Make the new hire feel welcome and valued

What is it about employers, company culture or attitudes that lead to younger workers' bubbles being burst?

- Jasmine Liew Chia Wei

It's your first day at work. You are curious to learn and motivated to contribute. You know you have a steep learning curve and want to ask questions or learn from your mistakes with a growth mindset.

And so begin your first interactions with bosses and colleagues. At a meeting, a colleague shares an idea. The boss is impatient and fails to listen, brushing the contribution off with: "This has been proposed in the past, it will not work." You see your colleague slink back into his seat, red with embarrassment, and clearly feeling unappreciated.

You had been about to share an idea yourself, but feel discouraged. It's only your first day, but you already realise that contributing ideas is pointless since the leader has preconceived assumptions that stifle innovation.

This is a phenomenon reported about in the Harvard Business Review. Newbies start off in what researchers call a state of "psychological safety", where they feel they are in a team where they can take risks and express their ideas without being afraid to do so. However, if their initial interactions with leaders and fellow workers are negative, the sense of a safe space quickly erodes.

This "psychological safety" matters for new hires because it allows them to manage the discomfort of failure, confront a steep learning curve on new tasks and embrace new perspectives, said the report. Alarmingly, once this psychological safety is lost, it can take years for workers to reach levels comparable to when they joined the organisation.

Bosses can create a positive work environment for new hires whether they are Gen Zs beginning their first job, or Gen Ys in their 30s switching to a new position by building trust and support. Trust is the bedrock for psychological safety in team meetings. Team members must feel safe to share their difficulties and the kind of assistance they need from the leader. The leader can provide guidance or adjust the workload and timeline.