How to Extend "Honeymoon with Employer"

Cómo hacer que la unión del empresario y el empleado sea sólida y larga, para que la relación no se acabe tras la "luna de miel", y qué debe alertar inmediatamente al candidato.

CleverControl preguntó al experto en marketing, relaciones públicas y estrategia de comunicación Larry Warren.

• Larry, ¿cuál sería un bonito comienzo de relación entre la empresa y el empleado?

• In practice of successful professionals quite interesting stories "conquest" happen quite often. Firstly, let’s define "the honeymoon period"? It is actually just like that pre-purchase buzz you might get. It is the moment when the interest in some employee or employer is so high that all your further actions are aimed at the realization of the desire "to get him/her/it". But, as in human relationships, in work it is very important to have the desire balanced. An emotional impulse purchase based on someone else's successful market experience sometimes has nothing to do with the goal of the employer. And the substitution of concepts most often leads to disappointment. First, the employer needs time to define what tasks he or she will set before the future employee, which of them to define as a priority, and what he or she is willing to sacrifice. Second, the applicant must also consider what he or she "sells", "earns", and for what price. All these questions are specific enough to require serious consideration and it's important to separate emotions in making such decisions.

• ¿En qué casos aconseja que el empleado sospeche? ¿Cuál debe ser la bandera roja?

• For example, you get a call from an HR specialist and off the bat he or she starts to praise you and all of your projects. And this flattery is followed by the invitation for a meeting where everything is made just for you and even the boss meets you with a smile. The intention is clear: everyone is excited to meet you, you really have something to respect you for but where does all of this excessive "gallantry" come from. It creates suspicion. It all would be fine if it was not for this weird aftertaste of some kind of catch... And now, at home, in a comfortable chair, you start recalling rather strange inconsistencies in the manner of communication with you and the current employees, such as rudeness with the secretary or assistant, and that nasty feeling of insincerity. Or, let's imagine a completely opposite experience when the calling recruiter tells you how lucky you are to be addressed by such a company. Most often, such interview continues with a general feeling of an “exam” and questions like "Well? What do you know about us?" The feeling is often reinforced by phrases like: "Next time I want you to prepare a presentation for us." These seem to be two completely opposite examples but what do they have in common? In fact, in both cases, the company does not understand what it is looking for in a future candidate. Because "praise" or "belittling" is a transition to personal that deprives the dialogue between people of all productivity and causes completely unnecessary emotional reactions. What is dangerous about such a beginning of work relationship? The fact that your work simply will never meet the boss’s expectations because he or she doesn't know what is required.

• ¿Qué ejemplos conoce en los que el contraste entre "la luna de miel" y la vida laboral cotidiana?

• I just remembered a joke: Because of the serious problems the company was in the boss fired the marketing director. And he tells his successor that he have prepared three letters which the new marketing director needs to open before every meeting with the boss. After a year the company has zero results, the boss calls the new director in for a meeting. So he opens the 1st letter which says: "Blame everything on me." The successor refers to the terrible legacy he inherited from the previous employee, and he is forgiven. Another year passes. The picture is the same. Dynamics of company’s development is not improving. Another meeting is planned. The marketing director opens the 2nd letter which says: "Blame everything on the fact that the effect of modernization cannot be instantaneous and that it requires a cumulative effect and time." Again the director is forgiven. Another year later nothing has changed. The director opens the 3rd letter before the meeting and it says: "Prepare the 3 letters." This joke, as it often happens, is only 50% joke. Very often employers who don’t know what they want expect too much from an employee. The boss who doesn’t know how to set goals and tasks sees the employee as a beam of light that will bring business back from the darkness, but it is not always justified. And this kind of dissonance stops “the honeymoon” straight away.

• En su opinión, ¿cuál es el principal error de los empresarios, ya que los empleados están tan contentos en las etapas iniciales y tan aturdidos después?

• Yo no atribuiría toda la culpa al empresario. La selección del empleado y del empleador es un proceso de dos caras. El jefe tiene que entender que su tarea es el proceso de trazar una ruta, determinar un itinerario y establecer objetivos específicos para las personas correctas. Y, como he dicho antes, no debe sucumbir a las emociones. Durante las entrevistas de trabajo, hay que negociar los términos y reconocer los objetivos y motivos de ambas partes para evitar más malentendidos. Y si el solicitante ve cierta incertidumbre en su futuro puesto, no debe tener miedo de expresar sus temores al posible jefe. No tenga miedo de hacer preguntas.

• ¿Qué puede recomendar a los directivos para evitar errores?

• El consejo más importante para los directivos es que no olviden que están a cargo del proceso. Es muy importante escuchar y oír, sacar las lecciones de los errores, entender que es normal cuando se producen errores y saber delegar. Pero lo más importante es asumir la responsabilidad del resultado.