{"id":32231,"date":"2010-03-15T09:56:18","date_gmt":"2010-03-15T09:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/blog\/?p=32231"},"modified":"2010-03-05T11:57:15","modified_gmt":"2010-03-05T11:57:15","slug":"undercover-employee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/undercover-employee\/","title":{"rendered":"Undercover Employee"},"content":{"rendered":"


<\/p>\n

\"Shhhh<\/a><\/div>\n

I haven\u2019t seen the new television show Undercover Boss\u2014but the idea seems almost irresistible.\u00a0 Who wouldn\u2019t want to see executives slogging around in the trenches?<\/p>\n

However, I have<\/em> done several stints as an undercover employee.\u00a0 Way back when I wanted to get out of academia and learn about the business world, I found it was easy to get temp jobs because I could type really (really) fast.\u00a0 So I got to snoop around a dozen or so companies, seeing how they were organized, how people behaved, and so on. \u00a0The companies were in different industries, and the work cultures were superficially different.\u00a0 But what I learned in my adventure was that they all<\/em> had the same problems.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to today.\u00a0 I\u2019m currently undercover again, this time because I wanted an inside view of a very famous employer brand.\u00a0 The \u201cundercoverness\u201d is not that no one knows my real identity–it\u2019s that no one has the least interest in who I am.\u00a0 My role is to get X amount of stuff done in Y amount of time, and enter my hours into the appropriate project slots.\u00a0 As long as I do that, no one will pay any attention to me.\u00a0 I am a worker bee.<\/p>\n

But I do get to see (or at least hear) how things run in one group.\u00a0 I won\u2019t reveal my \u201cfindings\u201d until I\u2019ve finished the project and departed the company.\u00a0 For now, I just want to share this observation . . .<\/p>\n

Probably nothing would be more help in improving the employer brand than finding out what new \u00a0employees actually experience as they go through the hiring process, go through the onboarding process, try to do some work, and try to find their place in the group structure.\u00a0 How many companies substantively<\/em> interview new hires and actively<\/em> utilize feedback?<\/p>\n

Come to that:\u00a0 How many companies provide ongoing support and resources for new hires?\u00a0 How many managers have the time, skills, or inclination to effectively integrate new employees?\u00a0 And how many Careers sites talk about the hiring and onboarding processes, or include interviews with newly hired workers as well as career employees?<\/p>\n

Last question.\u00a0 How many corporate recruiters actually know what becomes of candidates after they get hired?<\/p>\n

When you think about it\u2014every<\/em> new employee is \u201cundercover.\u201d\u00a0 Secretly observing, forming opinions, drawing conclusions.\u00a0 And those early observations will shape the relationship between employee and employer for a long time.<\/p>\n

Check out the \u00a0fantastic (seriously) New Hires site<\/a> at Stanford University for some ideas.\u00a0 Especially impressive:\u00a0 a series of Manager Checklists<\/a> that cover the first days, weeks, and months on the job.<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

(Thanks to Eric E. Castro<\/a> for the original \u201cShhh!\u201d photograph.\u00a0 It\u2019s been reworked a bit here.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I haven\u2019t seen the new television show Undercover Boss\u2014but the idea seems almost irresistible.\u00a0 Who wouldn\u2019t want to see executives slogging around in the trenches? However, I have done several stints as an undercover employee.\u00a0 Way back when I wanted to get out of academia and learn about the business world, I found it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,25,6147],"tags":[2931,1192,6225],"class_list":{"0":"post-32231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-best-practices","7":"category-careers","8":"category-featured-careers","9":"tag-corporate-recruiting","10":"tag-employer-brand","11":"tag-new-hires","12":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nYour Employer Brand as Seen by Your New Hires<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Improve your employer brand by finding out what new employees experience. 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