The First 30 Days Are Your First Taste
The first time I cooked spaghetti and meat sauce is where this lesson sits heaviest for me. I learned it in my grandmother’s kitchen, the way I learned so many of life’s lessons: standing beside her, watching, listening, and learning to cook. My grandmother was the anchor and heart of our family, just as the kitchen is the heart of the house and, as I have since learned, HR is the heart of the business.
The first taste comes from the ground meat, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, paprika, and onion powder. After browning the meat, you have to taste it to be sure it has flavor and isn’t too salty. It is a simple step, and it is the one most of us want to skip when we are in a hurry. We brown the meat, move on to the sauce, and set the table, and only when we sit down do we find out what we should have known at the stove.
The first taste in HR is the first 30 days
In HR, the first taste is the check-in with new hires within the first 30 days.
If this is missed, you run the risk of having a disengaged employee who isn't valued — because you didn't learn that the training in the department was nil or minimum, and the employee felt underprepared to work their position.
I see this with small businesses again and again. The hire is made, the paperwork is done, the employee is shown a desk or a station, and then everyone gets busy. No one tastes. No one asks. Weeks pass. And by the time anyone checks in, the employee has already decided — quietly, in their own mind — whether this is a place where they are seen, heard, and valued, or a place where they were simply handed a task and left to figure it out.
A new hire is like a guest visiting your home for the first time. Give them a tour of your home, an invitation to your table, and an explanation of what the meal is going to be.
Don't wait until the meal is served to find out the seasoning was off.
What to ask — in your own words
If you do one taste this week, sit down with a new hire in their first 30 days and ask, plainly:
How are you fitting in your department — with co-workers?
Is there something we could have done better to help you during this first month?
How are you and your manager getting along?
Then listen. Really listen. This is the Communication ingredient in my ReCiPe™ Framework — and it runs in every direction, not just down from leadership. Listening is how you learn whether training actually happened, whether the manager relationship is working, and whether the employee feels prepared or is just trying not to show that they don't.
If the taste tells you something is off, fix it right then
The first thing is speaking with the manager to understand the training rhythm for new hires. Not to blame — to understand. What is the rhythm supposed to be, and where did it break down for this person?
Then work a short training plan for the next two weeks, specific to what that employee is missing. And suggest pairing with a buddy for shadowing, if that isn't already part of the training rhythm.
That is tasting as you go. You adjust the seasoning while you can still adjust it — before you serve it to the table.
What you can do this week
Pick one new hire in their first 30 days. Just one.
Schedule a real check-in — not a hallway "how's it going," a sit-down conversation.
Ask the three questions above, and write down what you hear.
If training was nil or minimum, speak with the manager about the training rhythm that same week.
Build the short two-week training plan, pair them with a buddy for shadowing if needed, and check in again.
If it's not written down, then it doesn't exist. A short note from that first check-in carries further than a good intention you meant to follow up on.
You are not just serving a meal
HR is never a luxury. HR is the heart of the business. Without it, an organization moves, but it can't care for the people who make it run.
Culture isn't an accident. It's a recipe you tend with intention. And sometimes the first ingredient is the simplest one my grandmother taught me at the stove: taste as you go, before you serve it to the table.
This week at BHRG
Monday, Nov 2 — "Write the holiday plan before the holidays write it for you" → https://facebook.com/61590013530370/posts/pfbid0U7j4MgFAZuuVaNAxDJNYefC8MmHJy3xxvg4YbB2ZqUh4GgDxpa9YhWFfe3aKzut8l/
Tuesday, Nov 3 — "Before you hire again, check these three ownership gaps" → https://facebook.com/61590013530370/posts/pfbid02wPxgxhwoMLCcjjGf1wsXkSBgKj7NFdEXVc7Lg99QgFDXKh2P8u6b4iAsi4dU7t9Ll/
Wednesday, Nov 4 — "Your culture is what happens when you are not in the room" → https://facebook.com/61590013530370/posts/pfbid0t4md7szrBGeXCErDaSo26s857qBHQruhYmBHNL1wxFLnYcShd5ZJLqauDkwjwbUMl/
Thursday, Nov 5 — "When someone leaves, you do not just lose a pair of hands. You lose the how." → https://facebook.com/61590013530370/posts/pfbid02RXLu55zeHdhuaXFAyXLt3dJvsdxL3dmKzFkm3RgGkENS4v38et8aAWd7znJ5MJ2Zl/
Ready to build an HR foundation leadership takes seriously? Book an Operational Audit Consult with BHRG Consulting. It's $400, credited toward the overall cost of the full HR Operational Audit if your service booking is confirmed within 30 days.
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