Welcome Wagon — Personal Visits Ended in 1998

When I was growing up and living with my parents, we never moved. However, when I went to school in New York City, I moved. Similarly, when I graduated, my family relocated to Syracuse, New York. It was a second move. Years later, we moved once more to Columbus, Ohio, which became “home.” With each move, the “Welcome Wagon” was there to acquaint us with the area. Someone stopped in, introduced themselves, gave us a few pointers about what to do, where to go, handed out some coupons for us to redeem, and otherwise did whatever they could to introduce us to the neighborhood and make us feel like we were part of it.

The Welcome Wagon personally greeted us in an effort to assimilate us into that neighborhood and make us feel welcome there. The Welcome Wagon presentations were customized to include work, recreation, shopping, schools, etc. for each member of the family. There was no “one size fits all.”
In the corporate world, whether an insurance environment or not, assimilation of individuals into a larger framework has numerous phrases. Two familiar adages are: “we are all rowing in the same boat” or “There is no I in team.” The implication is that the focus should be on “all of us,” not “just me.” During a graying of the work force and retirement of experience and expertise, securing talented individuals to join a company is a great start. However, one of the more famous winners of our time, Michael Jordan, recognized how to take talent to the next level: “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” Companies seek championships.

Let me add a more current effort to attract talent to enhance a team: diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). DEI is another way to bolster the human resources and capabilities of a company. However, the talent recruited through DEI does little good as a separate and siloed source of talent within a company. Like the Welcome Wagon of 1998 and prior that extended the effort to secure personal one-on-one interactions, DEI should be a person-to-person opportunity to learn about the company by actively interacting and intermingling with the people who work there.

Think of D, E, and I as the names of the sides of a triangle. To be a triangle, the object must have three sides that are connected. To leverage any talent at a company, the employee must be included, and more so than ever in an era of remote work, feel included. For those who have been in the boat and rowing or moving for a long while, “We are all rowing in the same boat.” However, to those of us who just stepped onto the dock and are getting into the boat for the first time, we need to hear about its idiosyncrasies, strengths, limitations, etc.

We need to learn who is manning each station, each oar, and why. This requires us to have an onboarding process that encompasses all aspects of the new relationship. Some will feel comfortable doing so on the boat, others may need to understand this before they walk to the dock.
Elyssa Wiener, a copywriter and brand strategist, has written that “Name tags aren’t just for identification. One of the most positive things to come from wearing a name tag is a sense of unity. Everyone is there for the same purpose, and this sense of togetherness creates a bond.” In other words, by recognizing the individual, one creates the team.

Let’s find ways to succeed in our efforts to attract talent.