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By Melanie Lockwood Herman
On her third full day in a new city, my daughter began her hunt for a part-time job. After surviving a stressful group interview, she was thrilled when she was offered a position at her favorite retail outlet. But after two weeks on the job, her enthusiasm–for the job and the brand–were sapped. She described her experience this way:
“None of the managers here were willing to give me even an hour of their time to train me how to do the job. The manager on duty my first night at the store said, ‘You’re handling merchandise returns tonight. Figure it out.’”
Hearing her frustration, I wanted to reach across the miles to wring the necks of the thoughtless managers at my daughter’s place of employment. She applied for the position with great affection for the store’s brand, and with hopes of being a valued member of the team. How dare they treat her–or any new hire–so shabbily? How could withholding even an hour’s worth of training be good for the store, or the brand?
I love working with new staff who are curious problem-solvers, who are willing to try something for the first time, and who humbly risk stumbling, or failing. But asking your optimistic, energetic new hires to ‘figure it out’ without training is mismanagement at its worst. No new employee–regardless of their age, education or experience elsewhere–knows how to do or perform the job you have in mind. The first few weeks at your nonprofit shouldn’t be like an episode of “Naked and Afraid,” the TV show where contestants are expected to fend for themselves–without clothing, food or shelter.
Great supervisors wear multiple hats and move through several stages in their relationship with an employee or volunteer. The relationship should always begin with trainer-trainee. The nonprofit sector’s best supervisors evolve from trainer to coach, mentor and even role model. But like any multi-stepped process, the steps represent a progression; you simply can’t skip from new boss to respected role model without spending time and energy developing and supporting your new hires.
In her recent Risk eNews, Drinking from the Hose, Erin Gloeckner explores valuable lessons from Presidential onboarding, relating these lessons to the critical process of executive onboarding. While it’s true that executives are important assets (or necessary evils, depending on your experience!), great nonprofits recognize that each and every employee and volunteer in the organization is an essential link to mission success. Each person has the potential to support mission advancement, or to cause costly and permanent damage to your reputation.
Instead of skimping on new hire orientation and support, resolve to super size it. Consider these tips to ensure that new hires are treated as the VIPs they are–and that your mission deserves:
During the first few weeks of my daughter’s new job I found myself struggling to offer tips for coping with her uncaring, arrogant managers. When she acknowledged spending each mid-shift break crying in the back room of the store, I wanted to call the store and give ‘management’ an earful. After a month of part-time work, she tells me she finally ‘gets it’ and can capably handle the tasks for which she is responsible. Although the process has been painful, she has learned an invaluable lesson about the vital importance of new employee training and the terrible cost organizations and employees pay for uncaring managers. My hope is that this powerful but painful lesson will serve her well in the years ahead when she has the opportunity to train and nurture others.
Melanie Lockwood Herman is Executive Director of the Nonprofit Risk Management Center. She welcomes your feedback about this article at Melanie@nonprofitrisk.org or 703.777.3504.
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