Instant Family

Instant Family is a movie about a couple who decide to have a foster kid. Instead of getting a young kid, they end up with a teenager, who turned out has two younger siblings, so they went from having zero # of kids, to having three kids literally overnight.

They have never been a parent or raise a kid on their own, and of course, there were struggles, clash of personalities, past experiences that affect the characters, temper tantrums, and so many more... The whole process of adjusting with the new family members kind of reminds me of what it feels like building a team.

This article is not about the movie review though.

Bringing new team member into your organization can feel like having an instant family. You never know what will happen when you bring this new person into your team. Will they fit? Will they change the team vibe? Will they be contributing? and most importantly, will they be worth it?

Most organization leaders and company owners will try to instill a company vision and some core values to the person they are hiring. The end result will depend on how the process is being handled and the relationship that is being built during the process.

Remember that it's exactly the same process that goes in the interviewee's mind. Having someone applying to your company means they are also considering if this is the company - their new instant family - they want to be with.

Do you and the team member who interviews this candidate, also display the values they want in a company? Are they doing what they say it's their company's core values? The process goes both ways. Having someone who has no interview background and no clear idea what type of person the company wants and needs to have, to interview a candidate, can go very wrong.

Here are some of my thoughts on the process of searching for your own "instant family":

The Interview Process

It's not easy, but it gets better with time. If you are hiring someone, try to find out about their past experiences. How they see challenges, what challenge means to them, what do they consider as "issues", what type of people they like and don't like, how they face problems, what are their go-to solution handling process, and what do they find rewarding in life. Sometimes, I ask them what they do for fun, and what they do to vent when they are stressed or angry or nervous. This helps me understand their character better.

By understanding these, hopefully - it will help you match your company's character and your current team dynamics. and after at least a 30-60 minute session of interview, it's most likely that you will have a gut feel on how having this person in your team will be beneficial or vice versa.

For the one being interviewed, this is your chance to get the feel of the people you are going to meet with. So the process goes both ways, remember you can ask questions too! Do they seem like the type of people you would enjoy working with? Do they treat you well? Do you feel good about the whole process? Usually, your gut can sense unspoken things, a pattern that does not fit. Try to listen to your gut feeling. When it feels not right then probably it is.

Deciding Process

Aside from your company budget of hiring, you can and should negotiate with your candidate. Sure, they do have past experiences, but are they valid experiences that would benefit you as the manager or owner, or are they just experience that would enrich their personalities? Do you hire people based on their technical skills or based on their soft skills? It all depends on the position.

As I've been more on the "service industry" background - I find soft skills and character more appealing than technical skills - because I believe skills can be trained as long as you have people with the right attitude and with the right mindset. But that's just me. I've hired people for sales positions without any sales background, service people based on marketing background, operations people based on sales, and they thrived.

Compensation and benefit

To be able to successfully make an offer for someone is dependant on several things:

1. Will the offer be interesting enough for them to move into your company, their new home, their new instant family? Does it cover their monthly needs? Will they be able to cover their needs with the amount you're offering them?
2. Will the job itself be rewarding enough for them to not look for other jobs while you dedicate your time to train them and try to make them fit? Will it allow them to enjoy the job? Is it too junior or senior? Bringing a junior into a senior position will have its ups and downs, but mostly ups - because they will be able to grow into the role as they are learning new things and trying different strategies.
3. Is the compensation good enough - that it gives the person a peace of mind (I'm talking about future career opportunities, opportunity to grow and learn within the company, aside from standard package such as insurance, outpatient, holiday etc)

If the answer of the three questions is "YES" then it's likely you get acceptance. Yay!

On the Job

So you got yourself a new hire. Well done. Now let's get into the hard part. The process.

Getting them on board

The first and foremost important is the onboarding process. When you bring a new person into the company, it's very important that their first few days be filled with awe and wonder which makes them feel like they make the perfect decision to join your company. The first few days are very crucial in developing their attitude in the workplace.

Try to fill the days with nice experiences, which includes understanding the company values, the "how-we-do-things-around-here", making new friends by meeting other staff, observation inside and inter-departments etc. I found out that if this step is missed, it's likely that the new person will bring their own ways of doing things, which could also mean, bringing their past company cultures into your company - and I'm not sure you would like that.

Kids make mistakes. The same goes for your employees.

First things first. You cannot expect someone to do well in an instant. It's just inhuman. Everything has its lead-time. Be it one day, one week, one month it all depends on how well you select your candidates, yet don't expect a salesperson to hit their target on the first week - that's all I'm saying. Even if they make mistakes, as long as they learn from it, and it doesn't clash with integrity and honesty issue, I'd say - give them another chance.

Training & Development is important! VERY Important

For all managers out there who decide to hire someone and expect them to excel in their job without you doing anything for them, don't call yourself a manager. Sorry, honest truth.

Each company has different cultures, team dynamics, targets, goals, processes, operations, product, sales strategy, marketing gimmicks and so on. You cannot expect one to learn these on their own. Spend time with your team, talk to them, if you're not comfortable with doing large group training, then fine, just do small group sessions, discussions and there are plenty of ways to do it. Just DO.

Moving On.

There are times people leave us, for something better, a different career path, a change of industry, a new opportunity, a bigger role. Let them be. Do not treat them as criminals as if they are captains who abandon their ship before everybody else is safe. If the person you hired 10 years ago was single, now he might already have a family to feed, kids with expensive school tuition fees (good education is not cheap!) and maybe some parents to take care of.

Life just does not get easier as you get older, so it's only natural that they will try and would probably find something bigger and better for them. It does not mean that they are not loyal to the company. Treat them with respect, wish them well, and give them a good reference. After all, it's your past relationship with the person that defines their future too. You are a part of their journey, and their success is your success.

Start the process once again.

It's a joy to see your team member grows into bigger roles in life. There's a certain satisfaction nerve that goes "Bazinga!" when you hear your team is now the Senior Manager or Director of some so and so company.

People Management

People management is not easy. It takes a lot of dedication and courage. My dad said that when he looks for people, the most important part is their character. Second, their education and past experiences. He was all about finding the core of his team members, always trying to build a learning mentality and motivate them to take on bigger roles, even if that means he needed to train more newbies. So even if one position does not fit with someone profile, don't give up. Try to see them with different roles and offer them the change. Hey, you never know if you don't try, it could actually work!

Change is good.

This goes for all of us. Change is good. Change is the only constant thing in life. Don't be resistant to change. Everyone gets to do their part. If you happen to get bored with our current role, or you find it less challenging, before you look for something outside the company, try looking at other departments within the company. Talk to your manager, or HR, see if they can find you something different.

Technically, we spend a minimum of 10-12 hours of our waking hours working. That's half a day (and more for people who travel far to work). The people at work should be people you like, the things you do on a daily basis should bring you a feeling of accomplishment, something that makes you feel good about yourself because you are making a difference, a milestone.

So, for those of you in search for your instant family, enjoy - it's a fun process indeed!

Have a good day! Thank you for reading.