Canadian Lawyer InHouse

30 www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse FEATURE When onboarding and training new staff, it is vital to communicate the business's values upfront. Mark Carter explains how employers can embed their values to plant the seeds of success Training your team for success We often get so focused on the results we need to achieve that we forget to realise — or translate this into — what's more important to the individual TRAINING NEW employees on the values of the business early on is becoming more important to overall success. Studies by Nielsen and Engage for Good highlight that the values and social responsibility of a company are a core consideration for both customers and staff, especially for over 70% of millennials, as they are among the criteria they use when electing who to work for. There are two questions worth considering: • How do we embed the business's values in new employees during onboarding? • How can we drive values with more consistency? As many who work in learning, develop- ment, training or HR will appreciate, values are an important component of any staff induction program. Planting strong seeds at this point is essential. A key shift in learning over the last couple of decades has been the increased move towards individual learning pathways. The same principle applies here. Once you can wrap your head around the five core elements of values and value perception, you can tailor onboarding and individual learning pathways accordingly. The five value elements: 1 Personal value is the essence of why individual learning has so much merit. The way people learn, their particular strengths, their Achilles heels, their motivation and personal circumstances play a significant part in their interpretation and application of any ideologies you wish to see espoused in your business. Take time to ask questions (a skill that applies both in sales and coaching) about what's truly important to each individual. When you know their motivations and goals, you can adapt your language, even rewards, to align with them. Profiling tools (such as DISC, MBTI, etc.) may be exceptionally handy as a component of this, but are by no means necessary. 2 Tangible value is the value language of business. Every company leader has days of joy, or sometimes stress, as they digest spreadsheets of results. And every leader in the world knows, even subconsciously, that there are only four tangible value metrics to be aware of. Often, however, we get so focused on the results we need to achieve that we forget to realise — or translate this into — what's more important to the individual. A classic example is the misconception that all salespeople are only interested in money. When reviewing business reports, learn to ask better questions and figure out which metrics are important to each team member. 3 Emotional value is like a sprinkling of magical fairy dust. We are all emotional beings. In fact,

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