Onboarding For Managers – The Candidate Whisperer, Employee Handbook Template & Using A Culture Design Canvas

24 September 2023 Newsletter

“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” – Salvador Dali

 

Hope you’re Thriving!

It’s been a lively week with a trip to France for a 2-day annual strategy workshop with a client’s team.

One of the themes of our time together was to bond and get to know each other on a deeper level. It’s one thing to be running teamwork exercises in a private dining room, but it’s another level to be dining together and heading out for walks on the trails on the other side of the world.

The objective, of course, is to build and maintain a cohesive team. As leaders, we should never underestimate the importance of having the leadership team as each member’s number 1 team and the work required to build and maintain cohesion within the leadership team.

There’s something about retreating when on retreat!

 

Onboarded for Managers: The Candidate Whisperer

In the lead-up to the launch of my new book Onboarded for Managers on October 1st, I will be including a few short excerpts from the book over the coming weeks. Today I include part of the first chapter.

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“There’s this one guy—he’s great, but I doubt we could get him,” said Sarah as she pushed the pile of seven printed resumes across her desk to Alex. “The other six, they’re just,” she paused and then sighed, “not even worth reading.”

Alex looked up. His eyes widened. Alex was a manager who needed to fill a vacant position in his team, and quickly. “Who’s this guy? Why can’t we get him?” asked Alex enthusiastically.

“Nick Chisholm. He’s worked for a couple of the majors, and he’s got great experience. I just know he’d also be talking with other majors who pay better, have a better culture, and better career options,” answered Sarah.

“Can you get me a coffee meeting with him? We’ve had such a bad run with people resigning lately. We just need someone great to come in and turn the team around,” Alex replied.

“Will do,” Sarah said. “It doesn’t hurt to have a go.”

Alex had given Sarah the nickname “Sarah HRH.” It was short for “Human Resources from Heaven,” a nod to her English heritage and a play on the queen’s title of Her Royal Highness, for Alex believed that she was, in fact, true royalty. Sarah had supported Alex through many sticky HR situations when he either needed to hire quickly or had a problem employee with whom he needed help. And once again, Sarah HRH had delivered and set up the meeting between Alex and Nick at a downtown coffee shop. This was perfect for Alex because he knew once he could spend time in a casual setting with a candidate, he had a great chance of converting them, of getting them to sign a contract and join the team.

As Alex and Nick met, worked through the pleasantries, and started talking about the opportunity for Nick to come and work with Alex instead of one of the majors, Alex could feel he was beginning to win, little by little. He loved watching the company story, the pay and conditions, the team, and the work begin to sway Nick. By the end of the meeting, Alex felt just a little confident that Nick would join. As Alex left the coffee shop, he couldn’t help but smile just a little. Getting someone with Nick Chisholm’s experience to sign up could finally turn his team around. Alex reflected on the perfect timing as he returned to the office. For having Nick sign up in the next two weeks would allow Alex to take his planned holiday to Hawaii before Nick started, and he could enjoy a real break, knowing that his hiring problem was solved.

It didn’t go exactly to plan. Nick got two other offers, as Alex later learned, including one in Newtown that he almost took. But Alex was determined to get the deal, and because he’d built the relationship with Nick at the coffee shop and kept in close contact, he knew how Nick’s situation was developing. So when Nick received an offer at a higher rate, Alex was able to get the higher salary approved by his manager and have Nick sign the contract and join the team.

It was great to have a new team member with experience that Alex could trust. “The tide has turned,” Alex thought to himself. “Finally, our problems are behind us, and we’re starting to build a great team.”

At a meeting six months later, Nick updated the team on a project his team was running. “He’s coming along well,” Alex thought, smiling to himself. “He’s turning into a productive, useful, and valuable team member.”

After the meeting, Alex walked toward Nick to let him know how pleased he was with his progress. But when Nick noticed Alex approaching, his expression quickly changed. It was as though Nick had seen a ghost.

Before Alex could speak, Nick said, “Hey Alex, have you got a minute?”.

Watch the below short video on why I wrote Onboarded For Managers.

Pre-order Onboarded for Managers here.

 

Employee Handbook Template

This week, I came across the Employee Handbook template from The Open Org Team. And it’s a great example of how to use Notion as an internal process and policy platform. But more than just that, it’s probably got an example of everything you might need in an employee handbook.

There are 13 headings, and 74 topics, so you’re sure to find what you need to build your employee handbook.

The topics covered include;
• The big picture (purpose, values, strategy)
• Business performance
• Our team
• Compensation
• Working remotely
• Learning and development
• Performance
• Flexibility
• Hiring
• Wellbeing and people policies
• Culture, aka ‘how we work’
• Diversity and inclusion
• Benefits and perks

Check out the Open Org Team Employee Handbook here.

 

Culture Design Canvas

How do you consciously design a culture?

This week, I came across an excellent resource called the Culture Design Canvas by Gustavo Razzetti, which I suspect is inspired by the Business Model Canvas by Alexander Osterweilder.

From the article:

“The Culture Design Canvas is a culture mapping tool to assess your current company culture, define your future state, and evolve workplace culture.
This article provides a step-by-step guide to facilitate this culture mapping tool.”

The tool provides what it outlines to be the key components to design a culture;

• Purpose and values
• Behaviours
• Rituals
• Feedback
• Psychological safety
• Decision making
• Meetings
• Norms and rules

I like that it puts the culture onto one page and identifies things that need to be done.

 

View the article here: How to Use The Culture Design Canvas – A Culture Mapping Tool

 

The Perfect Date