New Hire Onboarding Tips - Simple but Effective

First impressions last. Good one's give you and your organization an advantage going forward. Bad one's seed doubt in the eyes of the new hire. Take day one as the opportunity to sink that new recruit deeply into the organization immediately. The recruiting process is so similar to good old fashioned courtship and dating - it is scary. The first day of employment is like the first day of being married, it is still courtship (because that never ends), and the true test of what a company says about who they are, their culture, people, environment, and what they are prepared to do to make you successful are all realized by the first impression you make on their first day. Well, maybe not 100% of it rides on Day 1, however a well thought out and executed onboarding process will set the foundation for a fast start and strong foundation for a long term commitment to one another. It is all about the relationship and as the employer - this can mean validation or disappointment.

Preparing for Day 1:

This is the day your new recruit will face the organization and receive their company-wide first impression. As the employer, you want to make sure that the organization makes a strong first impression on the candidate. As the new hire, they want to ensure they leave a strong first impression with their team, department and the entire organization. It takes some preparation and open lines of communication working together to deliver the proper onboarding process.

• Call the new hire a few days before Day 1, and tell them what they can expect. Things like time to arrive, what to wear, where to park and what to bring are a few that come to mind.
• Create the agenda for the day, and better yet - the agenda for the week or first few weeks.
• Business Cards, door name plate, mailbox all printed and labeled ready to go
• E-mail address set up, signature created and laptop, cell phone, tablet, desk phone programmed and all user names and passwords created and set up. When they walk in, they are ready to get to work.  
• Prior to meeting specific people in the organization, preparing them with a few of your own observations prior to the meeting can be very helpful. It helps take the edge off and often times helps speed up the getting acquainted process.
• Arrange the scheduled meetings with deliberate intentions: who they meet and spend time with early on Day 1, sends a message organizationally. Their position, role, and functional capacity should be considered when planning their first day. 
• Arranging a relaxed, unstructured meet & greet for coffee can be a nice first impression to get better acquainted with staff from different departments organizationally. People they will work with, count on, and trust to help them be successful should all be on the invite list.
• If the hire is controversial, be sure to engage the faction of supporters and have them assist with the integration process - keeping a careful watch for those people who do not agree or do not support the hiring decision.
• Always keep in mind, this is a great opportunity to give praise to every single employee by making a strong introduction. It can be something as simple as "this is John, he has been with the company for 14 years and he was responsible for leading the XYZ project, which was a $50M mixed use project that was delivered on time and we have a very happy client". Remember, do not forget to give the receptionist just as great of an introduction. 
• The way you communicate, the way you interact with others internally and the level of respect you give to your colleagues will be watched and mirrored. So be aware.

The way the day ends is just as important as the way the day began. They will walk out of the building and into their homes and face the question "So, how did it go?" and this is where the organization can make a huge impression with the spouse or significant other. So close the day on a high note. Send them home with a welcome package that includes company gear, personalized thank you notes, company information, handbook, newsletters, list of suggested reading (or a book the company uses as a baseline - Good to Great as an example) and anything else you think could make an impact. Give them a nice handshake, smile and whatever you do - make sure you are there to say "It is great to have you here".

Construction Corporate Culture Exposed

There is no escaping the connection between culture and it's risks. In booming economic times, success can mask cultural deterioration. In downturns, the flaws show up - vividly. Culturally strong firms accommodate and adapt to recessions, why culturally flawed firms struggle. Culture can dramatically impact market share, either positively or negatively. Culture emerges as the defining competitive advantage, because it is nearly impossible to imitate or copy. Strong producers (Executives, Project Leaders, Superintendents, Estimators and the rising future leaders) rally around a powerful cultural core, while other firms, obsess over their personal circumstances as their culture, revenue and margin diminishes. 

Convictions, which people hold dear, are not easy to alter. So when a company must change there is reluctance. By having a strong culture, it acts as the glue that holds the organization together and overcome adversities in the market. Culture binds organizations, strategy and it's top performers together in the face of significant change. It can help maintain core beliefs and values while allowing major changes in strategy and organization.

Culture is a stronger force for unity and collaboration than any formal document in the employee manual that says something about vision, mission and values. The people need to have a strong commitment to their beliefs and the organizations culture drives this phenomenon. 

This is also true when companies experience massive growth. This growth delivers a double whammy; it exposes organizational complexity and introduces legions of culturally raw recruits. Both characteristics may easily undermine or confuse cultural beliefs. When a construction company hires experienced senior level talent from the industry the dynamics are even more challenging. Yet firms with strong cultural beliefs are bound together despite these rough waters. Weaker cultures are exposed and are hit hard.

Again, core cultural beliefs help sustain competitive advantage for construction companies. How are you doing? 

I've got some work to do as well.

Talent Alignment - Be Fierce, Be Deliberate

Your people are your future and your long-term success all rides on your time, focus and deployment of an employee recruitment, engagement, development and retention strategy. These are the people who with your help and guidance are the future professionals and leaders who will build the firm from generation to generation. Just as there are rainmakers there are leaders who become savvy developers of people - and these leaders are especially adept at building talent within a firm. They, and the ambitious firms they work for, understand the basic fact of life in business: the people you pay are more important than the people who pay you.

Why? Talent is a firms only sustainable source of competitive advantage. If you look at a great firm and ask, "Which came first, the talent or the client?" the talent cam first almost every time. The Construction industry achieve and maintain greatness by attracting and retaining talent who attract and retain clients and in turn, more new talent. Make sense?

What does this mean to you? The key to your firms continuing success is building talent. Not landing the biggest project or client - clients and projects can be stolen or lost. Not creating a new construction process or delivery methodology - it can be copied. Not being the first to expand into a new market - competitors can move there too. None of these advantages are sustainable, Talent is. It is what can create a Construction Companies enduring competitive edge!

Building this talent begins with the competition for top talent, which have never been fiercer. As more and more of the Construction industry they have to compete on brains, demand is exploding for the kind of skills and capabilities that power Construction Companies. In fact we would be willing to bet that in the time you spend in a single unproductive weekly meeting two things will happen: (1) One of your key clients (you can't afford to lose) will have dinner with a competitor; (2) one of your top employees (a future executive in the making) will accept another job or think seriously about doing so.

Take a few moments to think about your priorities last week, what steps did you take to stay in front and get ahead of these critical issues - that will have more of an impact on your business than anything else. Next week, modify your priorities and re-focus.