Buy your new staff a coffee, they have a story worth listening to.

So often in our business we spend lots of time with management or long-term members of our teams to create programs that improve company initiatives. I recently identified an enormous pool of experience that existed in people that have only recently joined our organisation. From this observation, we created a One Year Club which brings together people who have completed their six-month induction and are enjoying the lead up to reaching their first-year milestone as a permanent employee.

You ask yourself the question, what do these people know about Pentana Solutions and, in fact, that is exactly the answer to this question – they don’t know a lot about Pentana Solutions but they know a lot about other places they have worked. Their experience in other companies, other industries, other training programs, working with customers, and other cultures, has bought such a rich vein of fresh thinking into our organisation. These people are eager to share their experiences, and often challenge some of the pre-existing norms that exist in our organisation.

In response to our One Year Club findings, we have commenced a process of reverse mentoring; regular CEO Conversations and other forums to facilitate input, opinions and insights from this group. I encourage every CEO to look to this team of people that exist in your organisation for an energetic and valued view of the world.

- Steve Kloss

To read the previous edition of A Closer Look, click here