Integrate your new employer

 Well there you go, you have signed your contract and you will integrate your new employer with new responsibilities and a new team on Monday morning: meeting 8.30am.

Although you have been selected from among numerous candidates and you have shown good qualities in the interview, remember that the game doesn’t end there…on the contrary.  It is the beginning of a period which, depending on your level in the company, will last between 6 and 12 months on average.  The first weeks are VITAL.  You should prove in the first few days that your employer has not made a mistake (or you…).  Don’t neglect anything, especially your colleagues who are precious elements to the success of your integration as they are important sources of information (the culture and social atmosphere of the company, the functioning of the company…), they will help you to understand how to scope out your new “office sweet home”.  Consider this time as a “honeymoon” period, and be careful.

Here are the 10 golden rules for faultless success:

  1. Observe to better understand the role of each person and identify the key characters.
  2. Get clued-up, ask questions in order to put yourself on the same wavelength as your counterparts.
  3. Rally your team, don’t immediately try to play “little boss” but value your associates and seek their collaboration rather than their subordination.
  4. Go about it progressively, don’t try to master everything in two days.  Define your objectives with your immediate superior by establishing a “game plan”.  Your immediate superior will only be assured by your planning skills and if he hadn’t already prepared it, he will probably be very happy about this initiative and will help you detail his own expectations of your work.
  5. Do your “PR”, go to lunch with your colleagues and don’t refuse an invitation (once again be wary, listen don’t comment…(even if the colleague on your right is already looking at you across the table and wears pink ties!!):  Store the information and make your own analysis of the situation.  During this period try to understand better WHO is WHO and WHO does WHAT more than STAND OUT.  Remember that finding your place in an organization doesn’t happen in 48hours…Wanting to do too much or applying yourself too much could make you seem a threat to your colleagues or trying to impress your boss at all costs could annoy him…: Be HUMBLE! (at the same time don’t do too little!!)
  6. Do not hesitate to arrive a little earlier so you don’t miss anything and have time to go over your objectives and daily work plan.
  7. Take care of your look and your image, choose the traditional suit or uniform on the first day (as a general rule) and according to the style of the place you will adapt to…remember that “casual style every day” is an art which is more difficult to compose than the traditional pin-striped suit! (Forbidden: shorts, velvet pants, Hawaiian shirts and sandals…please go back to the beige cotton GAP pants and the wise Tommy Hilfiger version… (N.B. none of these labels sponsored this article!)
  8. Concentrate your efforts on your main activities: at the time of your recruitment, you were told what your assignment would be and the company’s expectations of you.  Establish your strategy according to your competences and what you feel to be the ideal path to success.  Discuss this strategy with your superior and validate the steps, identify the restraints and try to resolve them by proving your creativity and diplomacy, solicit the cooperation of your assistant or the department’s assistant who will be of great use (we don’t realize the extent to which they can hold mines of information).
  9. Be PROACTIVE and have a positive and dynamic attitude, don’t hold back your efforts or your energies to give your all (please do not limit this recommendation to the first weeks).
  10. Question your personal expectations faced with this new organization, what goal are you aiming for in this company and set yourself a career plan.

To conclude, you should retain from these recommendations that integration into a new company (or even a new internal department) is not easy, you have to relearn how to operate and distinguish yourself.  Playing the collaboration card (horizontal and vertical) is your key to success and don’t forget that your professional skills will only be put to better use (and therefore acknowledged) if you know how to integrate hem intelligently: your EQ (emotional intelligence) is even more important than your IQ (intelligent quotient) at the beginning.

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