New Hire Orientation -Part1: The First Day

The most dreadful experience for a new hire in your organization is the first day at work. No matter how experienced the new hire is, the first day is bound to overwhelm, psyche, and freak-out the new hire. First impressions last. Let us look-in these series of posts based on my personal experiences-at how oragnizations can help the new hire feel at home and comfortable.

Make them feel important
In late November 2001, I packed my bags and left for Indore from Chennai (my home). I joined Computer Sciences Corporation India. Indore, by a conservative estimate, is at least a hundred years behind Chennai. I was new to the language and culture; my Hindi was slightly better than that of Diego Maradona. For a Chennai guy, any other town is a cold place. Indore, on the fateful evening I landed there, was freezing at 8 degree Celsius. I checked in to the hotel where CSC had made my stay arrangements. It was around nine in the evening, and the air was ice-cold.
The food was completely alien to me. Rice was missing. I stuffed some Rotis in and got back to my room. The door handle was 1000 degrees below zero. My body was shaking involuntarily. I decided to wear another layer of clothing, and before long, I had emptied half of my suitcase. So, I went to sleep, wearing a week�s worth of clothing, a monkey camp pulled over ears and eyes; and with the TV on.

The next morning they served Chinese noodles for breakfast and I wanted to punch the F&B guy�s nose, for he was acting as if it was the most natural thing to do: eating Chinese noodle for breakfast! I was petrified. I double-checked the map to ensure that Indore was in India. I was experiencing an inter-galactic culture shock.

The company car picked me up from the hotel at quarter to nine. The driver was this friendly chap; only, I did not understand a word of what he was saying. So, to ensure that he does not know I was Hindi-blind, I started rattling out movie names: �Haan kuch kuch hota hai!� �Oh! Qayamat se Qayamat Tak!� �Dil to Pagal Hai!� �Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikanader!� and so on. In less than ten minutes, yet another soul-among so many more- rushed to the conclusion that I was a complete AH. The driver stopped talking to me. I was about to light a smoke when he screamed at me, �No, no ishmoke, company car!� I wanted to bite his ear off, for despite the closed windows of the car, the early morning breeze sneaked through and benumbed my er posterior, among other parts.

The driver also contributed to my acid-reflux by driving like a serial killer chased by the cops. I belched, groaned, and tried to get the hint across. But as I was Hindi-blind, he was hint-blind. As the car bounced along on the pot-holed, muddy roads of Indore, leaving a trail of dust-cloud, and people diving for cover, I sighed, clenched my teeth, and thought in despair, �What have I gotten myself into god?�

Finally, the car swung into the parking area of CSC India and came to a sudden stop. Saving myself from crashing through the windshield right at the nick of the moment, I jumped down and ran into the front office, swearing to myself that I would crawl on broken glass, but would never get on that car again. I found myself among so many people buzzing about, casting careless, enquiring glances (�who is this joker now?�). I felt small, insignificant, and out of place. And I noticed the announcement board. �Someone important must be visiting them I guess�, I thought. But the name appeared very familiar and warranted a scrutiny. I walked up to the board and the elegantly fit white plastic letters said �CSC India welcomes Sumankumar�. A boulder flew off my chest. I heaved a huge sigh of relief. And while the sigh echoed in the hall and made heads turn; I walked towards the reception-desk with a newfound energy flowing through my legs. I was important around here. These guys were waiting for my arrival.
Mita, the receptionist with a billion dollar smile, asked me to take a seat, and cooed into the phone, �Mr. Sumankumar is here.� My chest was swollen now and it almost ripped off my shirt buttons. �Mr.Sumankumar� was music to my ears. I pictured someone deep inside CSCI�s belly anxiously waiting for my arrival. Boss, I am important or what!

While I was drinking in the new atmosphere, Aparna stuck a bouquet of flowers at me and said, �Welcome to CSC India!� I accepted the bouquet, and gargled out an incoherent response (�huh, thank ho haa ughhh much!�). It was embarrassingly nice- to be welcomed and given flowers and all. My fist half hour in CSC was pure delight. Aparna took me around the office and I met all VPs, GMs, managers etc. She even had lunch with me, and post-lunch introduced me to my boss. �This is a cool place�, was my first impression.

After a couple of years I quit CSC as I had to move down south; Indore was poorly connected (still is I guess), and I had to be closer to home owing to my mom�s health. Also, I wanted to move closer to Chitra who is from Bangalore. But I always tell people about how CSC treats new hires on their first day at work. I realized the worth of the first impression when I moved to Pune. (To be Contd)

Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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