Consider the Influences Employees Bring Along

Some managers have a tendency to think of employees as clean slates, ready to be imprinted with the expectations and policies of the department, company or business. Regardless of how many questions about previous work history and experiences that may have been asked during the interview process, employers can "forget" that new employees bring other influences and experiences with them into the new job environment. Some of these can be useful while others may need to be "un-learned."

Even an employee who was hired because of extensive experience may have habits or ways of doing the job that are undesirable. Others may have experiences that are not particularly job-related that bring a depth or creativity to the job that someone else wouldn't have. When we are pouring over resumes and conducting interviews, we often ask all sorts of questions regarding a person's work history to get a solid understanding of whether or not she can do the job-once she is hired, however, we do not take advantage of all that experience or pay attention to how it can influence the current position.

Periodically check in with employees as to how they are adjusting to their new job. Even existing employees have lives outside of the work world and they may be getting additional training or doing volunteer or other work that can influence the job they are doing as well. Annual review conversations or periodic conversations regarding skills, experiences, education and the overall process of doing the job can be helpful in checking how outside influences are coming into play.

If you have prior knowledge of experiences, you can think of ways to either incorporate and take advantage of the positive ones or retrain the new employee to try to counter the effects of ones you do NOT want to have a significant impact on the new job. For example, if you know that the employee is used to working with an outdated system, you can make sure that initial training includes how to use the new system and clear expectations around the new job tasks.

As long as you remember that new employees have had a work life prior to coming to work with your company, you can take advantage of the good experiences and try to counter the not-so-good ones as everyone gets adjusted to the new position.