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By Laurie Guest
Learning how to handle “The Overs” is a skill. What do I mean by “The Overs”? An “Over” is a guest who is over-friendly, over-researched, or overbearing. The Over-Friendly Although it doesn’t sound bad when you first mention it, many people may feel uncomfortable with over-friendly guests in the workplace. I find it especially true for young attractive women who feel that patients or customers are crossing the line from friendly banters to pickup lines. However, it certainly is not limited to male offenders. Female guests can be just as guilty of crossing the line. What can you do to get out of these situations? I have a three-step approach. Remove yourself from the engagement. Walk away to another part of the facility. Busy yourself with other work causing a physical distance between you and the over-friendly. Be sure to stay professional and formal in your word choices when it is appropriate to reengage. Redirect. When it first starts to sound over the line, redirect with statements like, “Bill, I can’t let you keep talking to me like that. I have to ask that we keep this conversation professional.” Then immediately follow that up with an instruction related to the purpose of the encounter. Refer to another team member. Discuss with your teammates the guest who makes you feel uncomfortable. If possible, refer the guest to another member of the team who can attend to his or her needs in your place. Over-friendly equals insecurity. Knowing this helps me react appropriately toward this person. The Over-Researched For example, a patient presents in the exam room loaded with knowledge from the internet. She has a ream of paper that explains the self-diagnoses, the treatment plan, and a brand-new drug that will best work for her. She behaves as if all you have to do is confirm and prescribe. We all know that many times this data is going to be off-base or at the very least not the standard of care. The best thing here is for the staff to protect the doctor’s time by acknowledging the work that went into the research, showing appreciation for the participation in their care, and giving assurance that it will be shown to the doctor. By doing that, we are able to acknowledge the work that they put into their research. Being proactive and gathering information gives the patient power at a time when they will need it. Acknowledging what they’ve done is the best thing you can do. The Overbearing Guest In this category, we find almost every annoying characteristic that’s difficult to handle. Over the years, I have dealt with people who have sworn at me, said cruel things, and even threatened the staff. In my personal life, I’ve dealt with overbearing people by avoiding them or getting away from them as fast as I can. In business, that isn’t a choice. We have to know how to deal with them. One thing that has really helped me is to see beyond the behavior that annoys and try to remain unaffected by their words. Instead, I let it fall off my back and maybe even look for a chance to use humor. My favorite story about this was the time my patient was an older gentleman who seemed to have lost his verbal filter over the years. He said anything that came to mind. I was finishing up his testing when out of the blue, he leaned out from behind the equipment and smirked, “You sure are fat.” Having been a plus-sized gal most of my life, this was not news to me, but this overbearing older gentleman’s rude remark caught me off guard. I knew I couldn’t be rude back to him. Instead I went with humor. I stepped back, looked down at myself, and said, “What? I’m fat? You’ve got to be kidding me!” He burst out laughing, and I just went on with my work. My feelings were hurt, but I didn’t show it. One of my colleagues overheard what he said. She informed the doctor we were working with about what had happened. I found out later that when the doctor got into the room, he shook hands with the man and said, “I’m happy to take care of you today, sir, but I’m going to ask you to treat my team with the respect they deserve. Laurie works very hard for me, and I will not agree to take care of you as a new patient if you won’t agree to be kind to the people I care about.” How to Handle “The Overs” The man profusely apologized and asked to speak to me before leaving. He said he was very sorry and didn’t know why he even said such a rude statement. Humor worked for me that day, but as you can tell, I’ll never forget it. More than two decades later when I needed to reflect on a person who was overbearing towards me, he is the man who first comes to mind. Overbearing behavior comes from the fear of being incompetent. This gentleman was likely feeling vulnerable in the medical situation he was in, and he chose an overbearing attitude as a way to cope. What all of these Overs have in common is the need for control. They demonstrate that need in a various ways. Knowing how to watch for these behaviors, react appropriately, and remain professional is key. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success!
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By Laurie Guest
Nobody wants them, yet we all have them: angry customers. It doesn’t matter what position you hold in the office, knowing how to handle the dissatisfied consumer is crucial. Let’s take a look at the twelve steps to best handle the angry customer you’re sure to encounter someday. 1. Stay Calm. Most of the time it is our front-line staff who take the brunt of angry customers. It is instinctive to flee or fight when faced with a tense situation and neither are the right answer here. Staffers must train themselves to stay calm. Take slow and deep breaths while concentrating on maintaining eye contact. 2. Stop, look, listen, lean forward, be responsive. If possible, move agitated customers from your counter area to a private room or adjacent hallway. Stop all other activity and concentrate on what the person tells you. Body language is an important tool for showing a customer you are serious about resolving the issue. Nodding, eye contact, and note-taking are all excellent modes of silent communication. Most importantly, keep quiet. If you interrupt, the person will assume you are not listening and often feel the need to start over again. Patiently listen to the whole story. When the customer has clearly finished, you may proceed with your response. 3. Accept the anger. Try not to take the demonstration of anger personally. A majority of the time people do not know how to express displeasure pleasantly (I suppose that’s an oxymoron). Some people assume they will get better results with rage than with polite dialog. By the way, if YOU are ever the angry customer in a place of business, this is a great step to use in your favor. Help the other person by saying in a sincere, pleasant tone: “I know it isn’t your fault, but I’m very upset about this situation and I hope you can help me.” This often works better than berating an innocent team member. 4. Accept responsibility. Never say: “There’s nothing I can do.” That statement is like gasoline on a camp fire. Although it may range from simply gathering facts to solving the problem, there’s ALWAYS something you can do. If you are a member of the team, then all the work done for the customer is a reflection of the overall quality. Remember: majority rules. If most of the contacts you make during an experiences are surly, we assume all the workers are the same. A similar principle applies in our office. All-for-one-and-one-for-all is the way a successful office should operate. 5. Refer to the proper person. As soon as you have determined the best person to solve their problem, explain this to the customer. Choose your words carefully: “Mr. Smith, the best person to help you with XYZ situation is Melanie our staff member in charge of 123. Let me explain your needs to her and she will be happy to fix this right away.” Use the customer’s name, identify the problem and give the person with the solution an identity. You’ve also removed the customer’s need to rehash the issue, and implied the response will be timely. 6. Ask questions. This step reminds me of the old rule to “gather your facts.” It is a fundamental rule by which we should all live. There is always more to the story. By asking questions you can uncover hidden facts to help you put the puzzle together. Questions like: “What were you told?” or “When did you call?” or “Do you know who you spoke to?” 7. Restate the problem; ask for confirmation. If you have successfully followed the first six steps, you should have a basic understanding of the complaint. Now is the time to summarize the story. Remember to present the recap from the customer’s perspective. In other words, if you know a part of the story is not accurate, you can insert such bridges as “and you feel, Mr. Smith” or “your impression was.” 8. Respond visibly. Be careful to have the right facial expression. The easiest way to achieve this step is to simply nod. Try not to be too defensive even if you’re the cause of the complaint. Avoid being too smiley; serious, professional and focused are the best traits to show. 9. Agree. I’m not asking you to agree with a customer who may be insulting, rude, or wrong. Agreeing in this case means to understand or empathize. A well-known technique for dealing with a complaint is the “Feel, Felt, Found” method. “I understand how you feel, Mr. Smith. I would have felt that way, too. What we have found is that if we (insert solution here), it seems to help.” 10. Develop solutions. This is my favorite step. It is often the turning point in defrosting an angry person. Start tossing out suggestions to solve the problem. If it’s a simple scenario, one solution often suffices. Other times, multiple options are necessary. When faced with a customer who will not respond to any of your suggestions, try this statement: “What can we do to make this situation better?” Just know that occasionally the reply is: “There’s nothing you CAN do!” 11. Exceed expectations. We refer to this as “REPLACE Plus 1.” That means not only do we try to solve the problem, but we add a touch of appreciation with it. Adding a special touch or offer that applies to your industry is a great place to start. This applies when your organization is clearly “in the wrong” and needs to make up for a poor decision or unfortunate situation. 12. Personalize. This can be the turning point when dealing with an extremely irate person. Once, I dealt with a customer in rage. I tried everything to calm him. Aside from just standing there and nodding, I had no ammunition to his verbal abuse. I kept quiet even though I wanted to yell back. Finally, when he appeared to be finished, I started my first sentence with his first name and I said it in a tone like we were old friends. Immediately, he seemed to relax a little. I quickly asked what I could do to make the situation better. He came up with a simple suggestion, one I hadn’t thought of. I agreed that his idea was a great compromise and he seemed satisfied. All’s well that ends well. After enough practice, the steps in dealing with angry customers becomes second nature. Unfortunately, there isn’t a hard and fast rule on how to use the steps. Many times I find myself using step 12 first. Be flexible, and you’ll find that it’s easier than ever to handle even the toughest situation. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Laurie Guest
When it comes to a business environment, fun is a relative term. You might be part of a team where boisterous laughter or lots of teasing is appropriate while other industries may require a very serious environment. Some places might even fool you because they are so different than what you expected that the experience becomes memorable. A dear friend of mine had to go to chemotherapy and asked me to accompany her on several occasions. This environment was new to me. On the way in the door, I pictured a quiet place, with a kind of sadness hanging in the air, and certainly not a place where fun would be had. What a surprise when I found the complete opposite! I found upbeat chatter, smiles on the faces of every team member, and games. On the day we were there, we played bingo all afternoon. When you won, they wheeled over a cart filled with prizes to choose from. If a place can make chemo fun, then why can’t more organizations find small ways to create joy? After all when we’re making the experience fun for others, the staff is having fun too. Spice It Up Professionalism does not mean you have to be serious all the time. Consider ways to bring fun to work. 1. Let the customers know you’re a fun place by your actions. Southwest Airlines is a perfect example of this by using humor in their announcements and sometimes coordinating games. I recently saw a gate agent for Southwest conduct a paper airplane contest in the boarding area of a delayed flight. There were over 40 people playing and the winner received a $25 gift card. So much fun! 2. Create a tradition the staff enjoys. Several companies have Casual Friday where jeans are allowed, and once a month they have a birthday potluck for lunch. Everybody brings something to share as they recognize that month’s birthdays. 3. Develop staff recognition programs. People thrive on being recognized. Our company had a fun activity we did for several years: staff could nominate others for a “smiley award.” The name of the program sounds a little weird, but we had small yellow tickets printed up, and the staff could give those to each other for actions that deserved applause. For example, scraping a patient’s windshield in the winter or going the extra mile for a co-worker earned a smiley award. The names of the nominee and the nominator were written on these awards. At our quarterly staff meeting all the smiley slips were placed in a fish bowl. Three tickets were drawn. Nominees won gift certificates to a local restaurant or store, while nominators won lottery tickets. What was especially great about this praise was management had nothing to do with it. Nominees were peer recognized and prizes were given by the luck of the draw. In reality, everyone won. We celebrated the praiseworthy things people were doing that could easily be overlooked. Creating fun in the workplace takes a bit of effort, but chances are you can find ways to add a bit of joy to the day no matter your industry. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Laurie Guest
There are three facets of workplace participation that can make all the difference in productivity and results: attitude, initiative and engagement. These characteristics may come naturally to some, but often they must be cultivated in a workplace. Attitude – Yours, Mine, and Ours in the Workplace Your attitude is your choice. Choose well. Choose to surround yourself with the thoughts you want to have. Set boundaries on those inside and outside of your work who impact your thoughts. If you live with a person who is constantly stating things in the negative, consider having a conversation about adjusting that tone. If there are friends that can’t seem to get out of the negative place, maybe consider distancing yourself just a little bit in order to self-preserve. In the workplace, it’s a little harder to put space in place. It’s likely you’re not in a position to have the positive conversation talk with co- workers, but think about your own attitude. Initiative – Or is it interest? I believe at the core of the lack of initiative is lack of interest. Visualize the least motivated person you know personally or professionally. Can you picture them? Got it? I bet you’re picturing a person who is detached from the situation, looks bored, or appears irritated. What you may have is a corporate employee low on initiative who does what’s asked but doesn’t ever step it up a notch. How can you create more initiative in the workplace? Find out what aspect of the job interests the employees. If at all possible, give them responsibilities in that area. For example, I once consulted in an eye doctor’s office where one staff member was deemed the troublemaker. When I met with her and asked her questions about her job, she showed only mild interest in anything work related. Finally, I switched topics and asked her if she ever had a job she loved. She responded by telling me about her retail clothing job she had when she was just out of school. With the doctor’s permission, we asked her to take over displays in the optical area and in the windows. When her creative work got noticed and she was praised by others, her confidence went up and work performance improved. Initiative comes from being interested in the work at hand. What is it going to take to get all team members interested in your product, your services, and the guests that you are privileged to serve? Engagement – Ready for Battle While initiative is one’s personal responsibility to action, engagement means a formal promise, or, in its original form, ready for battle. What do we mean when we say, “We want engaged staff, or how do we facilitate that behavior?” Engaged staff means present in the moment and ready to take an action that fulfills the promise you have made to your guest. A server at a restaurant is engaged when he or she hears me place my order. For example, I already know I have to indicate a salad dressing, a side item choice, and a beverage, and do so when I order. A truly engaged server will smile and say thank you or possibly repeat the order if I said it too fast. A disengaged server will say, “How would you like that meat prepared? Do you want the soup or the salad? Would you like lemon with your tea?” You get my point. I’ve had this happen on many occasions in all kinds of industries and so have you. The disengaged employee doesn’t really listen and is on automatic pilot. How do we help staff be more engaged? What about asking for ideas from the team on how to do things differently or smarter? Attitude, initiative and engagement are the cornerstones to a successful organization. They do not appear automatically but rather through skillful planning and execution. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Laurie Guest
Winning back guests you have lost is not an issue people like to talk about, but it is a necessary topic in staff development. What skills do your team members need in order to thwart a customer defection? It begins with being totally present in the encounter in order to realize the guest is unhappy enough to leave. It ends by saying and doing the right things to turn it around. I have a great example of this happening in my personal life. Not long ago, my husband and I purchased a new refrigerator. We like to buy local whenever we can, and have been loyal customers for many years of a certain appliance store in our community. The new refrigerator has needed a repair man to come out four times for a series of issues, one right after the other. Eventually, it was determined that the left door was manufactured incorrectly, and a new one would need to be installed. Unfortunately, the company sent the wrong door, but that wasn’t determined until three hours of repair were completed. We ended up with a door that still didn’t dispense water or ice and even had aesthetic issues that included holes where a cover plate belonged. The part that bothered me most was that I was the one doing the calling every time to check on the status of the next step in the long, long saga. I had a refrigerator door that wasn’t right for over eight weeks, and I was still waiting. Exasperated, I finally drove to the appliance store to get an answer. The owner told me, “Oh, we have the new door. I just don’t know where to put you in the schedule, so I haven’t called you back yet.” Wrong answer. If he would have just called me with regular updates, I would likely be fine with the progress. He even told me he sees my name on the list regularly and keeps telling himself they need to fit me in. This is the last purchase we made at that local shop, I’m sad to say. I had been kind and patient every step of the way, in what was now edging into a four-month ordeal. He knew that I was not happy, but he did nothing to turn it around. If he told me that he had arranged for a new door and was doing the repairs at no charge to me, that would have been good service. The reason I will be moving on, never to return, is because there wasn’t an attempt to win me back after things went wrong. I haven’t received an apology for any of this, and clearly an apology was owed. After a bad customer service experience, my mom used to say, “I’ll do my voting with my feet.” Then she would stop doing business with that establishment and become a walking billboard of information about her experience. Whether you work for a mom and pop store or a global brand, you will have haters, but you can’t afford to ignore them. You need to learn how to embrace complaints, put haters to work for you, and turn bad news into good. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Laurie Guest
If you are a member of a team, working with your team is essential. Team building is one of the most frequently requested topics in my work with organizations. I always ask the client to first reflect on what teamwork means in his or her environment. Does it mean that the staff get along and are mostly tension free? Does it mean everyone knows his or her position and how it fits into the big picture? What kind of work environment are you looking to create? Knowing where you currently stand and where you aspire to be is the critical first step. Start the conversation with your team’s definition of teamwork. Teamwork means two or more people committed to working together to achieve a common goal. That sounds like a simple definition, but when we break it down a bit, it’s obvious that it’s harder than it seems. First: a team consists of two or more people. I always say wherever two or more are gathered, there’s trouble. Think about it. Different personality styles and different ways of communicating. What about the listening issue? I may think I’m being very clear with my words, but you hear something totally different. I think we can all agree that getting along with other people can be tough sometimes. The solution is to be understanding, forgiving, and nonjudgmental with your co-workers. Though I wasn’t very good at this in the early years of my career, I learned to be more tolerant by not making everything about me. Just because a co-worker doesn’t offer an enthusiastic “good morning” with a smile, doesn’t mean they’re mad at me. Odds are good it has nothing to do with me. Next: a team commits to working together. When I’m invited to an organization to help with teamwork issues, the first thing I do is try to figure out what things all parties agree about. For example, do we all agree that we want to be known as the premier place to buy our product? Do we agree that we can provide better service if we work together for a seamless delivery and stop airing our dirty laundry to customers? Yes? Okay, then what do we have to do to make these answers a reality? If we cannot agree to commit our efforts for the good of the guest, the company, or our co-workers, then cohesive teamwork is impossible to achieve. We will have to start at the foundation and work up to strength. Finally: a team strives to achieve a common goal. This is where we can dive in and make progress when we’re trying to improve comradery. Do we have attainable goals as an organization? Are the goals written down and reviewed on a regular basis? Does everyone understand his or her role in helping us achieve these goals? Is there a reward for all of us in achieving the goal? In other words, what’s my incentive? If you can’t answer yes to all these questions, then examining goal setting and incentives will be an important first step in getting everyone to work on the same page. A team consisting of two or more people working together to achieve a common goal is essential in a successful organization. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Laurie Guest
Does lack of consistency and low productivity impact your work environment? How? What tools have you tried to get back on track? During my days of managing others, there were three specific techniques I used to help people be more consistent and productive that are worthy of sharing. Weekly meetings with a notebook in hand Hallway management can get you in trouble fast. You’re walking down the hall, you see someone you manage, and you stop them with an instruction. They listen, nod, and then you both continue on your way. With no formal interaction, with no chance for the employee to document the new information, and with no paper trail to prove you even informed him or her of the information, it is likely the instruction is lost. Also, with this type of management, the only time employees get audience with you is when they knock first. Consider instead quick, formal, one-on-one meetings on a regular basis. The employee comes with a notebook or an electronic device for documentation. The bullet points of the meeting are written down, decisions made, dates and deadlines added, and then both people sign off on this document when the meeting is over. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s consistent. Figure out your MBAs Also known as your “making bank activities,” we all have tasks we do during the course of a day that make us feel productive but likely don’t lead to increased revenue or decreased expense, which are two things that lead to profit. One time, I made a list of all the things I’d already done during the day just so I could use my trusty highlighter to cross them off the list. What a waste of time that was! But it sure made me feel a sense of accomplishment. However, it wasn’t an activity that helped me make bank. Make a list of your daily activities that provide the best results to meet your goals. Put them in a priority order and then be consistent in attending to those things first. If you have support staff that will handle some of these things for you, you have time to concentrate on other things. Evaluate whether those other things that you’re doing are a good use of your time and whether they make you more productive. Adopt a one-pass system This concept comes from my medical office days. My doctor had a philosophy that directly impacted his level of success: using a one-pass system as much as possible. That means he would touch a file one time, complete everything that was necessary, and then pass it along to the next staff person who needed the file. He would not allow a stack of charts to sit in a pile, waiting on answers to questions. He felt that a lot of time was wasted shuffling papers around. I bought into the same philosophy in my office. When I’m self-disciplined enough to follow my own rules, it makes a huge difference. When the task comes in, take action on it immediately all the way to completion whenever possible. That means all the way to the cabinet and its proper resting folder. Touch it once. Finish, file, and put it to rest. If it needs further action, then properly document, set the ticket reminder and the system that works for you, and then store it where you can find it until the earliest possible time that you can resolve the task. It works like a dream even if you are not paper-based and everything is electronic. For more consistency and increased productivity in your workplace, initiate formal one-on-one meetings on a regular basis, concentrate on activities that lead to increased revenue and decreased expense, and adopt a one-pass system to complete tasks. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Laurie Guest
When I was in my early 20s, I left a job solely because I felt undervalued and under-appreciated. When I look back on that experience, I realize that may not have been true. I probably needed a little maturity to understand what was really going on. Regardless, I left a field in which I received a degree, a good job with several years of experience in my pocket, and an opportunity to grow within that practice. In fact, most people leave a job because of feeling under-appreciated by coworkers or leadership. However, we can actually retain more staff if everyone, bosses and coworkers alike, learned to be more appreciative of the people around them. What’s the proper way to do this? The Appreciation Formula. There’s a formula for that? Think of it like frosting on a cake. You want it evenly spread, not too thick in any one spot. The formula is very simple. It’s the person’s name, followed by what you’re praising them for, and ending with why it makes a difference. Imagine hearing someone say, “Hey everybody, good job today.” That’s just white noise, a blanket praise. Now listen to the difference here: Look the person in the eye, use her first name, tell her why you’re thanking her, and include why it makes a difference. It sounds like this, “Betty, the way you handled that angry patient today was fantastic. By the time we did her exam, she had calmed down, and things went much, much better. Thank you.” Hear the difference? Though it sounds a little odd and rehearsed, in real life with the sincerity of the situation, it is a huge improvement over “Thanks a lot” or “Great job today.” Simple, right? Get out there and praise someone today. It’s the gasoline between paychecks and one of the easiest staff development tools that I offer. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Laurie Guest
During my years as a professional speaker and trainer, I have paid close attention to the actions of successful business management teams. One factor that seems consistent is the ability to retain good staff. I have a few common sense ideas, often overlooked by employers, for retaining good people and building long-term professional relationships... Appreciate good work Watch staff members in action and comment on their good work. When was the last time you gave a sincere thank you to the staff for arriving early to open, staying late to close, or making your day go smoothly? A quick “Thanks a lot!” yelled over your shoulder as you are halfway out the door does not count. Take the time for sincere gratitude. Acknowledge productivity Increased customer volume directly benefits the owner. The staff, on the other hand, may only see it as more work. Recognize hard work with an individualized reward system that increases morale. The key to this idea is to determine what each staff member feels a good “reward” would be. Donuts for breakfast may not always be the extra special treat you anticipated. While one person would like a small cash bonus, a working mother might appreciate time off to catch her child’s soccer game on a Saturday afternoon. Provide continuing education Make it a top priority to send your staff to educational programs in your industry. Encourage your team to become members of any state or local organizations that are pertinent to your product or service. If there is no such thing, then create “on-site” teaching opportunities. Employees that feel they are growing in their position will stay longer. You would not think of denying your children a chance to go to school, yet many staff people are denied “work schooling” that could make a big difference to their careers. Build opportunities for growth Plan annual retreats and develop long-term action plans. Focus on personal growth for each team member along with business goals. Allow shadowing of different areas of the company so overall knowledge is as widespread as possible. On occasion, send key staff people to visit others in your industry in a non-compete area in order to bring back business building ideas to share in the workplace. In summary, if you want to know how to find and keep good people, think of it like a good marriage. Find staff people who have similar interests and values, then treat them like treasured family members. Open communication, mutual respect, time for fun, and plans for a future together will build a long-term professional relationship. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! By Laurie Guest
Onboarding is the current buzzword for new employee orientation. No matter what you name it, please tell me you do it. Why? Onboarding is a must because the success of a new employee depends on not only learning how to do the tasks required in a job but also learning all the rules and regulations that go into the job. After all, many of these might be rules you haven’t thought to tell someone without an existing onboarding process. Onboarding contains knowledge, skills, and behaviors that lead to long-term success and proper understanding of the culture of your organization. Something so important cannot be left to chance. How Onboarding Works Begin with a structured plan for all new hires to follow during the first few days or even weeks on the job, depending upon the depth of the position and the size of your company. Oddly enough, it may even begin before their first day of work. When the job offer is given, set the expectation of the onboarding process so the applicant knows what to expect. In our organization, we started a buddy system where veteran staff people volunteered to take a new hire to lunch the first day or at least sit with them in the lunch room. This may sound like junior high, but not knowing how to fit in the first day is a moment of stress no matter what your age. Informing the new hire in advance who his or her veteran will be on the first day is a simple way to introduce the social aspect of the job. Make sure that the system you put in place for big picture exposure is the same for all new employees. I know of a hospital that didn’t take the time for big picture explanations for certain positions, like housekeeping and dietary roles. This proved to be a mistake for them. It indicated the gap between departments and how they were respected within the system. Include everyone in the same orientation until it is time for a job-specific task training. Also, be sure to include indoctrination into appropriate work culture on day one. What are the expectations of proper behavior? Is it in writing? How is it taught? What are the consequences of noncompliance? Why is the culture important to the success of the company? Finally, what words do you use to show the new hires how important they are to the organization regardless of position? Why put it in writing? Prepare a written policy and procedure guidebook for new hires to review and keep. It’s a good idea to have a signature page at the back for the new hire to sign and return to you after he or she has read and understands the guidelines. In our organization, we had a policy manual that was the same for every employee that included mostly human resource information: time-off policies, dress code, and disciplinary matters. In addition, each department had a policy and procedure manual specific to that team. Be purposeful about the documents you prepare. If you treat the policies with the respect they deserve, you demonstrate to the new hire that we take the rules seriously. If you don’t do that, too much is left to chance. Consequently, learning then comes by making mistakes. Take the unspoken rule in our medical facility: No microwave popcorn allowed. Our doctor felt that a medical facility should not smell like a movie theater, and everyone who worked there knew we were not allowed to make popcorn. However, no one thought to tell the new people this. Sure enough, within the first few weeks, a new staff member ultimately ended up making popcorn for lunch, and every employee came in going, “Who’s making popcorn? Who’s making popcorn?” As you can imagine, the new employee felt foolish! Eventually, we added that rule to the onboarding information sheet. Though that sounds like a silly example, put yourself in the shoes of the new employee. Even little things can make a big impact on the success of the first quarter on the job. Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success! |
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