Bringing new people into an organisation presents challenges. Two of the challenges common to practically any onboarding are:
- People in new situations can easily be overwhelmed.
- They need to rapidly learn how to do their new job in the new environment, safely.
Starting a new job is a vulnerable time in anyone’s life – even the most confident tend to feel a bit nervous. Harvard Business Review summed this up in 2022 as being a combination of lacking connections and the innate anxiety of being unable to predict what will happen next.
This isn’t just about ‘being nice’ for the sake of it. There are pragmatic commercial reasons for ensuring staff are positively engaged in a new role. There are direct links to retention, speed to productivity, and customer experience.
One option is to frame the approach to these challenges as part of kaitiakitanga – taking care of our new team members – and whakawhanaungatanga – building relationships.
How can a kaitiakitanga-focused approach help?
The new person’s team leader and the organisation need to provide care to help reduce the stress, so the person can start to take on their new responsibilities and build relationships effectively.
This 2024 article from Harvard Business Review talks through how to avoid overwhelming your new employees.
How can whakawhanaungatanga help?
By providing a warm welcome that gives new staff confidence about what will happen and actively helps them to build connections, we can reduce anxiety and support them in settling into their role.
Fostering connections early on can significantly ease new job anxiety. As reported in a 2023 BetterUp article, “Seeing a friendly face around your new office helps ease our nerves and makes us feel more relaxed. Knowing that we have new co-workers around us to ask questions, eat lunch with, and chat with makes a huge difference.”