“It’s the small daily brush strokes that create the painting, no matter how large the canvas.”

That’s the quote that I continue to remind myself of as I work with our Marketing intern Alessandra.  Bringing a new person into a company takes time, commitment and planning - but not everything can happen at once - so…one brush stroke at a time.

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the need with new employees - with every employee actually - to be clear about expectations.  Now we’re working on the next part of the canvas. 

So what are three Key steps to creating an “engaged employee”:

1) Making her my priority - Too often new hires aren’t given the time that they need with their hiring manager.  I’ve worked hard to clear my own schedule since she came on board - at least a 1/2 day a week - more at the beginning to have the meetings and answer the questions that all new employees have. 

Spending time with her each week is one of my top 5 priorities each week.  And touching base at least once a day - even if it’s just a quick email - when we don’t meet.  Not necessarily easy - but absolutely necessary if I want to get the most from my investment!

2) Helping her to clarify her priorities - I’ve only got Alessandra for 20 hours every week.  She’s naturally organized - something that I looked for when I hired her - so I asked her to come up with monthly goals and priorities (which we reviewed) and then we’re breaking them down by week. 

The benefit of this to me?  She’s staying focused and on track and knows what she needs to do even if she gets ahead.  Last week she got done everything that she was supposed to do in two weeks in one week - so we came up with another list!  Very cool!

3) Asking her what she’s learning - and having her document it too!  This is a Gallup question by the way that will help you to measure the level of employee engagement in your company. 

“In the last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?”  And there’s another one too about having someone at work who encourages an employee’s development.   

Have your employees set learning goals for themselves and debrief with them about what they’ve learned and how they’ve grown.  And if you have them document the information, you have a ready-made training manual for the next person who comes along!

Intrigued?  

If you’d like to meet Alessandra, she’ll be at our next “Dining with the CEO” event on June 8th with Philadelphia University President and Jiffy Lube co-Founder Steve Spinelli!   Plan on coming and I’ll introduce you!  Click here for more info and to register! 

Hope to see you there!