3 reasons why new hires are so good at solving problems

New employees will end up asking a lot of questions about why things are done the way they are. Those questions reveal situations in which the initial reason why a procedure was put in place no longer holds.

These questions can also bring to light cases where people were sure they know why things were done as they are, and only realize the gap in their knowledge when asked to explain it.

New employees also bring a different base of knowledge than the one that has been applied to the problem so far. Even if describing the problem doesn’t change anyone’s view of what needs to be solved, this new knowledge has value. New employees should be encouraged to suggest things they know that seem related to the problem.

The recommendations they make will trigger new thoughts in the entire team. Applying this new perspective to the problem will shift everyone out of the current way of approaching it, which is then likely to lead to new insights.

New employees also haven’t learned all the local jargon. Every organization has acronyms for units and procedures and other words that refer to particular individuals, clients, or processes. Those words carry a lot of assumptions with them that become part of the shared culture of everyone on the team.

Because the new employees aren’t steeped in the local lingo, everyone on the team will be forced to change up the words they use to describe a problem. When talking to the new employee, people will have to explain the jargon terms, and so they will also use lots of synonyms.