(originally published May 4th, 2005)

How do you welcome new employees to the fold, whether you’re management or a co-worker? Are you sincerely friendly and helpful, or a little weary of what you might be getting?

I ask this question because I’ve recently experienced the tale of two cities, so to speak. As a consultant, I never know what kind of reception I’m going to get whenever I go into a company. On my previous contract, the management staff I had to work with was very hesitant in accepting me into their fold. When one encounters resistance, it just makes getting into the swing of things very difficult. If I were a regular employee, I might feel as though I weren’t welcome, and that I might not be at this job very long.

On my new contract, I walked in and was welcomed immediately. I was asked to contribute within two hours of my arriving, and people were listening to every word I had to say. I was accepted as one of them, something that rarely happens. If I were a regular employee, I would feel as though this was a place I wanted to be at for a very long time, and I was going to make sure that if anything ever happened negatively for the company, it wasn’t going to be because of anything I did.

Everyone has ulterior motives, to some degree. Are you going to make sure that yours will impart a positive, or negative, effect on others?