What starting a business taught me about the employee experience
January 2019 is the month my business baby was born. I was so excited, scared, and full of ideas about my brand new human resources consulting firm.
After about a decade in human resources I decided to take the leap and open my own consulting firm.
I was excited about the prospect of choosing the projects I worked on, being able to have big impact in different companies, and of-course freedom of time and location.
While I was excited, I was also filled with the voice of fear and thoughts like…
“Can I really do this?”; “I’ve never owned a business”; “How will I get my name out there?”; “Will people trust me?”
Fast forward to 8 months later, and my business is growing month by month, of-course I still hear the voice of fear, but I’ve learned along the way to quiet it more and more.
Reflecting on my experiences as a new entrepreneur, although I have vast experience in HR, I still had to learn (and I’m still learning) the ins and outs of consulting models, online business, social media marketing, sales funnels, email campaigns and much more… it got me thinking…
When organizations hire new people, although they come with their own expertise, there’s so many new things to learn, new work culture, new norms, new people to meet, and new pressure to perform well…
Do new employees have the same fears as I do & more importantly how does it affect them in the first few months on the job?
Welcoming new employees and setting them up for success, and for high performance, means we must address their fears and create an environment of safety first.
An environment where making mistakes is part of learning, and asking questions instead of trying to figure it all out by yourself, is encouraged.
So how do you create a psychologically safe environment for new employees?
Treat them how they want to be treated by getting to know them first.
Lead with curiosity by not making assumptions about people, situations, goals or learning styles, instead spend time getting to know new employees.
Ask deeper questions to understand their motivations, passions and goals in life.
Include them in their growth journey by collaborating to make a plan for the first 3 months on the job.
Find out what goals they want to accomplish, how they want to develop, and what is expected of them.
When we start something new a big fear is “what happens if I screw up?”
Combat this fear by laying out expectations, consider what parts of the role are challenging for new employees, what roadblocks they may encounter, and discuss these openly, make a plan for growth.
Establish open communication and two way feedback channel through discussing communication norms in the organization, find out how they like to communicate, and tell them what your communication style is.
Stay open to feedback and discuss how feedback occurs on your team or in the organization.
Consider the new employees perspective as well, ask them how they like to receive feedback, and how you can support them best in their new position.
“Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.” – John Wooden
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