New hire: swim or sink

After successful recruitment process an offer was made and accepted. But the first week showed to new hire that this organization is not a right fit for him. He felt that he wasn’t expected to the organization and that he is disturbing his new colleagues with different work related questions. But he decided not to give up so easily and give his new employer a second chance. At the end of second work week he had made up his mind and he submits his resignation note.

Though this is a made up story, I believe that there are people who can relate themselves or their new colleagues with that. New hires are trying to swim so hard, but the waters are strange to them and they sink.

First 40 hours in new job are critical when we are talking of new hire’s perception of you and your organization. Hence it is inevitable to start with induction as soon as the offer to the candidate is made and accepted. .

Organizations are different and therefore they have different induction programs. The length and content of the program depends of the complexity of the role as well as of the organization itself.

The main purpose of induction training is to integrate new people into your organization and make them understand your values, culture, purpose, procedures and programs. Hence, induction training and proper program are the keys when we are talking about integrating new people to our organizations and helping them to settle down quickly.

Want to know more about induction programs? Here are two stories from two different and great organizations:

Disney Traditions

Before new cast members (that is how Disney calls its employees because they want their people to think of themselves as part of a cast that is putting on a show for an audience) actually start at Disney they need to pass their induction training called Disney Traditions. The program is about past, present and future of Disney. During the classroom training the participants will learn about history, benefits and legal information that they need to know, as well as 4 Keys of Disney(or four guest service standards: Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency). After lunch break all participants are taken to the field trip to Magic Kingdom to see how those standards are applied into real life. They will then return to the classroom where a surprise guest will pay a visit to them. A Mickey Mouse himself will meet the new group to give them their brand new Disney’s name tags. What a great ending to the Magical Training Day!

Starbucks' Story

There are several different programs that Starbucks offers to its partners (yes, instead of calling its people employees Starbucks calls them partners because they see their people as partners in shared success). For instance, their training program, which is called „Starbucks Experience“, includes overview of company’s history, culture, CSR programs, but also introduction to the coffee world. „Tell.Show. Do.“ – is the process that Starbucks follows and uses with new partners. Tell is what baristas learn in the training. Show is when Coach shows them exactly how to do something and Do is when the barista did the action with the coach watching to assist, train and praise.

But there are also fun factors in their programs, for instance, they use tool like „Drink Dice“. This is kind of a game where trainees would roll and the dice would come up with a size, iced or hot, a beverage, a syrup, decaf or regular and the new barista would have to figure out how to write and say (Starbucks has their own language) that particular combination.