Fostering a culture of trust and transparency is critical for empowering new hires, regardless of which industry you operate in or the roles the new hires will fill. They need to feel they can ask questions, voice concerns, and share ideas without worrying that they will be judged, criticized, or ostracized because they need to know the workplace is a safe place.
We’ve developed a special tradition at our company to foster trust and transparency with our new hires through a no-holds-barred Q&A session in which they can ask me — their new CEO — any questions they want, professional or personal. Since we started this initiative, it has become a fun and effective feature of our onboarding that establishes from day one our desire to see our employees join us in an open dialogue.
Addressing new hires’ biggest concerns
Our Q&A tradition aims to understand the biggest concerns new hires bring to the job. Stepping into a new position requires navigating unfamiliar territory and engaging with new people, a new company culture, and new processes. Establishing new relationships is also a key part of effective onboarding. New hires need to integrate into existing teams, so any practice that helps them feel they belong is valuable.
The challenges new hires face become even more daunting when they work remotely. Statistics show that 40 percent of remote workers say connecting is more challenging than it was for in-office positions. The struggle applies to both connections with leadership and with colleagues.
Statistics also show that nearly two-thirds of organizations don’t involve leadership in their onboarding programs. Our tradition strongly states that our top leadership is excited about our new hires and available to answer any questions they might have, both during onboarding and moving forward.
Leveraging the power of transparency
My willingness to answer any question demonstrates my commitment to transparency at all levels of the organization. It helps foster an open dialogue that is beneficial in several ways.
Enhanced trust is one of the primary benefits of open dialogue because it communicates to employees that their voices are valued. This builds loyalty and encourages employees to take ownership of company goals.
Open dialogue also invites new hires into the decision-making process. This inspires greater employee engagement, as employees understand they have the power to influence the work environment. It also provides leadership with valuable insights for increasing agility and adaptability.
Encouraging new hire participation
We engineer two elements into our Q&A tradition to optimize its impact. First, we allow new hires to remain anonymous when asking their questions. We have them write down their questions and then have someone else read them. This ensures that shyness or fear of embarrassment won’t keep new hires from participating.
We also do what we can to ensure everyone has fun with the tradition. When new hires hear about your most embarrassing moment—which is a question they almost always ask—they’ll probably want to laugh about it. Make sure they know it is fine to do that.
Preparing for common questions
When I talk about our tradition with other business leaders, they assume it can lead to some awkward moments. While I’m sure it can, I’ve seen that awkward or inappropriate questions are not the norm. Instead, the majority of the questions are aimed at getting to know you, not trying to embarrass you or make you feel uncomfortable. New hires appreciate the opportunity to hear candid responses that reveal the person behind the title.
For example, new hires often ask if I have ever made a decision I wish I could go back and change. My answer to this question can be very reassuring, as it shows that I have made mistakes in the past, just like everyone else, and that I don’t always claim to have all the answers.
I’m also often asked about my most difficult moments. New hires can be extremely sensitive to their weaknesses and how they could affect their performance, so hearing about the things that challenge you and how you push through can be empowering.
Questions about your biggest failures are also common. Whereas CEOs are quick to share how they have succeeded, revealing their failures is not something most look forward to doing. By being honest about failures, however, you can show your company has excelled not because it has a perfect record but because its people get back up when they get knocked down and keep moving forward.
The overarching goal of an honest Q&A is to remind my team that I’m a person just like them. I want to humanize my position and break down the barriers that can discourage an open dialogue. Nurturing this culture of approachability and understanding helps us ensure new hires experience the transparency and trust they need to be effectively integrated into their new team.
