A tenet of management is that “people require care.” And nowhere is that more evident than in the situation where a bright-eyed, eager, and well-qualified new staffer comes in—and threatens the long-term staffers.
The cure is recognition, says Venus Opal Reese, PhD, a consultant for professional and business development. And it has to come fast, because left alone, the situation can degenerate to the point where a veteran staffer—or even a group of veterans— gets sour enough to undermine the newcomer’s work.
Why unwelcome
To the people already on board, a super qualified newcomer can be an unwelcome addition to the office.
“It’s as human as it gets,” Reese says. The veterans see the newcomer getting praise and attention they have come to see as their own and they think their contributions are being overshadowed. They feel threatened and try to “reassert their value” in ways that aren’t attractive.
Sometimes there’s ridicule, maybe a joke about the newcomer not knowing how to use the phone system. Sometimes there’s exclusion. The newcomer asks about some office situation and the veterans say, “You don’t understand.”
Sometimes there’s outright sabotage involving staffers who withhold information from the newcomer or even deliberately give inaccurate information.
Enter the recognition solution
That’s where recognition comes in.
The manager has to make the veterans see that their work is no less appreciated or important and that their jobs are not in jeopardy.
Do it publicly “and do it live” at a staff meeting, Reese says.
People pretend not to like public recognition out of fear of appearing egotistical, but in truth, they crave it. It makes them feel valuable and secure in their jobs.
If one of the veterans does a good job managing the database, recognize it: “Staffer A manages the database so efficiently that we never have to make any corrections.”
That ends any threat the veteran feels that the newcomer is taking over the stardom.
It also opens the door to communication between veteran and newcomer because Staffer A has been recognized as the database expert and Staffer Newcomer knows to go there for questions about it.
And Staffer A is willing to help the newcomer because expert status is now firmly established.
A sort of in-house school
Another approach is to have everybody write the answers to two questions. Then the manager reads the responses aloud.
The first is, “What am I willing to give?” In other words, what skills and abilities do staff have that they are willing to share with the rest of the office?
Answering that forces staff to identify their skills and admit that they are willing to share them with anybody who needs them—including the newcomer. One person might be willing to teach others how to use a new software; another may be willing to help plan a meeting.
The second question is the reverse of that: “What requests am I willing to make?” or “What things do staff want to learn from one another?”
Use the answers to pair the people who need specific help with those who can give it. And in doing so, pair the newcomer with the veterans who are most resentful.
Again, recognition solves the problem because the pairing establishes a teacher/student relationship. Staffer Veteran gets the status of being the teacher expert—far ahead of Staffer Newcomer who is only the student.
People like to be asked for help because it recognizes them as experts. “And when people can give what they think they’re good at, they give better.”
A joint project with a report
Another solution: Assign a joint project to veteran and newcomer. Make it something the veteran “is passionate about” or has expertise in. It can be anything from planning an office lunch to making a presentation on new software.
Afterwards, ask the two staffers to outline the project at a staff meeting, and at the same time ask, “What did you each learn from this?” and “Tell us what you liked about working with each other.” Talking about a mutual effort and success makes them a team.
She cautions, however, that the project must be worthwhile but should not require a large amount of time. If it gets labor intensive, it’s liable to become just an unpleasant chore for both parties.
Seeing it for what it is
One more solution is to have staff write the answer to another question: “What things am I willing to forgive?” And again, read the answers aloud at a meeting.
Putting that in writing gives people “public permission” to bring their issues to the table. At the same time, it makes staff identify whatever grudges they are holding, and when the answers are read aloud, “it creates a clear space” where people can talk about their resentments in a positive atmosphere.
And be prepared for some ludicrous answers, Reese says. She cites one company where a staffer wrote “I’m willing to forgive Secretary New for not bringing doughnuts to staff meetings.”
The manager read that out loud “and the new secretary laughed it off.”
