An Induction to Expedio

Over the years the team at Expedio have been involved in quite a number of different businesses. Even though they have been in various industries, there has been one constant – people. Some businesses have had more people, others less. Having those people working together, for the same goals, with the right tools and knowledge, is critical.

And over time we have developed an induction process to welcome people as they join our team. We believe that much of that induction process is transferable across industries – and may therefore be useful to others.

Here are just a few of the things we tell our new team members.

ASK QUESTIONS

We cannot all be expected to know everything. Which means that rule #1 is ASK QUESTIONS.  Rule #2 is also ASK QUESTIONS. And if new team members are in any doubt as to what rule #3 is, then they are in the wrong place.

As the old saying goes “It is better to have people think you are dumb by asking a question, than prove it by failing to ask” .

IT IS ALWAYS MY JOB

Often new people join the team who have come from environments where turf is protected, and only certain people can do certain jobs. It wasn’t too long ago that our whole society was ordered that way. The phrase “trade secrets” says it all. You can’t do my job because you don’t know the secrets I do. And I want to protect those secrets to protect my status or income.

We live in a much more open society now – with more access to information and knowledge. Which doesn’t mean that we should all know how to do everything – and end up as generalists with no specialist skills.

It is always my job means that if we are part of an organisation, then we take collective responsibility. Blaming “accounts” for failing, or blaming “sales” for over-promising, just doesn’t wash. It’s a collective responsibility to take action to assist other parts of the same organisation.

USE THE APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY

We know that there are many who believe the moon landings were faked in a Hollywood studio. But irrespective of whether a man really did land on the moon, there is an impressive array of technology available now that did not even exist a generation ago. The challenge is knowing which technology to use, how and when. There are times when an email is appropriate. There are times when social media may be appropriate. But there are also times when it may be more appropriate to pick up the phone, or talk face to face. The skill comes in knowing which to use, and when. Similarly, just because we can send a 50 page information memorandum, does not mean that we should. There are times when one page is more meaningful. Most of all, it’s important not to show ignorance by saying that the vendor couldn’t respond because they were in Australia. We have been to Australia, and much as we may think they are a little behind the times, we know they have phones and email.

TRUST

We are all in sales. And an important part of sales is building trust with those we work with – whether those on our team, suppliers, or ultimate customers. It takes time to build trust. But that trust can be dissipated in an instant. So we need to think about how our actions impact on our trustworthiness. And overlaying all of this is that we can never forget who pays us – the customer. Without their trust life becomes very difficult.