FRIENDS, WITH BENEFITS

Umpty-ump research studies tell us it’s good to have friends at work.  Social scientists – academic and commercial types – tick off the reasons; friends …

• Act as antidotes to declining employee engagement
• Provide relief from stress (eight out of ten of us suffer from it)
• Bond through a common sense of purpose
• Improve productivity and profitability
• Help with employee retention.

Yet few of these seers tell how, exactly, to find buddies in the 8 to 5 maelstrom.  There are some pretty obvious no-nos, like senior-senior manager with his/her staff member. 

And then there’s the matter of trust.  These days, the sharing of lives and values, somehow, seems risky.  Employment is not necessarily secure, and it feels better to carefully find those with whom to bond.  Besides, separating work and life is a good thing to do.

On the other hand, psychologists point out, we’re social animals, in social institutions.  So if leaders set the stage for appropriate camaraderie, the culture becomes that much stronger and its workforce, more resistant to outside forces. 

Puzzled?  The answer just could be part of orientation, onboarding, new hire initiation or whatever it’s called.  Right now, companies like Hyatt are assigning buddies to just arrived employees, individuals who will help with insights and questions.  That kind of match depends on (we hope) some rigorous screening and assessment, working to fit diverse peoples together for a longer-term relationship.  It sure helps when a tenured someone helps out a newbie, with no strings attached.

Now that’s what we call friends, with benefits.

WHILE IN THE FIELD ...

Marketing execs (and other leader types) are now crowing about their latest discovery:  Immersion assignments.

It usually starts with a need for intelligence.  Some examples of knowledge seeking:  How does middle America shop, dine, and/or drink?  What must hotels in faraway places do to create a feeling of home away from home, yet with a local flavor?  What’s a typical day for a restaurant employee … especially before and after s/he clocks in?

Then the visits begin.  One lodging company relocates its senior-most leaders to exotic locales for a month; immersion-ers work with employees, government officials, other citizen groups to determine what kind of tweaks the brand needs to thrive in that area.  After identifying a top-secret town that most closely emulates its client’s target market, a slew of ad agency pros visit it every month, adding to focus group intel and other research findings.

In a sense, this latest twist on “getting to know you” resembles some fairly recent trends.  Like hiring cultural anthropologists to stake out a desirable cohort.  Or spending time with a family or group of families to understand their fears and dreams, habits and wishes.  Even on-the-road onboarding trips for new hires at major corporations.

If this is, indeed, such a valuable pursuit, why not more – and more often?  What keeps each of us, whether desk bound at headquarters or road warrior consultant, from, essentially, gaining a great bead on our stakeholders, our clients, our milieu?  Definitely, “no time” and “no permission” are common answers.  Yet, when the benefits clearly outweigh the effort and expense, that, in itself, impels us to put together a business case … and sell it to upper management. 

Just ask Jane Goodall.  

LEARNING THE ROPES

Sitting through videos with facilitators. 

Filling out endless reams of paper … or doing so online, with interminable screens.

Lunching with peers and bosses.

Reviewing job descriptions, competencies, org charts, and the like.

Go home.  Repeat.

It’s all part of Day One on a new job.  An eight-hour-plus architecture where everything you ever wanted to know about your employer was sliced, diced, and presented with enough care to wow (and sometimes dull) the senses.

The real question:  Does orientation – and its longer-term cousin, onboarding – work? 

For executives, at least 40 percent fail within 18 months [though we can’t necessarily fault the getting-to-know-you process].  For workers, probably not – especially since 50 percent of HR professionals confess to having limited time to orient and onboard [courtesy of a 2011 SHRM survey]. 

What does work, say an increasing slew of studies, is attention to the individual, a personalized introduction to the company.  Programs range from scavenger hunts to small group conversations, from a limbo bar (no kidding) to company sweatshirts emblazoned with the newbie’s name.  Instead of orientation, it’s now called “organizational socialization,” intended to begin new hire engagement on Day One.  So paperwork (or links to Web sites) is sent in advance.  Ride-alongs and peer coaches give a good taste of reality, what it’s like working for Company ABC.  And initial results show that such personalization promotes higher job satisfaction, better job performance, greater organizational commitment – and reduction in stress and intention to quit.

Now that talent wars are back in force, with employers actively seeking the best and the brightest, it might make sense for us all – marketers and communicators, brand gurus and designers – to raise our hands and work together with HR to develop welcoming events and conversations that stick.  After all, learning the ropes doesn’t mean mastering hangman.