我们的优势在于能寻找到市场上最优秀的人才，并对候选人进行筛选，确保他们符合客户的要求，并与公司文化高度契合。虽然我们十分努力去达成这一点，但新员工无法适应新工作的情况还是时有发生。幸运的是，其中很多情况都可以被轻松避免。下文列出了最常见的五种状况及其避免方法。

We pride ourselves on sourcing the best talent in the market and screening candidates to make sure they match our clients' requirements and are a good company fit. But despite our best efforts, there are instances when new hires just don't work out. Fortunately, many of the causes are easily avoidable. Below is a list of five most common pitfalls and how to avoid them.

状况1：是否为新员工提供了足够的资源以取得成功？

Pitfall 1: Have you set your new hire up for success?

    设想你从竞争对手那里挖到了一位顶尖的女销售人员。你了解她曾创造的收益，也知道她人脉很广。于是你想：我找到了一位优秀的员工。但在入职的前几个月，她的业绩平平。你为此深感困惑。是她夸大了过往销售业绩，还是她的优势不再？

Imagine you hire a top saleswoman from a competitor. You know how much revenue she's generated and know about her wide network of contacts. You think to yourself: I've got a sure-fire winner. But as her first few months pass, her results are only average. You scratch your head. Did she exaggerate her sales or has she lost her edge?

    虽然这些都有可能，但答案往往更简单。新员工的整体业绩是其潜力、动力及手头资源的综合结果。你已经通过筛选流程明确了他们的潜力，而新员工通常也都动力满满。因此，问题很可能在于资源，即培训、软件、员工甚至时间方面的匮乏。例如，他们过去可能配备一位负责行政工作的秘书，或是拥有潜在的客户线索，或是配备一辆随时可用于拜访客户的公司用车。

Although those are certainly possibilities, the answer is likely much simpler. The overall performance of any new hire is a combination of their potential, motivation and resources at hand. You’ve identified their potential through a thorough screening process and it’s rare for a new employee to be un-motivated, so chances are it's an issue with resources — anything from lack of training, software, staff or even time. For example, they might have had a secretary to take care of admin tasks or access to a list of warm leads or a company car to get to more meetings every day.

    解决方法：与新员工交流，找出他们之前依靠哪些资源和方法来实现优秀业绩。“你现在缺少哪些之前工作中配备的资源”等问题有助于发现问题所在。也能让你深入了解其他公司或竞争对手所使用的资源。

The fix: Sit down with new hires and find out exactly what resources and systems were provided for them to excel in their previous role. Questions like “What resources were you provided in your previous role that you don’t have here” will uncover any concerns. It may also give you valuable insight into resources used by other firms or competitors.

状况2：是否与团队成员说明了招聘新员工的益处？

Pitfall 2: Have you sold the benefits of having a new hire?

    新员工入职可能导致其他团队成员产生焦虑感乃至憎恶感。如果部门内的某个员工期望升职，而你正好雇佣了与其资历和技能水平相当的人，他们自然会将新员工视为竞争对手。这种情况很可能会出现，这种心情也可以理解，因为这至少表明了在职员工的动力与志向。

The announcement of a new hire can cause anxiety and even resentment for other team members. If one employee in the department was expecting to be promoted and you’ve just hired someone with the same level of experience and skills, it’s natural for them to see the new hire as competition. This is to be expected and even tolerated -- if anything, it demonstrates the incumbent employee’s motivation and ambition.

    但若是超越某条界线，友好竞争就会转变为恶性竞争。例如，在职员工可能会将新员工排除在下班后的工作聚餐之外。更糟糕的是，他们发现新员工在工作中犯了某个错误，非但不加以指出，而是放任不管，从而不可避免地导致经理或客户投诉。

But there is a line when friendly competition turns un-friendly. For example, an incumbent employee may exclude the new hire from work gatherings outside the office. Worse, they notice a mistake in the new hire’s work but instead of pointing it out, they let it slide, triggering the inevitable complaint from a manager or customer. 

    解决方法：新员工入职之前，向团队说明招聘新员工的原因，并宣传招聘新员工的益处。如果你认为某人可能会因为新员工的到来而感到威胁或挑战，可以找这个人谈话，让他们放心。最糟糕的做法是不作任何解释。

The fix: Before a new hire joins, explain to the team why this new person is being hiredand sell the benefits of having an extra pair of hands. If you identify someone who might be threatened or challenged by the new hire, speak to them and ease any concerns. Not saying anything is the worst course of action.

状况3：是否与新员工保持沟通并给出反馈？

Pitfall 3: Are you getting and giving feedback?

    很多受访的新员工表示，他们对于自己没通过三个月试用期感到十分惊讶。这显然是双方缺乏沟通所导致的。如果经理不做任何解释，新员工可能会认为经理默认了预期工作的完成情况。他们可能还会产生负疚感，为在入职期间问题过多、占用同事太多时间或没有更多交流而感到抱歉。另一方面，在大费周章招到新员工之后，经理手头可能积压了大量未完成的重要工作。因此，他们可能并未定期与新员工交流，或在入职的前几个月给他们提供指导。有些经理可能想评估新员工的独立程度，并以此作为是否留任的测试环节。这种方法对于新员工而言一般毫无益处。

Many new hires we speak to are completely shocked when they don't make it past their three-month probation period. This is a clear case of lack of communication from both sides. The new hire may interpret silence from their manager as tacit approval for completing work as expected. They may also feel guilty for already taking up too much of their peers' time with endless questions during onboarding and fail to communicate more. On the other hand, managers may have a backlog of incomplete work and priorities after a particularly long and exhausting search for a new hire. As a result, they fail to regularly communicate with their new hire or guide them through their first few months. Some managers may want to assess how independent the new hire is as part of a “sink or swim” test. This approach is rarely ever beneficial for the new hire.

    解决方法：定期反馈和沟通可能是确保新员工成功的最关键的因素。新员工入职后，就应该安排定期的一对一交流，以提供反馈并成功建立工作关系。新员工也会更自然地与你交流，从而避免重大问题和误解。

The fix:Regular feedback and communication is probably the single most critical factor in ensuring a new hire is successful. As soon as a new hire joins, schedule regular one-to-one sessions to provide feedback and to build critical rapport for a successful working relationship. Your new hire will also feel more comfortable speaking to you and larger issues and misunderstandings can be avoided altogether.

状况4：是否制定了合适的入职流程？

Pitfall 4: Is a proper onboarding process in place?

    很多公司的资源本就十分紧张，新员工入职时，公司希望他们能够边工作边学习。简而言之，他们希望一切“水到渠成”。这种想法并没有错，你雇佣的是一位合格且聪明的员工，因此无需亲力亲为地为其提供所有信息。但这对于新员工入职来说着实有效吗？实际来看，没有哪条规则或哪个公司的章程都是以书面形式确定的，而且并非所有规则都是实际规则，很可能只是长期形成的惯例。很多新员工都可能在不经意间破坏某条并未明确规定的规则，从而犯下错误。

Many companies are already stretched in terms of resources and when a new hire joins, the company simply expects them to learn everything on the job. In short, they expect everything to just “work out”. This isn’t necessarily wrong — you have likely hired a very qualified and intelligent person and spoon-feeding every single piece of information may not be necessary. But is this really an efficient way to onboard a new hire? From a practical perspective, not every single rule or a company can be written down, nor are many rules actually rules but just tacit agreements that have developed over time. Most new hires will have a story of a corporate faux pas when they innocently broke an unwritten rule.

    解决方法：人力资源部门可能制定了公司入职方案，但此方案可能仅限于流程层面，对新员工的日常工作影响甚微。要妥当地介绍职位和职责，就应该制定自己的团队/部门入职方案。你也可以将新员工与“同事”进行非正式配对，帮助新员工熟悉公司文化和未明确规定的规则。

The fix: Your HR department may have a company onboarding plan but that might be limited to high level procedures that have little impact on your new hire's daily routine. For a proper introduction to roles and responsibilities, you should have your own team/department onboarding plan. You can also informally pair the new hire with a “buddy” to help him or her get accustomed to the company’s culture and unwritten rules.

状况5：是否已经评估过职位描述？

Pitfall 5: Have you reviewed the job description?

    职位描述可称得上是最令人感到困惑的文本。其中满是技术术语、独特的部门名称和模糊不清的措辞，要完全理解职位描述对任何人都是一项挑战。这会产生一系列问题，也会让你面临一种风险，即在没有明确定义的前提下，让某人试图在某个岗位获得成功。有些新员工十分勤勉，确保他们了解职位描述的所有内容。有些新员工了解并同意大多数内容，但对于一些模糊不清的部分，由于他们因为新工作和新公司而激动不已，因此并未进一步弄清其含义。

Job descriptions can often be some of the most confusing documents in existence. Filled with technical jargon, unique department names and vague and unclear wording, they can be a challenge for anyone to completely understand. This creates its own set of problems and you run the risk of having someone trying to be successful in a position where success cannot really be defined. Some new hires are very diligent and make sure they understand every line of their job description. Others might understand and agree with most of it, but there could be areas which are unclear and, caught up in the excitement of a new job and company, they fail to subsequently clarify.

    解决方法：在与新员工进行的最初几次一对一环节中，询问“你觉得职位描述的哪部分模糊不清？”或“根据最初几周的工作，职位描述与你目前所做的工作是否匹配”等问题。对于岗位和职位描述而言，理想与现实之间总是存在一定的落差。但定期评估职位描述，可确保所有人都了解并同意职位目标、设置目的以及成功标准。

The fix: In one of your first 1:1 sessions with the new hire, ask questions like, “Any parts of your job description that are not clear?” or “Based on your first few weeks, does the job description seem to match up with what you’re doing?” With any role and job description, there is bound to be the ideal and the reality. By regularly reviewing the job description, you ensure everyone understands and agrees on the objectives and purpose of the role and what success looks like.

Michael Page