Are you a friendly culture or do you live in a culture of competition where a new employee is initially seen as an enemy? Are new hires treated differently from those of a merger? How does your company onboard a new customer? Is a new customer managed while the new employee is expected to just deal with it? The point is, your company is a group of people with a culture and how you absorb a new person determines the success of an ongoing relationship. It doesn’t matter if they are a customer, a new hire, a contractor, a vendor or that group your company just acquired, they are people and people need help transitioning.
One of the simplest and most effective ways is to invite the person into general conversations. This is where social media is very effective. As many of us do, we love to just observe what others are saying on Facebook without direct participation. Through just being aware we become a part of what’s going on. If we had similar social networking tools inside our organizations the new person could easily observe what others are saying and they could quickly assess how they fit in. Isn’t that the goal? Getting them immersed in our business as soon as possible so that their experiences, skills and wisdom can be used to improve our ability to acquire new customers and be more innovative?
So ask yourself, what is your “Social Onboarding Strategy”? If you don’t have one, go over to the sales and marketing group, I bet they have one you could use.