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Seize the Moment – Insights from Newcomers
Written by Buddy Hobart on December 17th, 2009
As we begin to climb out of the recession, employers will be hiring more and more Gen Y candidates to fill open positions in their organizations. With this in mind, it is very important that leaders do not miss an opportunity to identify ways to improve their organizations in the process of onboarding these employees.
Gen Y comes into an established organization, and the smart ones see lots of things they think can be done better, or just differently. In one sense, this is the tendency of anybody to make an impression in a new setting. For instance, many managers change things when they take a new job, either to shake up the organization or because they think they know what is best.
It’s natural enough that new, young workers would see things to change. In fact, they likely have new skills that the organization needs. Another advantage of newcomers is that they see things with fresh eyes.
This is a very important moment. If you squelch newcomers now, you may never get their enthusiastic input for your organization. In a general sense, it takes about ten positive reinforcements to equal one negative one. You need to avoid negative reinforcements to new workers. If you want to get their best, you need to reinforce as many ideas as you possibly can. If instead, you tell newcomers to hold their ideas until they actually understand “how things are done around here,” you may have lost them.
This doesn’t mean you have to listen to every idea that Gen Y throws out. The point is to open the lines of communication between you and your new Gen Y employees, and encourage them to contribute to making the organization better. In addition, their fresh perspective as new employees can be priceless as you strive to improve your organization for all employees.
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