An employee’s first day is perhaps one of the most important they will ever have in your organization. On that day they will either decide I don’t want to be here for very long or let’s see where this leads. When Day 1 is done correctly the sky is the limit and the future for that employee in your organization is very bright indeed. Done wrong, an employee’s first day can also become their last.

Have you ever worked for an organization where Day 1 started wrong and then everything just kept going downhill from there?  A bad first day is nearly impossible to recover from.

A strong on-boarding process is a necessary component of any good workforce development plan. With that in mind here are some tips on how to make every employee’s first day the start of something great. Utilize these tips and you will be well on your way to maximizing the passion and potential of your new employees.

1.    Ensure that they know when to arrive and what to bring

2.    Prepare some form of formal and friendly welcome                                                                                              a.  A breakfast and/or lunch with other team members                                                                                      b.  Instruct the new employee’s team members to send them a welcome email

3.    As early as possible spend time setting a positive tone and helping the new employee start to feel a sense of        belonging (this is why a communal new hire breakfast can be so effective)

4.    Establish ahead of time exactly what their first day will involve so that things run smoothly

5.    Avoid the airing of any dirty laundry in front of anew employee at least for the first day, if possible for the          first week

6.    Create opportunities early on for the employee to contribute and feel like they matter (solicit their opinion          on something)

7.    After completing all new hire paperwork and going over policies provide an opportunity for the employee to          ask questions

8.    Arrange a brief connection with a high level leader (Director/Chief/CEO/COO) to make the new employee            feel important

9.    Provide the employee with a variety of tasks to be completed and then give them some time and space to            get themselves situated

10.  Save any training on software or complex organization procedures for day 2 or later

Tell us about some of your first day experiences as either a manager or a new employee. What was your best experience? Your worst?

Every organization is shaped by the ideas and attitudes its leaders value. For our leadership, there are three books that have been instrumental in shaping who and what we are.

Getting Naked by Patrick Lencioni

Impact - How We Do Business

We believe in fearless consulting. We tell clients what they need to hear not what they want to hear. We are willing to be unpopular in order to provide substance rather than platitudes. As a company we’ve seen what happens when organizations have consultants that have become embedded yes men. In a world where every dollar needs to go a little further and every worker needs to produce a little more than before this is unacceptable. Serving only to stroke the ego of the client and not doing anything for mission effectiveness. We are committed and willing to do what it takes to get our clients to their goals.

Tribes by Seth Godin

Impact – How We See Our Role in Society

We are not just a loose group of individuals we are a living breathing thriving organization that is aiming to spread our way of doing things to others because we’ve seen the results it yields. It is our passionate belief that we have come up with a model that works wonders in the Public Sector. Our clients constantly tell us how much better they are for having worked with us. While we could wait to slowly influence one client at a time we would prefer to spread our methods and models far and wide. We would prefer to live in a world where multiple organizations are having the kind of success our clients have been experiencing.

Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham

Impact – How We Develop Our People

We have seen as Human Capital and Management Consultants what happens when you try to fit square pegs into round holes. Along these lines we have embraced the idea that more is gained from growing people’s innate talents than from trying to improve their weaknesses. We proactively develop our people toward their natural abilities rather than try and train them on things that don’t suit them. Instead we set people up in their areas of expertise, provide them with the tools and guidance they need and then let them produce. Some of our biggest successes have come from letting our people run free and develop their own projects.

What books and ideas have shaped you and your organization? Let us know.

When it comes to learning, are you a dog or a camel?

Picture this: You and some friends are at a park with a large pond.  You let your dog, who loves to swim, off of his leash.  He immediately runs to the water and starts swimming, fetching sticks, and enjoying the deep grass around the edges of the pond.  After some time, you call for him and he obediently returns to you.  We all know what happens next.  He shakes water all over you and everyone in your area, leaving everyone wet and frustrated.

From our experience the dog mentality is prevalent in organizations. People attend workshops, conferences, seminars and other learning events only to return to their offices and, because they are excited about what they learn, begin shaking the ideas off on everyone.  They often don’t care whether the sharing is useful, appropriate, or informative in the context of the situation.  They simply shake ideas on others.  In the end, nothing sticks.  Colleagues are frustrated and learning is quickly lost as it gets shaken here and there with little or no noticeable results.

In contrast to the dog, the camel treats water as a precious resource.  While the dog scatters water about, the camel puts it to good use sustaining itself for long periods of time and drawing on reserves to accomplish his purposes. The camel understands and values water and chooses how to best employ it.

Do you want to be a camel?  Here are three things you can do, before, during and after your next learning event:

Before

1. Take 10 minutes to define your expectations. Answer the question, “What do I hope to better understand and be able to do as a result of this training?” By doing this, you will prepare yourself for the learning event and ensure that you enter the room with a clear understanding of what YOU expect to get from YOUR investment.

During

2. Find an accountability partner and commit to meeting periodically to discuss your progress implementing what was learned. Research has shown the chances of a new behavior being incorporated into one’s life increases to 95% when the individual commits to someone else that they will do something and then sets a specific future time to share progress with the other person.

After

3. Track your progress by creating a personal tracking tool that is easy to understand and update.  Most nutritionists tell you that if you want to lose weight and change your lifestyle, one of the first steps is to keep a food journal to track what you are consuming every day.  Seeing your food intake in black and white is a very compelling way to tell if you are on track to meet your goals.  The same concept applies when it comes to applying new learning.  So, take time to track what you apply and the results you achieve. Make it simple. Use tick marks, smiley faces, or whatever it takes to measure progress on your learning scorecard.

These days people are talking about Executive Coaching, but why?

Executive Coaching has become a sexy term in our workplace culture.

So, do you have a coach? Do you need one?

Of course as a coach, I would say “yes.” But the question you need to ask is “how can a coach help me?”

I could give you many reasons, but for now let’s talk about FOCUS. No doubt in today’s hectic work environment we face information overload and are pressed for time. As a coach, I find great satisfaction in helping clients achieve laser focus.

The other day an executive told me he wanted to discuss the future of his organization. If I was his employee I would listen and maybe provide some feedback. As his coach, I pushed back through-out our discussion and helped him stay focused and get to the root of the issue. At the beginning of our coaching conversation, he wanted to discuss the future of his organization, but the more I questioned him, the clearer it became that he wanted to FOCUS on his role in the evolving organization.  If we had been speaking as friends or as employer to employee, the subject of his role would likely have been lost. The conversation would have been interesting and the executive would have felt good about the dialogue, but he wouldn’t have moved the ball forward or uncovered the core issue.

A great coach gets their client to define the issue and keeps the conversation focused. The executive above walked away from our session with clear commitments and a deadline to clarify, in writing, his ‘new’ role in the organization. Accomplishing this added great value for him, his leadership team, and the entire organization.

If you are seeking “someone” to help you uncover your critical issues and stay focused on them, I strongly suggest hiring a coach. As a busy executive, your time is valuable, spend it wisely.

So, back to my earlier question. Do you have a coach?

What experiences have you had with Executive Coaching? If you’ve never had a coach, why not? Tell us your thoughts.

My first night-time parachute jump in the Army took place at 2 a.m. over Ft. Stewart, GA. 1,500 paratroopers jumped from 22 airplanes cruising at 800 feet above swamps and pines trees. Soon after clearing the airplane door I looked down and knew I was in trouble. I could see a dark patch of trees a few hundred feet below me. Way off to the left was a much lighter area, the soft sand of the drop zone. My parachute afforded me little ability to steer or change direction, so I braced for impact, knowing I had no choice but to run into inevitable danger.

In this situation, I was the prisoner of circumstance. I had no choice about where the planes flew, when I jumped out the door (the green light and fellow troops pushing from behind saw to that), or what type of parachute I was using.

Over the past 20 years, I’ve worked with individuals, teams, and organizations who suggest they too are at the mercy of bad work situations and have little or no control. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, as individuals, teams, and organizations, we can’t control the global economy, natural disasters, or a myriad of other things that face and shape our world every day. However, we are in control of much more than we give ourselves credit.

If you don’t like the results you are currently achieving, do something about it. If you are disappointed in your team’s performance, take control of the situation and install a process that will allow your team to succeed at its top priorities. If you are unhappy with your choice of career, don’t simply settle. Take a positive step in the right direction – today! Time is ticking. Your parachute is much more steerable than you think and certainly more than mine was. Choose to avoid the trees and accomplish what matters most, to you and those you serve and care most about.  It’s not like you are going to fall 800 feet to your death – what’s stopping you?

Are you stuck right now? Do you feel like you’re drifting whichever way the wind blows? What’s your biggest headache right now? Tell us how you like to get unstuck.

The DSCA mission is a critical and high profile one, supporting US Government policies for security cooperation and security assistance for foreign partner nations. Recently there has been an influx of new programs and funding that came with complex and specific procedures that impact many branches of the DoD. After extensive analysis with the Wedgewood team, a specific targeted array of education and training events were identified as vital to the SC/SA community and needed to be developed and delivered with DSCA in support of DoD missions specifically and wider interests of the US Government abroad.

The first “beta” class debuted at Wright Patterson AFB in January of 2011 and the feedback from that program helped DSCA and Wedgewood develop the current cornerstone course. The interested level is so high for this material that wait listed candidates would have filled another 1.5 classes in July.

The next offering of the SCF program will be held in Washington DC November 28^th – December 1st , 2011. Please contact Wedgewood Group for additional details at 703.229.0780.

The process of choosing which firm to work with can be a tough one. You get opinions whether you solicit or not, from up, down and across your organization. There are a lot of questions you can ask yourselves about a potential consultant client partnership but these are the deal-breakers.

1.  Do they know how to play in our world?

• Who have they worked with that is like us?
• Do they understand our culture?
• Would we be worried if a competing directorate hired them?

2.  Can they tell us the truth for our own good?

•    When it’s hard for us to listen will they make themselves heard?
•    Will they warn us early enough to course correct?
•    Can they be decent but honest when they tell us the painful stuff?

3.  Will they stand up for us and behind us when it hits the fan?

•    Who will take the blame when things get messy?
•    Will they put in the time when we really need them?
•    Would they up-sell us to those around them or air our dirty laundry?

4.  What can they do for us better than anyone else?

•    What do they have that no one else does?
•    Which of their services is their specialty?
•    Who else thinks they’re great at what they do?

5.  Why do they/would they want to work with us?

•    How do we know we aren’t just a paycheck to them?
•    If we were them, would we want ourselves for clients?
•    What do we have to offer them?

What do you think? What is missing from this list? What questions do you ask yourselves before making a decision?

Today we live in an era where trust and credibility are determined and earned before, during and after services are provided, rather than strictly after. A good consulting firm knows how important it is to not only practice what they preach but believe in the tools and techniques they espouse. As a firm we are strong advocates of transparency and clear communication. This latest effort is just the next crucial and natural step toward showing not just our existing clients but our future clients and the rest of the world who we are, what we stand for and what we have to offer. We promise to bring you honest, relevant postings that add to the way you think about your work and your professional priorities.

In some companies a blog is something they do because everyone else is doing it. Let’s face it, not all blogs are worth reading and not all companies really understand “this whole blog thing.” For us, starting a blog made sense because we have something to say and we want you to listen. So take some time, when you can, and explore our blog. We’re just getting started so there aren’t a lot of posts yet, but give it time and that will change.

So please, feel free to comment on our blog and also to suggest topics. As we grow our blogging community our readers will drive our content. Tell us what you want to hear about. Ask questions. Get engaged. Because this is not a magazine article and it’s not a book. It’s a conversation and we want you to be a part of it. We look forward to hearing from you.

Wedgewood Group is proud to announce the start of its blog.

Today we live in an era where trust and credibility are determined and earned before, during and after services are provided, rather than strictly after. A good consulting firm knows how important it is to not only practice what they preach but believe in the tools and techniques they espouse. As a firm we are strong advocates of transparency and clear communication. This latest effort is just the next crucial and natural step toward showing not just our existing clients but our future clients and the rest of the world who we are, what we stand for and what we have to offer. We promise to bring you honest, relevant postings that add to the way you think about your work and your professional priorities.

In some companies a blog is something they do because everyone else is doing it. Let’s face it, not all blogs are worth reading and not all companies really understand “this whole blog thing.” For us, starting a blog made sense because we have something to say and we want you to listen. So take some time, when you can, and explore our blog. We’re just getting started so there aren’t a lot of posts yet, but give it time and that will change.

So please, feel free to comment on our blog and also to suggest topics. As we grow our blogging community our readers will drive our content. Tell us what you want to hear about. Ask questions. Get engaged. Because this is not a magazine article and it’s not a book. It’s a conversation and we want you to be a part of it. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Talent Management Alliance was founded by the Talent Management Academy and is a knowledge-exchange network dedicated to the advancement of strategic talent management and leadership development practices. Their mission is to provide a resource for business leaders around the world to find information and services to help develop talent and prepare their organizations for growth and increased revenue.

The Leadership Capability Conference will be held in Reston, Virginia on June 6th and 7th. On the first day Katherine Parramore is moderating a panel titled, Aligning Targeted Leadership Competencies with the Organization Culture, which will focus on understanding what type of competencies your leaders will need and the direction and behaviors that define your organization and its culture. On the second day she will be moderating, Engaging and Retaining through our Development Programs, which will focus on shaping development programs to impact retention, using mobility to engage your workforce, and measuring development program effectiveness.

Given our workforce development service offerings these two panels are a natural fit. Click here to read our case study about Developing Future Leaders of the Air Force. If you would like to know more about how we can help you with your leadership development or employee retention contact us and let us know how we can help your organization embrace excellence.

Wedgewood Group specializes in helping government and nonprofit clients make the strategic decisions needed to achieve mission goals.