To wit: Once in awhile, I’ll really want to give my money to some company, because I want their product or service. I’ll have the money, and I’m planning to give it to them. But the transaction is aborted because an employee of the company can’t help me, can’t answer my questions, can’t find the item I want, can’t explain the difference between two similar products, can’t give me the exact price of something, can’t tell me if the purchase comes with a guarantee, or can’t provide me enough information to inspire confidence in giving that business my money.

At the moment, I’m irritated with the employee. But that irritation quickly expands and morphs into a completely negative view of the company itself. After all—it’s the company that either hired the wrong person for the job, or didn’t provide the person with adequate training.  So even if the company’s products or services are phenomenal, and every other person working there would have provided me with exquisite service, I now have a very, very low opinion of the company. If someone asks me what I think about that company, I’ll tell them about my disappointing experience.

During that conversation, I’ll communicate much more than my negative opinion of that company. I’ll communicate my perception of that company’s brand.

Here’s a good quote from Drew’s brand communication and design blog: “Brands that are successful communicate the same core message and level of service throughout all customer interactions.” He lists 10 (plus a bonus) free do-it-yourself branding tips for businesses—and they include employee education, telephone protocol, and removing the word “no” from your company’s vocabulary. The bonus branding tip is to empower your employees to be able to take care of customers.

And here’s another bonus. When you train, educate, involve, communicate with and empower your employees, you not only strengthen your brand—you increase employee morale.

I think it’s really smart. Zappos has a distinct culture, and wants employees who completely buy in to their over-the-top customer service philosophy and super-friendly work environment. They want every employee (now 1,600 of them and counting) to be incredibly dedicated—no matter what their position, responsibility, or job description. They want people who care about Zappos, care about their jobs, and care about their co-workers. They’re looking for a certain type of person who will fit and love being a part of the Zappos world.

And clearly, things are working well in the world Zappos has created. Five years ago, sales were about $70 million…and this year, they expect revenues to exceed $1 billion. They do so many things right at this company, in terms of how they keep morale high and motivate employees to work hard and care. And it all starts with making sure they’ve got the right people in every job.

You might be thinking, wow, that’s a tidy sum to pay someone for up to a month of training, then pay another two thousand dollars to quit. And you’re right. But it’s nothing compared with the financial hit a company takes when they retain employees who don’t work hard, don’t go the extra mile for customers, aren’t team players, and aren’t concerned with the quality of their work. These apathetic employees end up alienating customers, clogging up business systems, irritating other workers, and dinging the company’s reputation. It’s not worth it, from any standpoint.

We laugh when we talk about employees “drinking the company kool-aide.” But it probably shouldn’t be treated as a joke. It’s important for employees to feel connected with their employer; to buy in to the business strategy and philosophy; and to have a temperament and personality that simply fits. Do you know what fits for your company?

In my last post I talked about how to start the onboarding process the day that “Toby” accepts a job, and leading up to his first day. Now let’s talk about the first day.

1. Be waiting for Toby when he arrives at the workplace at the agreed-upon time and place. Don’t make him wait for you. And it should be YOU—the person who hired him. Not your assistant or an HR person or anyone else.
2. Begin the day with a welcome party for Toby with his co-workers. Have his favorite morning beverage waiting for him (see number four on the last post), along with pastries and fruit. Have co-workers introduce themselves to Toby and tell him about their jobs and themselves, and ask Tony to introduce himself last.
3. Present Toby with a fun gift with your organization’s logo on it—a t-shirt, nice pen, mug, or ball cap would be nice. All four in a gift bag is even better.
4. Keep Toby busy on his first day by having him spend one-on-one time with each of his co-workers. (Meet with these co-workers in advance and ensure that they will be welcoming and encouraging and positive and interesting!)
5. Take Toby out for lunch, and arrange to have other first-day employees and their bosses join you. If Toby is the only one, invite a few of his co-workers to join you.
6. Meet one-on-one with Toby after lunch. Find out about his interests, hobbies and family; review his career aspirations and goals; tell him about the projects you’re currently working on; and describe what he’s going to be working on.

Of course, you’ve got to give Toby a tour, point out the coffeepot and the restroom, show him his workspace, make sure he’s fully stocked with necessary office supplies, and all of that expected and important stuff. But go beyond that and you’ll your new employees will almost immediately feel connected, happy, valued, delighted they took the job, and serving as a true ambassador for your organization.

I’ve been writing about the subject of onboarding—a much more comprehensive and morale-based process than “employee orientation” or an “induction process.” Onboarding focuses on making employees feel like they belong as quickly as possible, which means they’ll be eager to be a productive team player.
Onboarding doesn’t start on the person’s first day. It starts the day they accept your offer. That’s when you want to begin showing a new employee that you are thrilled they will be on your staff and working for your organization.

When you begin onboarding your new hires before their first day on the job, their loyalty starts to develop before they’ve so much as sipped from your water fountain. They’ll be likely to arrive on day one anticipating wonderful experiences and friendly co-workers, rather than feeling nervous and worried about fitting in. And since they’ll probably tell a number of people about your early welcoming gestures, your organization’s reputation will get a shot in the arm.

Here are four ways to make a new employee feel welcome before their first day of work. Let’s say your new person’s name is Toby.

1. On the day Toby accepts the job, write and mail (the kind of mail that uses a stamp) a note to him, saying how happy you are that he has decided to join your team.
2. A few days later, send another welcoming card to Toby that includes personal notes written by the people who will be his co-workers.
3. Email Toby several times between the day he accepts and the day he starts, saying you are looking forward to his being on board, and including some brief (and timely) information you think he’ll find interesting about your company and/or industry.
4. Call Toby a day or two before he is scheduled to start, to find out if he has any last-minute questions and to confirm parking arrangements, arrival time, and where you’ll meet him. Ask him what his preferred morning beverage is: coffee, juice, a Coke, water, chocolate milk. Also, give an overview of how he’ll spend his first day.

A future post will tell you how to make sure Toby has a really great first day on the job.

This scenario kind of gives you a pit in your stomach, doesn’t it? I mean, you’ve got to be a really callous person to not feel great sympathy for someone who has a first day on the job experience like this.

As I said in a previous post, only four percent of new employees say they’ve decided to stay with their company after the first day. The other 96 percent aren’t sure they made a good decision by taking the job, or at least feel un-welcome enough to question whether this is a place where they’ll want to stay for any length of time.

Onboarding is the process of welcoming new employees in a way that makes them feel like they’ve made a great decision to take the job. Does your organization have a formal process for onboarding that is followed by each manager? Or do you allow everyone in management to handle it in their own way?

Are you onboarding…or unboarding?

That’s the word that’s being used these days to describe the process of welcoming new employees in a way that makes them quickly feel engaged, connected, eager to work and be productive and be on board with their new employer.

I recently wrote a post about my two new kittens, Bix and Bessie. We had an opening for two entry-level cats, and had many applicants to choose from. These two met every one of our qualifications and then some. From day one, they were excited and ready to jump right in and fulfill all of the requirements of their new positions. But Abbey, who has held the position of Queen Diva Cat for three years here, did a very poor job of onboarding the new felines.

Have you ever started a job and got a bad vibe from a few of your new co-workers who evidently felt threatened by you? They gave you the cold shoulder and made it clear you didn’t belong. They hoped you would quit before the end of the week. That’s the way Abbey acted.

Fortunately, these kittens were so enthusiastic about their new place that they chose to ignore Abbey’s hisses and growls. After nearly a month, the Most Beautiful and Perfect Abbey is actually starting to be nice once in awhile. I guess she’s realized the new hires are here to stay.

With your human new hires, though, you probably won’t be so lucky. Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, bestselling authors of The Carrot Principle and other employee motivation books, say that only four percent of new employees say they’ve decided to stay with their company after the first day. Think about it. That means that 96 percent of all people starting new jobs have a first-day impression that leaves them thinking they might not want to continue working there…or wishing they hadn’t taken the job in the first place.