As a new employee you need to progress to the point where you’re giving back more to your employer than you’re costing them. In fact, your job may be a risk if you don’t get to the break-even point fast enough.
The actions you take in the first 3 months often dictate your fate: you either succeed or not. You are vulnerable during the first 3 months. You need to build momentum or you will be faced with a mounting up-hill battle.
While transitions and on-boarding’s are fraught with risk, they’re also an important business necessity. Introducing new people to an organization introduces new ideas, preserves vitality, and enables a company to grow.
Feel you’re over your head in your new position? You’re not alone. Some 25% of Managers enter new roles and/or companies each year in Canada. All those transitions will not go well.
The risks are that the new person is unfamiliar with the culture, politics, informal lines of communication, systems and processes, products, markets and the know few people. You are under a microscope.
You’re not the only one transitioning. If in a Management position, your direct reports, in-direct reports, peers, managers and clients are all also in in-direct transition. Additionally, it’s not uncommon to have more than one person in transition or on-boarding at a time within a business, representing an even greater percentage of the staff who are also experiencing in-direct transition and whose performance may be negatively impacted because of it.
Failing an on-boarding or transition is a blemish on your resume. It is also expensive for the hiring company. Some sites note that it can cost a company 24x base compensation for a failed hire.
Value Proposition
Consider how many times in your career you’ll be switching jobs and/or companies. Imagine if you would reduce the break-even point of your on-boarding by a few months each? Best to get good at on-boarding and transitioning.