THE CRITICAL FIRST YEAR ON THE JOB

Every year, thousands of college students work hard at planning their careers, honing their interviewing and resume writing skills, and preparing for their job searches. Most find good jobs and start work with great enthusiasm. However, reality does not always match expectations, and many first-year professionals are disappointed with their initial year on the job. Why are they disappointed? Many, simply, do not understand how to enter the work force.

In the following discussion, three strategies are presented enabling a first-year professional to successfully enter a new organization. These strategies are:

1.    Learn the culture
2.    Manage a good impression
3.    Become a savvy subordinate

Questions you might be thinking include, "what’s so special about the first year, or does the first year really matter?" However, enough emphasis cannot be placed on the importance of the first year on the job. The way in which you enter a new organization will have a major impact on the success achieved in that organization. Moreover, if you are successful in the introductory year, opportunities will arise to make contributions to the company and to become visible to upper management.

Learn the Culture

Every organization has its own unique personality and culture. Culture tells you what the company believes in, strives for, and practices. In essence, culture is "who" the company is, "what" it is trying to achieve, and "how" it goes about things.

As a new employee, you should understand your company’s culture. When you accept a job offer, tasks and compensation are not all you receive. Along with new responsibilities, a new way of life is adopted. As a result, as Ed Holton, a consultant on career transitions, explains, "How well you come to understand, appreciate, and live with this way of life or corporate culture can have just as much to do with your first-year success as your task-related performance." (p. 124) Thus, as a new employee, your objective is "fitting in" to new organizational norms, values, and missions.

Determining the Components

Prior to "fitting in," you must become aware of the components that make up an organization’s culture. The following items are important aspects about your organization you need to know:

A thorough understanding of each aspect is essential in discovering your organization’s culture. Indeed, they will determine how you will behave and the boundaries of your responsibilities.

Behavioral expectations and limits. Behavioral expectations and limits are the ways you will behave in certain situations. As a new employee, you must learn how the organization expects you to behave and if those expectations extend to your personal life. Specific examples of when behavioral expectations will be important include dressing appropriately, conversing with clients, and addressing superiors.

Work ethic. Work ethic is the way employees go about performing their tasks. Questions to ask yourself include what role does work play in the lives of your fellow employees, and do employees put a priority on the work they do for one senior over the assignments of another senior?

Social and management norms. Social and management norms are "how" things get done. Does the organization require certain types of social obligations and/or behavior from its employees? How do employees accomplish their responsibilities?

Political environment. Finally, the political environment of your new organization is an important part of its culture. Often, organizational politics are a factor in accomplishing tasks. Thus, the proverbial question is raised. Which is more important who you know or what you do?

Discovering the Culture

"The tough part about getting to know your organization’s culture is that nobody is going to hand you a policy book telling you everything you need to know about it." (Holton, p. 127) Therefore, as a new employee, you must take the initiative to learn the culture through more indirect means. To do this, I suggest that you observe your colleagues, observe how people spend their time, and adhere to rite and rituals of the organization.

Observe your colleagues. Although observing your colleagues sounds simple and inconsequential, it is possibly the most important thing you can do your first year on the job. Your colleagues are the richest source of information about the organization’s culture. Watch them, especially those who have been with the company awhile, to find out how they talk, dress, act, and conduct business. Look for common patterns in behavior, work ethic, values, and norms.

Observe how people spend their time. Holton asserts, "If you want to find out what is truly important in the organization, watch how people—particularly successful people, in organizational terms—spend their time." (p. 128) That will tell you what the priorities of the organization are. One priority to look for is determining which clients receive the most time and resources. In addition, try to find out the types of work the more successful individuals spend their time on.

Adhere to rites and rituals. Most companies have certain rites and rituals that are part of the culture. "Rites and rituals are a way of institutionalizing culture." (Holton, p. 129) As a new employee, observing these rites and rituals can tell you a lot about your company’s culture. They could be the way bosses are addressed, a certain way meetings are conducted, or the way clients are dealt with.

No matter what size company you will work for, you have to worry about catching the eye of middle and senior management. Why? They will have a great deal of influence over your long-term career and success. Therefore, make a good impression your first year on the job.

As a new employee, everything you do will be magnified in its impact. Seniors and peers will be uncertain about your abilities because you are unknown and unproven. Additionally, conclusions about people are drawn quickly. So even limited contact with co-workers can leave a lasting impression. "As you progress in your career and build a good professional reputation, your track record will give you a safety net to cushion you against mistakes and interpersonal gaffes. But you don’t have that now, and that means your first impressions count big." (Holton, p. 54)

Thus, your challenge is to be constantly aware of the image you are making early in your career. You must emerge from the crowd and get noticed for your potential and abilities. Two specific things to consider include the timing of separating yourself from others and accepting high-visibility projects.

Timing of separation from others. The difficult thing about making a good impression is picking the right time. If you try it too early, you could fall on your face because of lack of experience or knowledge. Try it too late, people could wonder about your motivation and dedication. Holton asserts that trying to do too much too soon is the most common problem among new hires. (Holton, p. 56) You must wait until you have been accepted by fellow colleagues and have a good sense about what is going on with the organization. "Look for signs from others that you are no longer an outsider but have been accepted as part of the team." (Holton, p. 56) A senior pushing you to take on additional responsibility could be a sign of his confidence in your abilities. Colleagues seeking your ideas could also be a sign that you have been accepted as part of the team. "Until you are recognized as an insider and a valuable team member, it will be very difficult to make a significant contribution." (Holton, p. 56)

Accepting high-visibility projects. Another thing to consider when trying to make a good impression is accepting high-visibility projects. George Fuller, in his book The Workplace Survival Guide, stresses, "If you are willing to sit patiently by waiting for your turn to be promoted [or get noticed], then you had better have plenty of patience." (p.76) Good opportunities do not come that often. Accept high-visibility projects even if they are not given to you. Furthermore, be willing to work long hours and weekends if it is necessary to make a significant contribution. In the long run, the hard work will pay off as you develop a strong reputation and separate yourself from others. Remember, "[t]he point is that it doesn’t hurt to get a few breaks along the line, but more often than not you have to be ready and willing to take advantage of these opportunities." (Fuller, p. 146)

Become a Savvy Subordinate

During your first year, your boss is probably the single most important person to you in the entire company. "He or she will be largely responsible for getting you opportunities to showcase your talents,…determining your advancement beyond the entry-level position, and socializing you in the organization’s culture." (Holton, p. 97) Therefore, because you are an "outsider" and have no track record, what your boss thinks of you and how he or she introduces you to the organization are critical to your success.

The problem is that college has not taught you how to be an effective subordinate. Most classes and instructors try to build your leadership abilities. Thus, you have been preparing to be great seniors and managers. However, you will not likely enter an organization in a leadership role. So, you must become an effective follower before you become an effective leader.

Three ways to become a savvy subordinate include keeping your boss informed, making your boss look good, and making yourself indispensable. Essentially, you should sincerely support your boss’s efforts and never undermine your boss’s position.

Keeping your boss informed. Make sure your boss knows what he or she needs to. "The only way to prevent unpleasant surprises is to keep a steady flow of information going forward to your boss." (Holton, p. 108) He or she needs to know what is happening concerning areas of your accomplishments, problems, failures, and needs. Furthermore, the information needs to be timely and orderly. Thus, your job is to keep information channels open and an appropriate amount of information flowing. Consequently, Harry Levinson, professor of psychology at the Harvard Medical School, states, " A smart subordinate will assess how much information his or her boss can absorb at a given time." (p. 101)

Making your boss look good. Another thing to remember about your boss is you will be rewarded if you help him or her "shine" before higher-level management. Help your boss succeed and you will succeed. To make your boss look good, add value and offer solutions to produce results. In addition, work with your boss to show that you are an ally who will be supportive and helpful.

Making yourself indispensable. Finally, to become a savvy subordinate, you must make yourself indispensable. "Simply stated, you want your boss to depend on you so much that he or she can’t do without you." (Holton, p. 111) Becoming indispensable will give you more job security and create more job opportunities. "One of the best ways to…[become indispensable] is to volunteer for those thankless jobs that no one else will take." (Fuller, p. 50) Volunteer for those jobs which are priorities for your boss. For example, projects having tight deadlines or requiring learning something new are important to supervisors. Moreover, "[i]t helps if you can learn to do some of the boss’s chores." (Fuller, p. 50) This relieves some of the pressure from your boss and earns a lot of appreciation. If you establish a pattern of being someone your boss can count on, your value as an employee will increase in his or her eyes.

In short, starting a full-time professional job is both an exciting and intimidating time in one’s life. It is a "…major transition to an unfamiliar world filled with uncertainties, adjustments, and challenges." (Holton, p. xi) Breaking into a new organization and becoming a professional is not easy, yet the way in which you enter a new organization will have a major impact on your success within that organization. Too many new hires do not understand what it takes to successfully enter a new organization and are often disappointed with their initial year on the job. However, you can make the transition both rewarding and fulfilling by taking the initiative to learn the organization’s culture, manage a good impression, and become a savvy subordinate.