WELCOME TO
EMPLOYEE ORIENTATION GUIDE THIS IS WHAT WE WANT FROM YOU.
This guide is dedicated to the employees of Volta, past and present, who try so hard that they inspire us to make the bold statements we’re about to make. We salute you guys.
EMPLOYEE EXPECTATIONS We expect these four things from every employee at Volta:
ATTITUDE Show your customers they matter to you.
RESOLVE Figure it out, and get it done every time.
AMBITION Continually get better at what you do.
PRIDE Demonstrate your confidence and expertise.
When we hire, we look for these four things first. Anyone who isn’t strong in all of them shouldn’t make it on to our team. If someone accidentally slips through, we’ll quickly correct that mistake. We won’t compromise on this. No amount of experience or talent makes up for a deficiency in these areas. These four characteristics are mandatory for our current employees as well, so your performance reviews will be based primarily on your performance in these areas. You’ll be reminded of them at your one-on-one meetings. If you focus on constantly improving at them, you’ll wind up getting raises and promotions. If you forget about them, you’ll probably lose your job. We’re not a complicated company. You don’t have to guess about what it takes to get ahead because it’s all laid out right here. That way, it’s as clear and easy for you as possible.
Employee orientation guide 1
ATTITUDE SHOW YOUR CUSTOMERS THEY MATTER TO YOU.
The way you carry yourself in front of customers makes all the difference in how they think about our company. Every time you pick up the phone or walk in someone’s front door, you’re making a statement about what kind of company we are. Make sure it’s a good one.
2 Welcome to Volta
Are you optimistic and positive? Optimism is infectious. When you believe in yourself and present a reassuring image, your customers believe in you too. Even if they’re mad when you show up for a service call, your steady and cheerful approach will take them off guard and calm the situation down. Even when you’re having a bad day, you can take a moment to catch your breath and regain your perspective before bringing the customer into it. You’ll find that you can actually accomplish more and feel better about it when you keep a positive outlook.
Employee orientation guide 3
Do you look like a true professional? Our customers take hints about your work from the way you look. If your shirt is untucked, you haven’t shaved, your hair is a mess, or you haven’t showered in three days, they’ll assume the quality of your work is about the same, and they’ll be worried before you even begin. (Here’s a hint: your boss thinks the same way.) Don’t give them anything to worry about. Show up to work every day dressed and groomed like a true professional. Show the world you have respect for yourself and the work you do.
4 Welcome to Volta
Do your customers enjoy working with you? If you make a mistake but the customer loves you, you can still walk out of there a hero. If you do the job perfectly but the customer hates you, you’ll walk out in shame. You can’t rely on your work alone to prove your worth. You’ll also be measured by how the customers you interact with feel about you. Put yourself in their shoes. Take care of them. Talk to them. Make them feel comfortable. Get them excited about the work you’re doing for them.
Employee orientation guide 5
RESOLVE FIGURE IT OUT, AND GET IT DONE EVERY TIME.
This isn’t a government job. You don’t get to pass the buck. You don’t get to shrug and say “Sorry, I can’t do that.” You have to figure it out, get it done, and be prepared beforehand with the tools, knowledge, and creativity to do it.
6 Welcome to Volta
Are you prepared with everything you might need? Surprises happens every day right on schedule, so there’s no excuse for you to be unprepared. Whatever may come, it’s your responsibility to have the right equipment and information within reach (whether at your desk or in your truck) to solve the issue and move past it gracefully. Think through what might happen before it comes up so you can be ready.
Employee orientation guide 7
Do you understand all the details of the job? Don’t expect you can just show up uninformed and make it up as you go. You’ll screw it up for the customer and for your company. Even when you have to wing it, you’ll do significantly better if you’ve prepared first by understanding the people, decisions, specifications, situation, and technical details. Every job is an exam, and you’ll blow it if you haven’t studied.
8 Welcome to Volta
Can you get it done with what you’ve got on hand? You’re MacGyver. You don’t need to call back to base to have them send out the tool you forgot, because you can make it out of a rubber band and a banana peel. Instead of giving up, figure out how to work with what you’ve got until you get the job done. We hired you because you’re clever and you can figure out how to get it done no matter what. We believe you can do it, and you should believe it too.
Employee orientation guide 9
AMBITION CONTINUALLY GET BETTER AT WHAT YOU DO.
“Good enough” isn’t good enough. Yeah, you’ve got skills, or we wouldn’t have hired you in the first place, but if you’re still coasting on those same basic skills six months from now, we’re going to be really disappointed. We know you’ve got more inside you. Let it out.
10 Welcome to Volta
Are you showing a daily desire to learn? The day you start working at Volta is the day you start falling behind—unless you make a specific and intentional effort to keep learning. You should be getting better at what you do every day, and it should be clear to those around you that you’re hungry to improve. Everyone around you is getting better too, and you should do the same if you want to keep up.
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Do you find ways to learn from your peers? You have talented people all around you. Ask them questions. Watch what they do. Try it, and ask them to give you feedback. Don’t worry about looking stupid, because this is how you learn, and learners thrive in this company. (You know who doesn’t thrive? Cocky know-it-alls. Don’t be one of those.)
12 Welcome to Volta
Do you take personal time for self-improvement? It’s hard to fit education into the normal workday, but those who have a real desire to learn will find a way to do it. Buy someone on your team a drink after hours, and ask them about how they do their job. Ask your boss if you can stay late to learn a new system, and he or she will probably buy you a pizza and sit with you. Or maybe just grab a technical manual, and throw it in your bathroom. There’s always time to learn more.
Employee orientation guide 13
PRIDE DEMONSTRATE YOUR CONFIDENCE AND EXPERTISE.
Who are you when nobody’s looking? That’s the real measure of your character. Do you work hard when nobody’s riding you? Do you do it right even when it’ll be hidden away? Do you need a babysitter, or can you take care of yourself?
14 Welcome to Volta
Are you truly proud of the work you’re doing? Even if the customer never really understands the details of what you just did for them, you should be able to go home at the end of the day knowing that you nailed it. You should be proud that you did it right, even the parts that nobody will ever see. It can be tempting to fudge it sometimes, but who wants to be that person? Wouldn’t you rather know you did it right?
Employee orientation guide 15
Would your peers be impressed with your work? With everything you do, assume that someone else is going to work with it. Try to imagine what they’re going to say when they first see it. Will they say “Man, I’m so glad [Your Name] did it this way”? Or will they say, “Son of a...” and then gripe about you to your boss? Don’t ever do work you feel like you have to hide. Take the time to do it right, and be proud to show it to others.
16 Welcome to Volta
Does your work show your professionalism? Our success as a company depends on the quality of the projects we’re working on right now. When you approach it as a detail-oriented professional, you fill our customers with confidence in the work, and they hire us again in the future or refer us to their friends. Without saying a word, you can sell three big deals just by tying up loose ends and cleaning up after yourself. (If you want a raise, that’s where it might just come from.)
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LIFE’S TOO SHORT TO WORK AT CRAPPY JOBS. MAKE THIS A GREAT ONE.
18 Welcome to Volta
WHY SHOULD YOU BOTHER? The fact that we take these expectations so seriously is a big reason you should pay attention to them…but it’s not the biggest reason.
The biggest reason is simply because this is your company too. You’re going to spend a lot of your time here, so you might as well make the best of it, right? Ask yourself what kind of company you want to work for. It’s probably not a company where you play office politics, do shoddy work, and disappear under the radar until you’re caught and fired. Why would anyone want to live like that? More likely, you want to work somewhere that people can be honest with each other. You want to do great things and work with great people, and you’re not afraid to get called out when you fall short, because you know it strengthens you and it makes the company even better.
Employee orientation guide 19
YOU’RE THE ENFORCER A lot of companies have impressive-sounding lists of values they put in documents, wall plaques, etc., but that everyone typically ignores. That’s not what’s going on here. The proof of this commitment is that we expect you to call out any situation at any time that’s not compatible with what you’ve read here. Call out your boss. Call out a whole team. Call out the entire company if you need to. This isn’t insubordination—it’s your job. You’re an enforcer. Everyone in this company is an enforcer. There’s no room for people or actions who violate the principles described in this document, and if you see it happening and don’t say something, you’re as responsible for it as anyone else—and you’ll be held accountable for it. You don’t have to make a big show of it, and you don’t have to make the other person feel stupid. But you do have to bring it up. If you don’t know whether to say something, always err on the side of speaking up. Don’t get offended if someone has to call you out too. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just a friendly reminder. It’s like they’re telling you your fly is open or there’s toilet paper stuck to your shoe. It’s embarrassing, but you’d rather know than be oblivious, right? They feel the same way, so don’t be afraid to let them know. They’ll thank you later.
20 Welcome to Volta
WE’RE SERIOUS As you can probably tell, we take this stuff pretty seriously. We’re not perfect at these principles yet, but we’re trying our hardest, and we’re willing to change where we fall short.
We want Volta to be the most respected security company in Arizona. It takes a lot of discipline, teamwork, and character to make that happen. It’s a big goal, and we hope you’ll be a part of it.
Inventing Better Options 2730 East Jones Avenue, Suite 102 Phoenix, AZ 85040 602-323-0454 www.voltacentral.com