When I joined beehiiv, we were about 17 employees. At that time, meeting everyone was pretty easy, especially during onboarding. In fact, we had the entire executive team meet with new hires in those early days. Once I joined, it felt natural to keep trending and, even further, to provide quarterly check-ins.

I will also say I'm a yapper, and yapping isn’t a problem for me (ENTJ here!). At one point, I was meeting with at least 50 employees, checking in, and just being a human again with others. In those brief 1:1s, I got to know employees and their lives, what made them tick, and created a space for them to be heard. Sometimes it wasn’t deep at all, and it was just us sharing funny dog videos until we cried.

Aside from creating goodwill among the likes of People Ops, I’d like to think it was a pathway to building a connection and, for being remote, another face to a name, since your screen is perpetually filled with tiny faceboxes. It also became a clear avenue for company feedback, outside of engagement surveys. It truly made me feel like I knew our company's pulse.

About a year ago, our COO also did something similar and met with all 100-ish employees at the time. He came in with three questions and met everyone in the company. For one, it put a face to a name, especially at an executive level. He was also able to show his cards and share what kind of person he is and how he approaches work. Those first impressions are so incredibly meaningful. He also went the extra mile and created a deck about his findings, lol. Luckily, it lined up nicely with our recently dispatched engagement survey 😅

As part of her onboarding, our new People Operations Manager is tasked with meeting at least 3-4 people each week until she has met the entire company (this includes executives, team leads, and ICs). While naturally an extrovert, there’s something about HR settings that brings out the introvert within her. As she describes it, “it’s a good pressure.” What I’m hearing is, “I’m being challenged in a way that was unexpected!” I’m sure that’s what she meant to say. But, I get it, meeting with HR, even informally, can be intimidating and, frankly, awkward. Withstanding some of the awkwardness actually builds rapport, and maybe a lens into how this person connects. But, also, it’s a good way to see how you handle discomfort and if that’s something you should work on. This isn’t meant to be a "make HR your best friend" series, but rather to extend a welcome and recognize the human behind the Slack avatar.

Ultimately, my goal with this task is to continue with the spirit we’ve created: we care about our people and that their time matters. It’s still why Tyler meets with every new hire – different format, but same agenda. I think those touchpoints are pretty critical in the onboarding experience, but also just as an employee. I’m always still tickled when new hires see that they have a 1:1 with Tyler. Sometimes, it bubbles up anxiety; other times, the response is, “That’s really cool, you guys do that.” And, you know what? They’re right, it’s pretty cool.

So, to recap:

You’re good at thinking, but are you good at feeling?