Vivowire: Men in Black, Kenan & Kel, and Toast

Welcome to edition #88 of Vivowire, the Workvivo newsletter!

If you ever had any doubts about me being a millennial, this 90s-fueled issue will set you straight.?

Aaaaaaaaaaaw, here it goes!

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This Week’s Top 3 Thumbstoppers

1. Build a Better Onboarding Program Than Men in Black

TL;DR: With a more distributed workforce than ever before, Cat DiStasio highlights why a truly inclusive onboarding program is key – and how to build one. And then I make the message unnecessarily complicated with 90s Will Smith movie references.?

Remember when James Edwards, AKA J, embarked on his first day at Men in Black headquarters? It’s a real baptism by fire.?

He doesn’t seem to know anything about the organization or what it does before he starts working for it. He’s thrown into situations he hasn’t received the appropriate training to handle, like apprehending dangerous extraterrestrial criminals. And he’s landed with one of the best-kept secrets on the planet – possibly the universe – and expected to take it on the chin.?

It raises some questions about the quality of the covert agency’s approach to onboarding new hires, and I can’t help but wonder how things could improve if Agent K and his colleagues had read Cat DiStasio’s latest advice on our blog.?

In it, Cat says, “Effective onboarding sets new employees up for a positive employee experience, including better performance and higher retention.?

“As the workforce has become more dispersed – with some folks working fully in-office, some working remotely, and still others dividing their time – the moving target of a truly inclusive and successful onboarding process has challenged people leaders to become more strategic and conscientious about what that process looks (and feels) like.”

Her tips for achieving that??

• Personalization – By taking each person’s individual skills, background, and personality into account in the onboarding process, it shows them that the company values them as a unique human being. This, in turn, fosters trust and can lead to higher levels of engagement and productivity.
• Expectations – Employers typically cover what they expect from a new hire’s behavior and job performance, but they don’t always follow through with the support and resources new employees need to be successful in their new roles. Normalize new hires asking for help by proactively communicating about what they should expect from their new employer.
• Mentoring programs – Matching new hires up with a mentor right from the start sends a strong signal that your company is invested in their individual success.??
• Location-independent benefits and perks – During an on-site onboarding program, new hires are traditionally treated to a variety of perks. Don’t let remote employees miss out on a similar experience. For remote employees – or hybrid employees who will participate in onboarding remotely – send a welcome package to their home ahead of their start date.??

Cat concludes, “Poor onboarding not only contributes to early attrition but also undermines employee confidence and productivity.”

Unless they’re a fictional character in a 90s comedy sci-fi, maybe. I feel like the chances of that are probably pretty low.?

The moral of the piece is that your employee onboarding should be much more accessible and inclusive than that of Men in Black HQ. Cat just gets the point across with a lot more finesse and a lot less reference to Will Smith’s booming career in the 90s.?

To avoid the mistakes of Agent K, whether you’re a top-secret team monitoring alien activity on Earth or otherwise, read her blog here.?

2. Who Loves Orange Soda Setting Business Partnerships Up for Success?

TL;DR: Next time you're assigned to a group project, give your partner a crash course in distinguishing clay from peanut butter.

According to Dr Wilma Slenders, as many as 80% of business partnerships fail in the first few years. But despite misadventures and some tiffs along the way, Kenan and Kel have been lifelong friends. What’s their secret? And how can companies take note??

Wilma says that one of the top reasons business relationships break down is because of assumptions. In an article for HBR (and subsequent LinkedIn post), she says, “Many partners fail to address these problems constructively, either due to plain old conflict avoidance or hoping the problems will go away, or they prepare to go to battle.?

“Either of these extremes have significant risk and could make things worse.”

One of the reasons Kenan and Kel have such a successful friendship is that they don’t shy away from talking through their problems. When they’re assigned a history project, Kel is tasked with making a model of Fort Sumter, a historical fort from the American Civil War.?

However, Kel makes the super common and believable error of mistaking peanut butter and jelly for clay, and ruins the model.?

Of course, the project is destroyed and tension ensues. But instead of lingering on it, they take action and present their work it as a modern art piece called ‘The Conflagration of History and Cuisine’.?

Not only do they use collaboration and creative thinking to resolve their conflict, they even get positive feedback on their PBJ-fueled disaster.?

Did their actions align with Wilma’s advice? Here’s what she recommends.?

1. Address the issues immediately. Things will get worse if you don't.
2. Get help. Engage an independent third party to assist with having necessary conversations.
3. Talk live. Email, text, and voice messages are subject to misinterpretation. Have the tough conversation.
4. Start with and clarify intent. "Whatever the intention is, it needs to be shared, mutually beneficial, and an invitation to others. A one-sided intention like “get you to stop taking advantage of me” is not a promising start."
5. Hear each other out. Each person should share their story without interruptions. Suspending judgement is hard to do, but important.
6. Get the key issues out. Which 80% of the issues would make the biggest difference in repairing the relationship?
7. Be compassionate with yourself and your business partner(s). If you're suffering, they're likely suffering, too.

Wilma and Kenan & Kel should write a book together.?

3. Under the Lens… Toast, Leap Year & Diversity

TL;DR: This may be the worst movie we've ever referenced in Vivowire. And if you know Vivowire, you know that's saying a lot.?

Being Irish, a sucker for trashy rom-coms, and a big Amy Adams fan meant I had to include something about Leap Year (2010) in this edition of Vivowire. But I will preface this by saying that this movie is Not Good.?

Aside from the expected woeful interpretation of Ireland and its culture, the Rotten Tomatoes reviews put it best. My favorites include “If a worse film is released this year, I’ll eat my own weight in cuddly leprechauns” and, simply, “Poor Amy Adams”.??

Leap Year is based on the Irish tradition that when the 29 February comes around, women propose marriage to men instead of the other way around.

Because, you know, equality.??

So, here’s how the movie can be awkwardly shoehorned into a commentary on diversity and inclusion: Anna, a woman from Boston, and Declan, a man from Ireland, encounter opportunities for cultural exchange and understanding, which ultimately leads to their happy ending.

Anna and Declan come from different backgrounds and have distinct personalities. Initially, they clash due to their differences, but as they spend time together, they learn to accept and appreciate each other's perspectives.??

Despite their differences in nationality, personality, and social status, Anna and Declan ultimately find love and happiness together, demonstrating the power of human connection to bridge divides.

But diversity, inclusion, and equity aren’t just important for corny movies that barely pass the Bechdel test (and so aren’t really appropriate to use for this analogy at all, but shhh). They’re also crucial for company culture.?

At Toast, the Boston-HQ’d restaurant tech company, diversity and inclusion are front and center of the employee experience. It has a bunch of ERGs dedicated to D&I (and great puns), a specific Council of Advocates for Equity, and partnerships with organizations like Out & Equal and Disability:IN.?

Its company values are commitment, inclusive community, external impact, and diverse teams, and its ESG reports and employment statistics are publicly viewable.?

But are Toast's DEI efforts having any measurable impact on its employees?

It has a 4.2-star rating on Glassdoor, where 80% would recommend the company to a friend and 79% approve of its CEO, Arman Narang. On Comparably, its overall culture score is an A+ (4.6 stars) and it has top marks across the board for categories like gender, diversity, happiness, perks and benefits, and executive team.?

Across both sites, reviews highlight Toast’s transparency, empathetic and encouraging work culture, flexibility, people-first approach, fun atmosphere, and welcoming and inviting environment.?

And its Comparably retention score is an A+ (86%), putting it in the top 5% of similar-sized companies on the site and in first place against its competitors, which include HubSpot, Block, Wayfair, and DoorDash.??

The bottom line? Be like Toast; act on diversity and inclusion instead of just talking about it.??

And don’t watch Leap Year. Or Wild Mountain Thyme, for that matter. And I’m going to go out on a limb and say avoid Irish Wish, too.?

Quote of the Week

Teacher: Today we're going to be talking about witchcraft, and we're going to start by discussing the Salem Witch Trials.

Kel: Which trials?

Teacher: Yes, the witch trials.

Kel: No, um, which trials are you talking about?

What’s up at Workvivo?

6 Tips For Launching A New Digital Workplace Tool:?Launching a new digital workplace tool involves much more than a company-wide email. Here, Caitlin Kirwan shares her tips for doing it right. Read it here!

How to Create a Meaningful Internal International Women’s Day Campaign: Fast approaching on March 8, IWD is seen as one of the biggest employee engagement days of the year. So what can employers do to ensure their internal IWD comms are truly meaningful and not just lip service??Learn more here!

World Government Summit relied on Zoom for its communication needs: Zoom played a key role in connecting government and private sector leaders from around the world, utilizing its AI capabilities and productivity tools. Continue reading on Zoom's blog!

Final Thought?

Invest in building a better onboarding program.

Know the difference between clay and PBJ.?

And if you want to watch a great Irish movie, hit me up for recommendations.

Until next time, Vivowire out! ?? ??

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