Ah, the first day on the job. The excitement. The enthusiasm. The validation of winning/surviving the interview process. I’ve seen a lot of “first days” not only as a consultant but as senior management watching new hires walk through the door. I always want the first day to be perfect because first impressions really do count - a lot is at stake. This person has obviously left a steady pay-cheque to come to a new pay-cheque and they want to feel good about that decision and put their best foot forward. But I also know that small companies don’t necessarily have the resources, time, or place the importance on that first day experience which is a shame.
have you had a less than stellar first day on the job?
Ya, you know what I’m talking about: no training on the company product offering, hiring manager not there when you arrive, desktop/laptop not configured and ready to go, you have no idea where the bathroom is let alone how to get your morning coffee and you are staring out at a ton of people you don’t know like a socially awkward conference reception. It rattles your confidence. It makes you question your decision. But you have hope and are willing to give a bit. I’ve always brushed off this first day less than optimal experience as the price of working for a small company. They’ll understand. It’s charming. But then I was the “FNG”
I recently started work at a winery, with no experience, and on my first day on the job it was, uhm ya, less than stellar. The winemaker didn’t explain anything: the process, what my part was, how it fit into the bigger scheme, the resources I would be required to have/use, what was expected of me. What he did offer was his motivational speech, or corporate values:
“Let’s get this clear, FNG - you don’t think. You don’t speak. You focus. Fo-cus! FOCUS! Everything that goes wrong is your fault ’cause you’re the FNG. Whether you fucked it up or not, it’s your fault. Got it, FNG? This is just like war.”
Right then. Now that he’s made it clear I’ve got to get all GI Jane, with my new title of FNG, I know exactly what is expected of me. I’m going to rock this mo-fo of a job and prove to him that I’m the best FNG there is! No training required. How hard can it be?
My confidence was rattled in the first 5 minutes: I was given quality control on the bottling line to take my ego down a notch and realize that it was really hard and did require an element of experience. I was quickly demoted to an easier task (strapping closed case boxes).
how could they have made this first day better?
If the winemaker had simply: introduced me to the team, walked me through the assembly line and explained what each role was, showed me the optimal way to inspect the bottles (quality control) so I could mimic best practices, explained how many cases we were going to bottle and where we were in the wine making process it would’ve changed everything. A 30 minute conversation would have turned a demoralizing experience (which made me question why I had left my perfectly good CFO job) into one where I would feel empowered, contributing, doing my part for a small winery.
What should new hire training, orientation, or the latest fad term: “on-boarding”, include?
Just like above, the elements are pretty much the same for any industry:
provide key information about the company, products, services, composition, etc.;
make the person feel welcome and good about the role they’ve just started;
review the cultural values of the company so a new hire can fit in quickly (preferable not in the army commander version I got);
assign a “mentor” or buddy on day one so they feel comfortable asking questions;
give clear direction of what is expected of them and the overall objectives;
have their work environment set up and ready to go;
provide any skills training if required;
review paperwork/benefits (everyone wants to know how they are going to get paid and how their benefits work).
By following these simple first day rules you can win a new hire over quickly and gain their trust/respect with your own conduct. They feel good and you get a happy, fully-functioning staff member who is excited to come back for day 2.
I’m still the FNG. I wear my title with pride … they’ll be t-shirts made shortly. But never again will I brush off spending time with a new hire on day one. I’ve spent so much time as management/consultant, I forgot what it was like to be staff. That is a shame.
I’m currently writing a book. Actually, I’m going to write a lot of books - it seems I have something to say. And, like every new venture, I’m looking for ways to mitigate the risk of a new idea. Due to what I do for a living I decided to approach this funding problem as if it was a new technology start up.
At first I approached friends and family to see if they were willing to support my idea. Of course they were enthusiastic as to the new direction my life was taking me but, and this is no surprise, none were willing to support me financially to essentially drink wine in the country and write about my adventures (the first book is called: “Crush: Innocence Lost in Wine Country”- shameless self promotion.)
Next I looked into grants available to Canadian fiction writers (think of this as the angel round). I reviewed the options provided by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Writer’s Trust, combed the Association of Canadian Publishers and every other option that popped up under the google search: “canadian women fiction writing grants”.
Surprise! If you are not: a previously published, financially destitute, mid-career, lesbian, under 35, promoting Japanese themes in a children’s book, well, you’re out of luck for funding options.
Of course, there was tons of guidance on going to writer’s festivals, seminars on pitching your book, how to write a proposal, etc. but nothing really concrete. Sounds a lot like all those Angel monthly pitch sessions, drinks for entrepreneurs at the pub, and general networking events we have in tech (by the way the Vancouver Enterprise Forum provides a great “quick links” list to most of the standard options in town).
Does this mean I give up on the dream? NO!
Just like a technology start up it means I’ve got to put a little skin in the game first. Invest my own resources, time, money (e.g. leverage the hell out of my line of credit) to get the first prototype out the door.
My focus is on one chapter: the freebie, the teaser, the give-away. Something to give them a taste and inspire them to buy more. Sound familiar?
If I do make it big as an author (hey! Margaret Atwood has got to be rolling in a few bucks …) I will create my own award. It will be available to: anyone experiencing a mid-life crisis, scared, first time, not published anywhere writer promoting adult themes in perhaps not too funny fiction format. What shall we call it?
At small companies I’ve always promoted the work ethic: “do anything for the success of the venture.” Mostly to try and get around the “it’s not part of my job” issue but if that means evenings and weekends too then so be it. Now, I do try to encourage some semblance of work life balance but we are in the technology industry so isn’t being a workaholic a given? Uhm, no.
recently I’ve been having pause for thought on just how much we work.
Why? I recently visited some great friends who work at Apple. They work crazy hours. It was a sheer honor that they took an afternoon off to visit with me (although they spent that Sunday afternoon feeling guilty and talking about work constantly among themselves - I felt like I was at a staff meeting). One even mentioned that they would never hire anyone who wasn’t available 24/7 and didn’t think no amount of work is too much work. Really? When I mentioned it would be very unrealistic to sustain that level of pressure, burnout and health issues would surely slow them down, I was told it was more like a badge of honor to almost kill yourself over delivering a product.
wow. are we literally willing to give life, health and happiness to take something to market?
Well, it seems so. Last week I was at F5 Expo and I had the pleasure of seeing Tod Maffin speak on work/life balance. Here is a little taste from his talk “Taking Crazy Back”:
If you have a chance to see him speak, I would highly recommend it. He is a man who really almost died for the success of his company and has come back to tell his tale. It really made me think about the side effects of my “anything for the venture” mentality. For instance:
What about all those people who don’t stay late? Who work reasonable hours and still get the job done? If everyone else is “giving 110%” do they feel guilty? do they then develop the “ass in seat” mentality (e.g. they stay at work out of obligation not really being more productive)? Resentment? Hmmm, how do we reward them? where is their badge of honor for working efficiently and effectively?
I think it’s time for me to find a new phrase. We need to take crazy back.
As many of you know, Business Ready is all about helping small businesses get ahead. Lately I’ve been working with a lot of companies that are starting to contract very “big company” people to provide guidance. Now, by big company I mean individuals whose work experience reflects the ten years they just spent at that little company that had 40K+ employees. I’m not quite sure they really fit into a world that operates MacGyver style - building most everything with just duct tape and paperclips. Yes, they do bring different perspectives and valued experience but they also operated in a world that had expensive infrastructure - a luxury for small business.
so what is the alternative to glean solid information on how to start, build and grow a small business?
Take a little over two hours of your life, $30 and go buy and read Rework the latest from the fine folks behind 37signals: Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. I’m not big on management books but this one is pure genius, easily digestible and spot on in a very humorous way.
For instance, many software companies offer a free trial as sort of a teaser - an easily digestible introduction that allows people to try without investing a lot of time or money up front. Hopefully they come back and buy the full product. Many management books set aside whole chapters to review the importance of this topic. Rework has one page that starts: “emulate drug dealers … they know their product is so good they’re willing to give a little away for free upfront. They know you’ll be back for more - with money”. And it goes from there. Using dry wit drives the point home (and makes it unforgettable).
There are so many gems I wanted to highlight but really I’d just be retyping the whole book so the only alternative is to encourage you to buy and read the book. I few of my favorite “chapters” (remember a chapter is at most two pages long):
planning is guessing / your estimates suck;
enough with the “entrepreneurs”;
scratch your own itch;
outside money is Plan Z;
start a business, not a start-up;
four-letter words;
inspiration is perishable.
There is a quote on the inside jacket cover from Mark Cuban, cofounder of HDNet and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, that sums up the must read nature of this book:
if given a choice between investing in someone who has read Rework or has his MBA, I’m investing in Rework every time … Mark Cuban
Nice. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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this post is dedicated to a very dear friend. I was in a bit of a writing funk and in order to kick my ass she gave me a copy of Rework to inspire me to get back on this blog and continue to share with people the little, unknown but highly valuable, details behind starting, growing and building a business. It worked. Thanks, D.
Ah, the first day on the job. The excitement. The enthusiasm. The validation of winning/surviving the interview process. I’ve seen a lot of “first days” not only as a consultant but as senior management watching new hires walk through the door. I always want the first day to be perfect because first impressions really do count - a lot is at stake. This person has obviously left a steady pay-cheque to come to a new pay-cheque and they want to feel good about that decision and put their best foot forward. But I also know that small companies don’t necessarily have the resources, time, or place the importance on that first day experience which is a shame.
I’m currently writing a book. Actually, I’m going to write a lot of books - it seems I have something to say. And, like every new venture, I’m looking for ways to mitigate the risk of a new idea. Due to what I do for a living I decided to approach this funding problem as if it was a new technology start up.
