Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and goal achieving.
Speaker 1: This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host
Speaker 1: Paul Fellavaledo. Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute
Speaker 1: Leadership Podcast. It's episode three twenty nine, and this one
Speaker 1: might challenge some traditional leadership thinking because when we talk
Speaker 1: about onboarding, we usually think about new employees getting them
Speaker 1: up the speed, showing them the ropes, and making sure
Speaker 1: they understand the culture and the expectations. But what about
Speaker 1: the employees who have been around four years. Here's the
Speaker 1: truth most leaders don't want to admit. Time doesn't equal alignment.
Speaker 1: Just because someone has been with your organization for five, ten,
Speaker 1: or even twenty years doesn't mean they're still operating the
Speaker 1: way you want them to. Habits drift, processes, get bent,
Speaker 1: shortcuts sneak in, culture gets interpreted instead of upheld, and
Speaker 1: pretty soon your most experienced team members are operating from
Speaker 1: muscle memory instead of a mission statement, and no one
Speaker 1: notices it until it becomes a problem. So what do
Speaker 1: you do about it? You re onboard them, yes, even
Speaker 1: the ones with seniority, especially them. Here's why culture isn't permanent.
Speaker 1: It's perishable. Just because someone learned the culture ten years
Speaker 1: ago doesn't mean they're living it today. Maybe your values
Speaker 1: have shifted, maybe the mission evolved, maybe the tone changed.
Speaker 1: If you haven't checked in, you're assuming alignment that may
Speaker 1: no longer exist. And that's how we've always done it
Speaker 1: is a very dangerous phrase. Veteran employees can become protective
Speaker 1: of old methods. They lean into what worked a decade
Speaker 1: ago and resist what works now. Re onboarding is your
Speaker 1: chance to clarify, here's how we do it today, and
Speaker 1: they're setting the tone, whether you like it or not.
Speaker 1: Long term employees are often the unofficial culture carriers. New
Speaker 1: people look to them as examples. So if your senior
Speaker 1: staff are disengaged, cutting corners or just doing things their
Speaker 1: own way, that ripple effect is killing your team's standards
Speaker 1: and setting the tone. So how do you re onboard?
Speaker 1: So let's get tactical here for a minute. Here's five
Speaker 1: things to include when re onboarding long term employees. Number one,
Speaker 1: I call this the mission reconnect. Reintroduce the mission, ask
Speaker 1: them how they think their role impacts it. Then tell
Speaker 1: them how you see their role impacting it, and align
Speaker 1: those answers. In number two something called the values reset.
Speaker 1: Go over your organizational values word for word. Ask which
Speaker 1: ones they feel most connected to and which ones they
Speaker 1: feel the team needs to work on. This isn't fluffy,
Speaker 1: it's directional. Number three the expectations update. Be honest, say,
Speaker 1: I know you've been here a long time, but as
Speaker 1: we grow, we've tightened expectations around X, Y, and Z,
Speaker 1: and I want to make sure we're all rowing in
Speaker 1: the same direction. Number four is the feedback loop. Ask
Speaker 1: what's been frustrating them and listen. Long term employees have
Speaker 1: a mental folder of things they've tolerated for years. You
Speaker 1: will learn a lot, and you might spot areas where
Speaker 1: the processes need improvement. In number five is the culture
Speaker 1: cont Make it clear seniority doesn't exempt you from accountability.
Speaker 1: It gives you more of it. Let them know they're
Speaker 1: not just employees. They're leaders, examples, and standard bearers. So
Speaker 1: here's the payoff. When long term employees feel seen, heard,
Speaker 1: and realigned, they often become your strongest culture drivers. They
Speaker 1: stop leading from memory and start leading from your mission
Speaker 1: bullet points. But if you ignore this, if you assume
Speaker 1: tenure equals loyalty or that experience means alignment, you'll miss
Speaker 1: the quiet drift that slowly erodes your standards. This week,
Speaker 1: I challenge you to pick one long term team member
Speaker 1: and schedule a re onboarding conversation. Don't call it that,
Speaker 1: call it a check in, a sink, a leadership talk,
Speaker 1: whatever works, but ask the questions, reset the tone, because
Speaker 1: even the best people get off course if the compass
Speaker 1: isn't recalibrated. This has been the seven minute leadership and
Speaker 1: I thank you for listening. For more Paul fell of
Speaker 1: Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com