Congratulations on securing a job! The skills and personality traits you possess enabled you to secure this job. You now join your new colleagues on an equal footing and your focus shifts to the business goals. In order to get ahead in the business, meet personal and organisational goals, you will need to build on your existing knowledge and convert this into good business practice. You will also need to learn new skills to ensure success. You face the challenge of fitting in but still need to stand out enough to make a good impression. Grounded in what enabled you to secure your job, here are specific areas that you need to focus on to ensure you are successful.
Timekeeping
In most work environments timekeeping is a vital part of creating a positive first impression. As a new joiner, the hours you put in often reflected how hard you are working. It is not only about the hours you put in, but also about arriving on time! Graduates are notoriously oblivious of the importance of timekeeping and often arrive late in the morning. In general, the world of work has high standards and norms in this regard. Until you have settled in and understand the organisational norms it is advisable to arrive on time, follow teams norms for lunch breaks, and leave when you manager lets you go, or when you are sure you are done with all your work for the day. Try not to be the first to leave!
Office Politics
What’s the right way to behave in the office? Who are the “right” people to engage with, and/or model your behaviour on? To begin with align yourself with the right people and model your behaviour on the behaviour of successful individuals. Find a mentor at work by taking notice of who performs well in your company and model your behaviour on them. This leads us to the issue of office politics which can be used positively or negatively. Positively, it is about thinking smart and making strategically good decisions to get ahead. Negatively, it is about taking advantage of others for personal gain through inappropriateness, gossip or slander. There is always a political game at work and even choosing not to participate is a political decision. Don’t complain, gossip or join in backstabbing conversations- what goes around comes around! Communication
A common mistake for first-timers at work is that they tend to speak without thinking about the consequences of sharing their views or opinions, without being able to support their views in practice. Similarly, when sending emails, make sure your message is clear and that you are able to action all views or proposals. One of the dangers when communicating over email is that how you intend the message to be received (i.e. your tone) might not be the way in which the recipient receives it. As such, you should always be very careful of not only WHAT you communicate over email but also HOW you communicate. Also remember that it is not appropriate to forward joke and chain letters at work or to people in the office.
Communication in the work environment, whether it is verbal or non-verbal, has a direct impact on our effectiveness at work. While much of your communication with others at work is verbal, it is important to note that 70% of our communication is non-verbal. It is important to always be aware of your body language when communicating with others. Make sure that your body language is conveying the same message as your words.
How can you raise your profile at work?
It is great to be armed with some tricks on how to raise your profile in the business. Getting involved in meetings, especially at a higher level, is an opportunity to get exposure to what’s going in the business, (even if you are just the person taking the minutes of the meeting). You never know when you might be called on to give an opinion. However, if you are there as a minute-taker you may be there for that purpose only. It is important to know how best to behave in meetings to ensure that you always make a good impression. Be sure you know what is expected of you before the meeting, and don’t actively participate in the meeting UNLESS that is expected of you! Don’t be intimidated at the thought of taking minutes, it is likely that there is a set format that is used at such meetings, just make sure you go in prepared with the correct stationery and knowledge of what you are expected to record at the meeting (follow the format). This is a great opportunity to raise your profile in your team, provided you are good at it!
Best foot forward…away you go!
