CHAPTER 9
Do What It Takes to Make Your New Employee Ready, Eager, and Able to Do Real Work on Day One
Big Head Start
Design your new employee’s experience as you would a customer experience. People don’t always remember what others said or did. They always remember how they felt.
He wanted to send the right signals on his first day. So he went over to the training building.
“Good morning.”
“May I see your ID card?”
“They haven’t given me one yet. I just want to look around.”
“Not going to happen. No one gets in without an ID. Not even the CEO.”
“I am the CEO.”
No one at IBM thought to give the new CEO, Lou Gerstner, an ID card on his first day. He was unable to get into the training building. Not very accommodating. The point is not that you should make sure your new CEO can do work on day one. The point is that you should make sure all of your new employees can do real work on day one.
Accommodation
Accommodation is about getting things done, the logistics that need to be covered to make your new employee productive from the start. Do as much as you can before day one. Help your new employee complete the personal and family setup necessary to a smooth job transition so that he or she is ready, eager, and able to do real work right away. Most of accommodation is transactional, so you should focus on being efficient and thorough. However, you should always check to make sure ...
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