Onboarding: It Feels So Good to Make the Bad Better: #TChat Recap
If it wasn’t for those pesky, messy, meddling humans, the world of work would actually work flawlessly. We’d work together happily and collaboratively, without deceit, harassment or discrimination. We’d all be accountable and personally responsible and have each other’s backs, we’d have reciprocal respect with our leaders, and reality TV would not be a reality.
We can dream, can’t we?
Consider this: More than 40 companies paid out more than $60 million in settlements or unfavorable court judgments after the EEOC brought systemic discrimination cases in 2011. But there are those who say this kind of law enforcement hampers business growth with burdensome regulations and policies.
Right. And lest we forget the true reality TV of a group of really smart people who wiped billions of financial assets off the face of the earth only a few years ago. My point is that accountability isn’t baked into our DNA, but basic survival is, and unfortunately we’ll do everything we can to fire the pleasure centers in our brains. Screw the pain, baby. Nobody wants that. This is why so much neuroscience research of late shows us why good people make really crappy decisions.
Like hitting on your new employee because she’s been so friendly to you and it feels good to do it. Or leaving racist notes in your co-worker’s locker because you feel he’s been getting preferential treatment, and it feels good to do it.
This is why we have formal onboarding processes in business. This is why we assess and why we screen backgrounds. This is why we throw the employee handbook at employees. This is why we have rules and regulations. This is why we have social media policies. This is why we have sexual harassment and discrimination seminars and workshops and acknowledgement forms to sign off on (and that really don’t help anyway, but it feels good to do it).
I really wish it didn’t have to be this way, that we could onboard employees in companies big and small more freely and effectively, applying agile development techniques, buddy and mentor programs, business cross-training and immediate immersion into the workplace culture that promotes connection, communication, collaboration and business success.
It’s too bad, because it feels so good to do all of the above. And no amount of technology efficiencies make the bad behavior any better (and sometimes not even the good). Thankfully there are those business leaders, HR and recruiting practitioners, and individual contributors who work tirelessly every day to make the bad better.
Amen for those pesky, messy, meddling humans who make it better at work from day one.
Did anyone miss the preview of yesterday’s #TChat? Click on that link. And thank you, Dr. Marla Gottschalk (@MRGottschalk / The Office Blend), for your splendid guest moderation. The tweets came fast and furiously. Below is a slide show of them. We’ll see you all next week.
image credit: Human League RED - Love Action 12", by Paul Downey
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#TChat INSIGHTS: The Painful Formalities of Informal Onboarding
Storified by TalentCulture · Wed, Aug 22 2012 21:07:01
iable. yawn. missed opportunity for engagement #tchatPlatinum Resource
oper integration.Cyndy Trivella
their role #tchatEmilie Mecklenborg
icies that all newbies need. #tchatTerri Klass