Recruiting and Selecting High Potential Employees

Recruiting and selecting high potential employees does not guarantee that they will perform effectively.  People who do not know what to do or how to do it cannot perform even if they want to.  To ensure that new employees know what to do and how to do it, you have to orient them.  Orientation is a planned introduction for new employees to their jobs, colleagues and the organization. 

Here are a few suggestions to make orientation effective:

New employees must feel that they belong and are important to the organization.  The supervisor and the HR Department should be prepared to give them this perception.  Colleagues should be prepared for the new employee’s arrival. 

Use colleagues or peers to serve as buddies or mentors during orientation.  Involve experienced high performers who can serve as role models fo5r new employees. 

Use checklist of what new employees need to know.  Many employers require that new employees sign the checklist to verify that they have been told about the pertinent rules and procedures. 

Provide information of policies, benefits and company rules; these include absenteeism, hospitalization, parking, safety rules, sick leave, tardiness, vacations, etc.  The supervisor should describe the routine followed during the course of a normal working day. 

Determine the most appropriate ways to resent information.  Employees will retain more o the orientation information if presented in manner that encourages them to learn. 

New employees presented with too many facts may ignore important details or inaccurately recall much of the information. 
Conduct follow up interviews and questions with new employees a few weeks or months after the orientation. 

Lesson from Sports ...Helpful for your Career

Sport has as much to teach us about managing corporations as it does about life.  Let’s take a few examples. 
Cricket… every ball you face does not have to be hit for a six:
With apologies to Shahid Afridi who thinks it does, each situation must be faced on merit.  Sometimes well left is the best strategy (learn to leave the ball alone).  This is particularly true for the var5ius proactive thing people say to you. 

Golf… plays the all as it lies:
There are very few times in life (or golf) that you are allowed a free pick to extricate yourself from a disadvantageous position.  You need to make the best of whatever situation you find yourself in by learning how to recover from that poor lie.  There is nothing you can do about the previous shot (so learn not to regret), nor the next one; just the one at hand. 

Humility is key:
As long as you keep your head down, you have the best possibility of striking the ball correctly.  Raise your head and suffer the consequences.  The lesson here is not to get ahead of ourselves. 

Tennis, Cricket and Golf… keep your eye on ball and watch your follow through:
The minute you take your eyes of the ball or ignore your follow through, you find yourself in deep trouble.  This also implies the importance of timing and preparation.  So focus, practice and get on with the game of life.