The expression, “You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends,” is well known. Like friends, should choice also extend (as much as possible) to the people an employee is surrounded by in the office and on work assignments?
Bringing Potential Co-Workers in During the Hiring Process
When a prospective employee makes it successfully through two or three interviews, it may be time to bring in some of the people who would be their colleagues. The people brought into the hiring process would need to be trained on questions and comments to avoid during interactions with prospective employees. Once they know what not to ask and say, they can be given a wide range in their contribution to the conversation. They even could be encouraged to come to the conversation with a few questions of their own. For example:
“How do you approach stressful times when you have a few different high-priority assignments due at once? I’m a planner personality, so if I know I have a few big things due around the same time, I might block off time on my calendar so I don’t get booked into meetings when I need to do work, or I might work ahead at night or even a few hours on the weekend to make my time in the office less stressful. How do you do it?”
In addition, the hiring manager can see how easily and naturally the potential new employee makes conversation with the existing employees(s). Sometimes you can spot looming difficulties right from the start. When I was new to the workforce, I had a job interview where the person I would work under assumed the face of a wall whenever I made a comment or asked a question. They didn’t nod, smile, or say anything to me. I took the job, but I never had easy or happy interactions with that person.
Perspectives on the New Boss
It’s not unusual to stay in the same job for years while your boss changes multiple times. This is often a smooth process, but sometimes it’s not, even when the employee has been successful for many years under other bosses.
Just as it sometimes makes sense to bring employees into the hiring process, so, too, can it be useful to bring employees into the decision to hire a new work group leader. You might be surprised at the insights each of these employees brings. In some cases, there could even be consensus.
“I like Tom personally, but he’s constantly working, even on nights and the weekends, and I’ve noticed that he micromanages his current employee. I don’t know if that same approach would work for employees of all different levels. I don’t think us senior-level employees would want to be managed that way.”
If nothing else, such input would give the Learning team a head start anticipating the new boss’ potential leadership development needs.
I’m Sitting Where?
Many are back in the office and are once again experiencing the age-old annoyances of sitting next to incompatible people. Are salespeople on the phone all day mixed into workstations with people who need quiet concentration?
When configuring workspaces, it’s helpful to get input from the employees who will live out the plans. One may prefer to sit on an aisle where they can feel less hemmed in and interact with people who happen to be passing by throughout the day. Another may prefer the window. Another may not care about the view but prefer not to sit next to a person who is likely to be on the phone all day.
In some cases, it makes sense to have two people who are doing similar jobs sit apart from each other to expand the variety of new ideas brought to the team. If two people are sitting next to each other, listening to one another all day, their ideas may start to sound like echoes.
The facilities and Human Resources teams can make it clear that they will not be able to accommodate all requests, while still expressing interest in employees’ work environment preferences.
How much input is it productive to give employees about who they spend time with at work?