How to start your new job the right way

Do you know how to start your new job the right way? There’s a lot to think about - a hundred things, big and small, that you don’t know but need to learn very quickly. Some things you can plan for, some you can’t in your 30-60-90 plan, but there is one sure-fire way to make yourself unpopular and set you back on your path to success, and it happens more times than it should - coming on too strong and trying too hard.

It’s a mistake I see people make time and time again, especially more senior employees. They think they are doing the right thing and often have no idea how annoying or disengaging their actions are to their new colleagues. This grave error?

Wanting to ‘create impact’ and ‘add value’ from day one.

OK, I hear you asking: “Surely, that’s a positive, isn’t it?” Well, yes. But it needs to be done the right way.

It’s natural to want to make a good impression, show your strengths and justify why you were hired. There’s often a sense of needing to prove oneself quite quickly in a new role, which is OK, but what's not OK is when that drive overtakes clear thinking and works against you.

How? Well, imagine you’re an employee and someone new starts. They jump in with ideas from the get-go, looking for things to be improved and changes to be made. Because that’s how they feel they justify being hired. Unfortunately, they don’t realise that their seemingly positive ideas and suggestions have a negative side.

Firstly, they often don’t know enough of the background or history to be making assumptions and pronouncements about what should have happened or needs to be done. Negative strike one. Secondly, someone suggesting that changes need to be made implies that everyone is currently doing a less-than-stellar job. Negative strike two.

Yes, you may have been hired with an agenda for driving transformation and delivering improvements, but there is a way of going about it, taking a little more time to truly understand where you are, who you are with, how they work and what they will respond positively to.

Taking some time to observe, to learn and understand will lead to far more impactful change and value add. Learning how people and processes work, you’ll know which levers to pull, where to put pressure and how to deliver lasting change that your colleagues engage with and support.

What you wear on day one is up to you, but here are my top 5 tips for starting a new role:

1. Don’t rush to act. Look, listen and learn. Take your time to learn about the people, the place, the culture and the dynamics. Then, when you do act, you’ll have more impact because your suggestions will be backed by evidence and observation.

   • Be approachable, interested and confident.

   
   

2. Introduce yourself, don’t wait for people to make the first move. Talk about them, not yourself and ask lots of questions.

   • Ask, don’t assume.

   
   

3. Ask people to explain how things work at your new company. Don’t assume you know, even if you have experience in similar roles or organisations. Be open to learning.

   • Keep asking questions.

   
   

4. No one will expect you to remember everything you see or hear in your first few days. Also, you can play the newbie card for a while without coming across as critical: “As I’m new, can you tell me how you arrived at that decision?”

   • Be yourself.

   
   

5. Don’t try too hard, relationships are built over time and it’s not a popularity contest.

   • Be yourself. Prep and practice your pitch to answer "Tell me about yourself" with ease.

   
   

If you’re nervous about your first day or how to make an impact in a new role, why not try a session of Career Therapy to help you prepare? From handshakes to value props, strategy to goal setting, it’s good to have a plan.

Click ‘Book a call’ on the website for a free intro call or email me at louise@careertherapy.co.uk

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There are 1000s of resources online to help you successfully onboard and this list from Coursera is a good reference point. Remember to keep track of what you've learned to date.

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Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash