How do you welcome yours?
I remember once having a conversation with someone about the principles of the Fish! Philosophy and how we could make their particular work place more engaging. They came up with a great idea of buying people a present when they JOIN the company.
So simple was the idea, it was probably that mind blowing because it was the exact reverse of what we had been programmed to do.
Think about this.
When someone leaves the company, there's often a big bang. A leaving do, maybe a few drinks, a present, a card to say farewell and probably some good stories of times gone by into the equation at all.
And of course, this should continue. We should continue to celebrate the friendship and work colleague we have had with us in our organisation and bid them farewell.
And just as important....
Are those that join the company.
In our small team, we generally go out, all together, for lunch to say welcome to our new joiners. Now this may sound like an everyday event for most people, but for us being on the road and hardly seeing each other, this is a great way of celebrating someone new joining the company.
On a grander scale, with a few thousand employees, you can understand why some people say this isn't possible.
Of course, perhaps the meal for everyone isn't possible each time someone joins the company....
But the principle can still remain....
There's a large organisation I know of that take a group photograph of all their new hire groups and send to all staff members to make them feel welcome. At other organisations, I've known companies take out groups of new hires for a celebration drink once they've passed probation. Other teams I've worked within buy a joining present when someone joins their team, often something that they may find useful in their new job.
BE THERE anyone? MAKE THEIR DAY?
How do you welcome yours?
So simple was the idea, it was probably that mind blowing because it was the exact reverse of what we had been programmed to do.
Think about this.
When someone leaves the company, there's often a big bang. A leaving do, maybe a few drinks, a present, a card to say farewell and probably some good stories of times gone by into the equation at all.
And of course, this should continue. We should continue to celebrate the friendship and work colleague we have had with us in our organisation and bid them farewell.
And just as important....
Are those that join the company.
In our small team, we generally go out, all together, for lunch to say welcome to our new joiners. Now this may sound like an everyday event for most people, but for us being on the road and hardly seeing each other, this is a great way of celebrating someone new joining the company.
On a grander scale, with a few thousand employees, you can understand why some people say this isn't possible.
Of course, perhaps the meal for everyone isn't possible each time someone joins the company....
But the principle can still remain....
There's a large organisation I know of that take a group photograph of all their new hire groups and send to all staff members to make them feel welcome. At other organisations, I've known companies take out groups of new hires for a celebration drink once they've passed probation. Other teams I've worked within buy a joining present when someone joins their team, often something that they may find useful in their new job.
BE THERE anyone? MAKE THEIR DAY?
How do you welcome yours?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Di Olsson on
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Absolutely fabulous, Andy.It makes so much sense to celebrate the beginning just as hard as the ending. So simple yet so powerful.
I'm thinking how we welcome new students, parents and staff to our school and I'm wondering if we can do it better. I'm also wondering if our students want a fuss or an opportunity to quietly blend in? Do we give our parents a welcome that makes them feel part of a school community. And new staff are presented with a gift, the fish philosophy book.
Cheers Di
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Permalink Reply by Lyn Rudduck on -
Hi Di
I am starting at a new school and am planning on having a FISH! class. I am putting alot of thought into my first week with new students. Ways of making it wonderful and exciting and their safe happy learning place to be.
Step one I re read FISH! and put a quote from the book on the top of each page in my diary. This means each day I wll be reminded about some aspect of FISH! thinking.
Day one I am simply going to have lots of FISH! stickers around the room and will not mention anything FISH until someone asks about the FISH!. I also have a FISH! stuffed toy that I have on a necklace that I will wear on that day and many others. When asked I am going to tell them about Pike place fish market and ask if they'd like to help create a year 4 class that is the best it can be.
We will be having a student star of the week voted for by placing votes in a box any time duing the week. Votes given when displaying FISH qualities by teachers and peers. For one week that person will be given special privileges have their own display board etc.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Gamble on -
Hey Lyn,
So how has it been going? Has everyone accepted the Philosophy? We had something similar where we asked people in our company to send an e-mail nomination to the Fish e-mail address and explain why they were nominating the Fish of the Month. Each month we changed the category for nomination (Be There, Make Their Day, etc.) Every nomination sent in was posted with a picture of the person on a wall displayed for everyone to see and the person with the most votes at the end of the month had a huge picture of them posted on the wall in addition to all of the reasons for nominations. After a few months it became very difficult to get people to send in their nominations and keep the event from becoming a popularity contest.
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Permalink Reply by Kelsey Gilland on -
Yes I agree!! A wonderful idea!! I am new to my company (bank) and i am the marketing manager. I have some new hires that will be starting and because they come to the admin. offices first for the first day I plan on taking them out for lunch and will start doing that on a regular basis. We send out an email when someone starts but we don't include a picture and its hard for people to see them once they get out in the branches. I would like to start adding a photo when we send out the email. Good stuff!!!
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Permalink Reply by Meredith Dake on -
I work in a company with a couple thousand employees. At every new hire orientation we give them a lunch cooler (with our logo on it) filled with goodies (pens, notepads, sticky notes, ect.). We also do the FISH! program at every orientation for the corporate office. Every new hire gets a FISH! to sit on their desk and to remind them on what kind of culture they have entered into. As part of the new hire orientation, we have them fill out a paper about themselves (answering a few questions) then, we have them stand in front of a green screen and we tape them smiling for 30 seconds. That person is then put onto a fun background and their personal info (which came from the page that they just filled out) is put out on what's called our "digital signage." It's pretty much a bunch of t.v. screens that are all over the building (and at all of our centers) that share announcements, company goals and...new hires! It really helps us in our large company be able to know everyone!
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Permalink Reply by Rachael Sherfield on -
Meredith--
Wow--what a wonderful place you work for! How long has FISH! been implemented there?
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Permalink Reply by Rachael Sherfield on
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I love this idea of celebrating a beginning. As I move into a new position in the next month, it will be part of my job to hire new staff. I believe this is something that I will make a point to use in my new position.
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Permalink Reply by Euden Koirala on -
I work for a Bank and we have something called the Buddy system to welcome new recruits. An old staff is appointed as a Buddy for a newcomer and the Buddy takes care of the person for a week introducing him/her arround every department, getting his/her logistics in place and taking him out for a lunch as well. The person's picture is also uploaded on our intranet website for all other branches to see. This seems to make the new comer feel comfortable as well as welcomed.
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