This is Dr. Marla Gottschalk’s fifth post for Gapingvoid. Marla has years of experience as an I/O Psychologist and is an avid work-life blogger. Her love is organizational stability and creating cultures of psychological safety, where we can contribute to our highest potential.
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Adjusting to any new role is a challenge. There are countless elements that must be mastered; core tasks, a new organizational culture, and team commitments. Organizations may be well versed in helping newcomers complete onboarding basics such as needed documentation, workspaces, and technology. Yet, there are untapped opportunities, instrumental in helping this transition become the first steps toward a healthy, productive employee journey.
The bottom of the learning curve that newcomers face is often a steep one — characterized by a brisk influx of both information and people-focused demands. (I’ve heard the experience described as “drinking from the fire hose.”) Existing research focusing on newcomers can offer managers clues as to what hey can do to support the process. Overall, these actions should serve to establish core stability, a confluence of elements that help a contributor become engaged and hopefully, successful.
However, we miss key opportunities to help newcomers find their way — and managers can actively contribute to building this needed sense of stability early on.
While we inundate newcomers with information about projects, budgets, and goals — we under-represent information about ourselves. As a manager, providing essential information concerning who you are as a manager can be overlooked, leaving employees mired with questions. How do I connect with my manager? What is their work style? What do they value in the workplace? Sharing who you are as a manager — what you value, how you work best, what you are looking for performance-wise in the context of their role, even your career backstory — can put a newcomer at ease.
So declare yourself.
Share what you can share comfortably.
Fill in the blanks.
Here lies the rub: Managers are not encouraged to reflect on their own “management brand“. This may occur because: 1) we undervalue its contribution to healthy work relationships and 2) we are somewhat uncomfortable sharing it. However, as managers, there is an expectation to lay a solid foundation.
Team members shouldn’t be left to guess.
I will go one step further to say that (as a goal) this information should be shared long before the newcomer’s first day. This may allow talent (and managers) to assess whether there is a real fit and an opportunity to form a healthy psychological contract.
However, to be honest — I’ll settle for this discussion on any given Monday.
What are your thoughts? Have you ever felt left in the dark concerning how to connect with your manager?
Want to bring this method to your management team utilize? Write Dr. Gottschalk to learn about her virtual training options here.
