What your last external hire told everyone in the office

There’s something very interesting that happens when you hire someone from outside instead of developing the people that are already at the company – it happens in the form of 2 totally different communications:

The company message

1) An internal memo goes out introducing the new hire, making them feel welcome, whilst also painting a picture of a rosy new future for the business.

The unspoken message

2) At the same time there is also an unspoken internal message that circulates amongst the team that says ‘We looked beyond you’ or ‘We didn’t think you were up to it’

Which communication is the one that people remember the most ?

Your team may not say anything at first but then things change and engagement shifts. Maybe you had people who were already thinking about leaving, if so they might start actively looking. Maybe the people who were on the edge of stepping up start to become more cautious. The team start waiting for permission to do things and stop offering ideas in meetings, and some ease back into being contributors instead of leaders.

Whether you meant it or not, particularly if you didn’t share your thoughts and plans, its possible that your last external hire said a lot more to the existing team than you thought.

Maybe it’s time to take a real ‘Second Look’ at who’s already in the business. They might be the people who saw the internal memo and thought ‘Its probably time for me to move on’.

If you’ve got some future talent in your business, why not sit down and have a coffee or lunch with them and give the a Second Look before your competition does.

I’ve designed a set of conversational questions that will help you develop your knowledge and appreciation of each other, because everyone deserves a ‘Second Look’