Counselor Magazine March 2012 : Page 99HIRING GUIDE tive vice president of sales and business development, for an unspecified period of time. “On the short end it’s 30 to 45 days, and on the long end it could be two to three months,” Stutz says. Those new to Halo can receive the training they need most – any-thing from prospecting skills to developing presentations for high-level executives. While experts disagree about how intensive a new hire’s orientation should be, or what it should include, most agree that the key to a new employee feeling at home and thriving in a new workplace often depends on how strong her sense of community is among the staff. Onboard-ing programs, more than anything, should help the worker feel like a part of the team. That includes taking her to lunch, having her meet with other workers one-on-one for the first week or two and trying to bring the employee into the fold as much as pos-sible from day one. The motivation and engagement of new employees early on in their tenure can be just as important as the technical training they receive. Don’t be so focused on teach-ing the details of the job functions that they feel like a robot in a new environment. Provide a glimpse of the company culture and show them how they fit in. This feeling of community will help to increase their engagement in the job and the company – a strong indicator of how successful new employees will actually be in the long run. Outpace The Rest One of the best ways to keep new employ-ees motivated, challenged and engaged? Cross-train them. Redfield recalls one former human resource staffer she worked with who was encouraged to take part in a marketing project, against her better judg-ment. Her trepidation with taking on a dif-ferent skill set transformed into new talent and eventually a new career in marketing. For distributors, gauging employee talents in different areas can help build a backup work force, and also discover unknown skills in, say, a marketing employee who ends up having a knack for product development. Plus, it helps keep them moti-vated about new possibilities within their company. A good rule of thumb, according to Redfield: “80% of the work should play to an employee’s strengths, and 20% should be stretching them in new ways.” To that end, experts say, distributors will find employees more motivated if they offer them opportunities to learn on the job. Got a receptionist who wants to sell? Let her sit with a member of the inside sales team for a week – to actually sell, not just observe. The same holds true for production workers who might want to work in marketing. The key to keeping employees fresh, motivated and eager to work is to allow them to grow profession-ally, experts insist. “External training is often looked at as the only answer” to motivate employees to make them more productive, Redfield says. “But the internal opportunities to help See us at the ASI Show/San Diego, booth 625 10% OFF Up To $100. 00 Mention coupon Code: 1P2-XDC-COUPN-17 Expires 4/30/2012 View our variety of colors and sizes at www.PresentationEssentials.com or contact us NOW! 1-866-409-8949 Essentials@CarlsonCraf.com 68042 43923 111603 www.counselormag.com MARCH 2012 99 Carlson Craft Binder Division (asi/43923) |
