We All Lay Out Our Clothes the Night Before
I interviewed two people about their first day at a new place to see what kinds of similarities there might be. Here were some of their quotes:
“Nobody explained how it worked, it was just sent to me.”
“There was not a lot of guidance for a new experienced hire: you have to be an extroverted person.”
“I was kind of worried about how it would go, but not overwhelmingly worried.”
“I was feeling the first-day jitters.”
“We went straight to Advisory.”
“We went straight to Orientation.”
“Hearing the same set of expectations became really repetitive.”
“Some of what they covered wasn’t totally mind blowing.”
These quotes came from my 32 year-old podcast buddy Alycia who recently started at a large technology company and my 12 year-old niece Gabby (not her actual name) who started 6th grade. 30K+ employee major technology company and suburban 6th grade, twenty years between them. Let’s follow their stories through their first day to see who Oriented it best.
Before the First Day of 6th Grade
4/5
Not only was the 12 year-old mailed a list of school supplies and an agenda that detailed a dress code and important rules, but she was sent her school schedule. This was the first time in her life that her daily schedule changed between A days and B days. Gabby commented that while she was able to figure it out, there wasn’t much explanation as to how it works or strategies to cope with the alternating schedule. Even still, she could look ahead two months on a Tuesday at 10am and know exactly where she would be (Social Studies).
From a social standpoint, all of Gabby’s friends were abuzz about the first day of school. Gabby already had pre-existing social relationships (she was in the same building as the previous year), but recognized that it would be hard if you didn’t have anyone to talk to before school started.
While Gabby’s Orientation gets points for the pre-communication covering what she needed to be successful in 6th grade and especially a schedule, there’s a ding for not knowing your customer: incoming 6th graders could use more support on how to handle A/B days well, especially if they didn’t have a pre-existing social network.
Before the First Day of a New Job
5/5
Instead of being mailed instructions and documentation, Alycia was given access to an online new employee portal. This covered instructions for the first day, a generic welcome letter, pre-hire documents to sign, online modules about the company, and videos of leaders welcoming new employees. While this was all well and good, the portal also contained information about what to expect on your first day, what to wear, what time to arrive, and parking information. Very comprehensive.
The extra point here goes to the engaged manager: Alycia was contacted by her new manager and a colleague who would be available to answer questions. The colleague even set out an hour to just chat with Alycia about the culture, little things you wouldn’t pick up right away, and how things roll in the office. The manager also sent an itinerary for Alycia’s first week (though it wasn’t a 30-60-90). Even still, this is a 5/5 pre-Orientation.
The First Experience in 6th Grade
5/5
I certainly didn’t remember my first experience in 6th grade but Gabby said they had a full orientation. She was given an overview to the 6th grade experience, icebreakers to get to know other students, and then hands-on time to learn and figure out her locker. This was another new experience in 6th grade: having a locker with a lock on it. The school did a demo in Orientation, gave out locker codes, and then let the students go to their lockers and figure them out. Gabby, the consummate professional 6th grader, had already planned to decorate her locker and came to school packed with the accoutrements of 6th grade high fashion. Evidently the school knew this was a social priority and gave the students just enough time to get some basic decorations up before hustling them to 2nd period.
High fashion includes a mini chandelier and pom poms.
As small as this seems, giving people a chance to express themselves and claim a “home” in their first hours in a new place provides a sense of psychological safety. Being cut loose in a new environment without a mental safe place can be more stressful than it needs to be. Not only that, giving someone a chance to practice a new skill may seem more practical than thoughtful, but it also provides some mental stability and pleasure of learning something new on your first day. Even if the rest of the day was unengaging, Gabby could say that she learned something new on her first day.
The First Experience of a New Job
3/5
When Alycia parked and walked in, there was a clear plan waiting for her: Info desk, smiling orientation leader, glossy folder and polo shirt, awkward small talk. Unfortunately for her, Alycia with over ten years of experience was not the typical hire for this organization and was commingled with mostly recent college grads. The arrival purgatory before the official event included breakfast but was freeform and Alycia had to rely on her extroverted nature to strike up chitchats with other new hires.
The Orientation, held in an auditorium, was led by a very engaging woman who led all the presentations. For the morning and part of the afternoon, Alycia was subjected to the normal HR orientation including benefits, culture, safety, regulations, and other “have to haves but aren’t particularly interesting”. This was another case of a missed opportunity: Alycia was not the target customer for the Orientation. Some of the recent college grads were full of questions because it was their first job, whereas Alycia “knew the drill.”
Clear areas of improvement: a more differentiated onboarding based on new hire type, more hands on activities, and more structure to build social connections. Sitting in an auditorium for most of a day being lectured at by one person is also not the best experience. Even the 6th graders got icebreakers.
Rest of the First Day in 6th Grade
2/5
Same spiel every period. When I asked if the teachers communicated or organized their expectations chats with each other, Gabby stated that every teacher did their own thing and it was “really really boring and repetitive.”
One particular safety lecture that she received was in Spanish class where the teacher would swap in Spanish words throughout the presentation. “Me and my friends thought, ‘We basically don’t know spanish and we don’t understand it. We want to know the most important things- the expectations- but we were confused.’” Perhaps the teacher knew the expectations were covered in every class and she could immediately build on that repetition and start teaching new words. Perhaps the 6th graders were overwhelmed by all the new information on their first day and couldn’t handle a brand new language.
Maybe 6th grade is just rough for everyone.
Rest of the First Day of a New Job
3/5
The colleague from the pre-Orientation chitchat picked up Alycia and drove her to her new office and showed Alycia her new desk. This was a great example of a buddy system working: the colleague was an instant friend, guide, and tutor for Alycia’s first day. Social and psychological needs, sated.
Unfortunately, the technology was the problem. A new deployment of a HR system and something going wonky with Alycia’s ID number (your most important part of your new corporate identity at a large organization) meant that her laptop, her access to critical pieces of IT infrastructure, and most importantly her email and calendar was unavailable. Evidently she had to get terminated and rehired to refresh the system but then there were two Alycias in the system...This day 1 problem reverberated for weeks afterward as Alycia was left off critical meeting invites, not getting emails, etc. A bad experience.
Other Observations
Before starting their first days, both the 12 year-old and 32 year-old were excited, hopeful, and scared. What was really interesting is that the night before (while laying out their clothes for their big day), both reflected on their past experiences and tried to imagine how different scenarios at the new place would play out. Similarly, both felt in the mid-afternoon that they were excited for their first day to be over. “I was looking forward to being back in bed” one of them said (I won’t say who). The mental fatigue of constantly learning all day was absolutely wearing on both of them.
When asked about their second day, both were surprised at how different their next day turned out. “I thought it’ll be pretty easy, like the first day...I was completely wrong about that!” said Gabby. Alycia, who was kind of left on her own as her colleague and manager were not on site, had to take it on herself to introduce herself to everyone, navigate her new office, and find meetings to attend, even with a busted ID number.
Final Scores
6th grade Orientation
Multinational Company Orientation
4.5
4.5
All ratings aside, the human experience is what unites a 6th grader and a mid-career professional. We all get new day jitters. We all get overwhelmed with newness. We all need a significant investment of help and support to make us feel comfortable and able to learn the ropes. Really, at the end of the day, don’t we just want a cute well-decorated locker?
