Slight Notes for New Employee

Slight Notes for New Employee[1]

It is obvious to any human being to feel nerves when he/she getting into a new environment, especially the kind of places where they have to be there for almost all of their time in weekdays. The reason why we get anxious about involving in new group is because we might ‘confronted with unpredictable and uncontrollable events.’[2] As result, we need a pre-strategy to successfully achieve the first impression we look for. [3]

The following instructions are suggested by my, according to my own experience:

1-   Gather as much information as you can about the employees working in the same place you will start in. There are many ways of doing that, for example, search the company’s website to find any news, articles, bibliographies.  You need this kind of data to create an overview about the people you will work for or with, therefore, you can avoid sort of things they might not like or doing what they could like, you cannot know their characters without meeting them or asking about these individuals (expected colleges or bosses).

2-   Avoid any long conversations or long gathering in the first day, the managers definitely would not like that in a new employee; it might result into an incorrect image of you in boss’s mind. Also, you do not want to expose yourself to others or get into arrangements before you surly know them well. For instance, in Saudi Arabia we have an office custom to share breakfast, to contribute with a breakfast in certain mornings under agreed schedule. It is recommended for  new comers to not involve in these breakfasts commitments until they gain knowledge about the workplace policy and the way to work probably, so there are no damages would occur to meet these situations that may result into unplasant start with the new colleagues. My wife when she started her new job she commited to a breakfast table in her first week, unfortunatly she failed to brought the breakfast that day because she did not know that the restaurant she intended to take the meal from is crowded and it would take half hour from her journey to work.         

3-   Start to know your limits in the workplace, not only the internal regulations but also the personal space for every colleague you might associate with or share the same room. However, you must show others by indirect or direct way the likes and the dislikes of your own.

One of the ways you can conduct to deliver your “law” at work is using objects. For example, you could put a sign that indicates your character, which might help others to how to socialize with you. In additional, you might use some kind of scenery that its display can be changed to show your current mode. One of my cousins used to have a kind of displaying toy that could put on moving position, he switch it on when he is not ready to talk to his colleagues.

Although the material tools is easier to show who are you, but I prefer the old way, which is to set down and talk to observe the person by engaging with him. In fact, people vary from person to another so the communication method that is suitable for particular colleague might not be working with another one. Moreover, we might change our perspective about certain issues in the office that might require removing your physical indicators. Therefore, using the “classic” conduct of socializing with colleagues is best way to uphold a sustained attitude that you might concern about.

To sum up, new places has new policies that need time to accommodate with, by following the three rules. Information collecting is first, then short dialogs is the smart way to avoid being marked by manager and to keep reasonable relationship with colleagues that might help in the short future. Finally, knowing obvious and hidden laws is the big secret of success in workplace. 

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[1] The idea of writing this article has being evolving in my head since I got into my new job at General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). However, I kept deferring this project until I have a time to set, think and write about it. Therefore, here is the result of observing the subject, I hop you have the ultimate benefit of it.

[2]Michel Hamon, Helene Ollat, and Marie-Helene Thiebot (edts) Anxiety, Neurobiology, Clinic and Therapeutic Perspectives (1993) Colloque Inserm, Vol.232 ,I,98.

[3]  Please check; First Impressions for Nalini Ambady, John Joseph Skowronski, to observe the significantly of first impression factor in people lives.