Use Your Unfair Advantage To Create an Unforgettable First Day For New Hires
lnbogen.com
lnbogen.com
Oh and I could not do anything with my machine since it was not set up.
There are some types of people who like it when you dig into their Facebook profile to find out who their favorite band is. But there are just as many people who will find it creepy that you stalked them online, or who will get outright angry because they expect separation between their job and their hobby. My hunch is that more of the first type become managers and more of the second type become makers, although I don't have any data to back it up.
Likewise, there are some types of people who obsess over doing memorable (but otherwise not particularly valuable) things for the sake of memorability, whereas for others, the first day is just another fucking day and nothing would be more memorable than actually writing a beautiful piece of code and seeing it in production. I'm guessing that the first type of people are responsible for most of those corporate picnics that result in severely interrupted coding sessions.
If you're the first type and you like to work with the same type of people and you want to make it a company tradition, by all means do so. It's your company after all. But please don't make it a surprise. Be very upfront about your "traditions" when you interview candidates, so that the other half of the human population will know well to stay away from your company.
Disclaimer: Of course I'm exaggerating. Still, work != party.
For another example, people with Asperger's can look embarrassed when you violate their rules. But the symptoms that neurotypicals tend to interpret as embarrassment can just as well be a sign of deep indignation.
Actually caring for a person means respecting their opinions and preferences, up to and including a preference for an utterly unmemorable day at work, or a preference that their boss does not exploit unfair advantages.
Is our generation incapable of being productive unless we are treated and spoiled like children?
I don't want to have NERF fights at work. I don't want to go to a party or for drinks three times a week after work. I don't want to feel like my employer is a fraternity. I want to get my work done and return to my life at home. I guess this means I'd quickly get purged from this kind of company?
There is something deeply disconcerting about having an employer go out of their way to meld one's personal life and work life from day one.
As an [introvert], I would find such an approach both overwhelming and uncomfortable.
In work socializing, as in most of the rest of life, I believe in "opt-in". I'd rather have the choice to engage when and where I see fit.
I'll take one more pass at this: The new person is joining an established social structure (through the convention and primary focus of getting work done and earning a living).
From my perspective, the type of attitude described in the OP forces a lot of social interaction, and perhaps an immediate, corresponding sense of social obligation / reciprocity upon the new person who is, grand gesture aside, still an outsider.
I would rather get to know people and have the chance to decide who and how I genuinely like, at my own pace.
I know how to get along professionally with most anyone. Whom I like and with whom I want to really socialize, is my decision and is a more nuanced decision that takes some time.
And I don't do "fake". Turning the "social" to 11 on the first day, feels like forcing me towards either awkward, if and as I'm not ready to genuinely reciprocate at similar volume and enthusiasm, or towards fake.
Help me to focus on the work, so that I feel like I'm up to speed and contributing. On my own, I'll feel more comfortable, socially, then. That, to me, feels more like putting things in the right order. Be friendly, sure -- but with a bit of reserve, so that I can feel comfortable exercising the same.
I decided when the new guy started I'd try and make his first day better than mine-- I introduced myself and took him to lunch and ended up making a life long friend, some years later he was a groomsman at my wedding. Making a good friend at work has happened twice in my life, and let me tell you there's nothing that eases the burden of labor like working with a good friend every day.
Even a small thing - a personalized postcard in the mail that arrives a few days before you start - would make me smile and feel welcomed.
There is a fine line though, and the difficulty is that the line is different for every person. Some people would love a personalized cake celebrating their first day, others would not.
> Some people would love a personalized
> cake celebrating their first day, others
> would not.
I got to work half an hour before my manager and sat in an empty office by myself. When the manager finally showed up, he gave me a box that had a new computer and said "Here you go, set it up." I didn't have a keyboard, mouse, or ethernet cable and I had to go scrounge them second hand.
I spent the next week pretty much doing nothing but reading through manuals and talking to nobody but the cafeteria workers.
Maybe it's me being with small companies but we have had a significant percentage of personally referred new colleagues, so there's someone already knowing them anyway.