Starting any new job and settling in can often be somewhat of a rollercoaster. On the one hand, you will no doubt be delighted that you have landed an exciting new role that is a great fit for you, and are looking forward to your future and career progression. However, on the other hand it is often a period in which you may feel a little out of place – at least initially.

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to ensure you settle in quickly to both your new surroundings and team as well as tackle any potential stresses or concerns head on, and really start to establish yourself as a trusted colleague among your peers.

Utilise Tools To Help Keep You Organised

Getting and staying organised is not only essential for keeping on top of your general workload; it’s also a key to your career success and longevity, especially if you are aspiring to carve out an exceptional career for yourself as a high-performing member of the team.

Set up a system for categorising your emails as well as scheduling any ongoing tasks and projects. Most companies nowadays use a form of task-management software such as Monday, ClickUp or their own in-house platform. Ensure that you get adequate training on how to use this as it will undoubtedly enhance your productivity and help to keep on top of the many spinning plates.

If your employer doesn’t use a dedicated task-management software, or doesn’t invest in any 3rd party software, you can always implement your own system. This might mean using your own planner app, or if you’re not the most tech-savvy, you could always do things the traditional way with a daily planner. Regardless of which system you choose, get yourself in the habit of coming up with a rough schedule for how you will go about tackling your tasks.

Set Goals That Push You – But Are Also Realistic

It’s natural to want to impress when you’re starting a new role, and many feel it is par-for-the-course to go over and above in those reputation-building first few months. Yet, whilst it can be tempting to take on more than you can handle, there is a fine line to tread between throwing everything (and more) at the role, and also being realistic with yourself about your own limitations.

If the goals you’ve set for yourself are beyond your current capabilities, you’ll start to get frustrated and discouraged when you keep failing to get things done – this is a sure recipe for a career burnout. Even the most experienced employee is bound to fall short of a goal now and then; as a new hire, it’s going to take you time to learn the ropes of your new employer. So, allow yourself the chance to learn during this transitional period and try to view your setbacks as a way to become a more efficient and knowledgeable employee.

Rather than cluttering your to-do-list with an excessive number of tasks every day, try to take things slow and celebrate every accomplishment. If you take on too much too soon, you’re likely to get buried and behind on the tasks that really matter. By focusing on your top few priorities each day, you will feel a sense of accomplishment when you’re able to clear your to-do list on a daily basis.

Find The Right Balance

When starting a new job that you really like, it can be tempting to throw yourself in headfirst. However, as with setting realistic professional goals, it’s just as important to establish realistic life goals. Don’t lose sight of your work/life balance. In other words, if you don’t make time for the things and people you love outside of work, you won’t be loving your new role for very long.

Finding the right balance between work and family is one of the most important ways to reduce job-related anxiety and completely getting off on the wrong foot. Making time for yourself and your loved ones, as well as disconnecting mentally from your job, will allow you to return to work refreshed. Try to schedule out your week in advance to ensure that you have time blocked out to unwind with family and friends. Setting this time aside will help ensure that you don’t get overly stressed or exhausted in your new role.

Make Time To Look After Yourself

Just as crucial as finding the right balance between work and play is maintaining your physical, mental and emotional health. You should never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep and a healthy diet. Eating poorly and not getting enough sleep will only cause you to be tired and less productive, which may lead to stress in the workplace.

In addition to maintaining a proper diet and sleeping routine, one of the best ways to impact your physical and mental health is by staying active. This doesn’t mean that you have to join an expensive gym or punish yourself with an extreme workout. A simple routine of either a short yoga session or a quick run before you go to the office in the morning can simultaneously boost your confidence and improve your performance at work.

Many businesses in the UK offer specific elements relating to health and wellbeing as part of their benefits packages including gym memberships and cycle-to-work schemes. Even if neither of these are available to you with your new employer, it is likely there are various initiatives and services available to support you – make sure you take any logins, information, and the opportunity to engage where you can.

Invest In Relationship-Building From The Get-Go

While most firms have some sort of formal induction programme, you should never be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand how to do something – even after this initial period. For new starters, particularly those in larger businesses, it’s possible that you will be placed with a mentor or someone you can go to with questions – don’t hesitate to seek out their help when you need it. While asking your co-workers or boss questions may feel like it shows weakness, actually lets your colleagues know you’re serious about understanding how things work, rather than trying to do something you aren’t sure of on your own.

Relationship-building is crucial in your first few months at a new place of work, and should be across the whole business if possible – with peers, managers, direct reports and any clients or service providers that you communicate with directly. By investing time in this, you will quickly build up trust and ‘social capital professionally’ that according to Danielle Allen from Building Impact, ‘will allow you to advance and contribute meaningfully to the organisation’s growth’.

And Finally,

Your first couple of months in a new role are likely to be a whirlwind of learning new processes, building relationships with colleagues, getting used to a new working environment, as well as getting on with the tasks at hand. No easy task – but hopefully with the support of your new employer, you’ll soon become a (valued and respected) part of the furniture.

About Clayton Recruitment

Clayton Recruitment has been partnering with organisations across the country since 1989, and during that time has built up an excellent reputation for trust and reliability.

With specialist divisions covering Commercial, Financial, and Engineering appointments, on a permanent basis.

If you are looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121.

If you would like to access our free guides, view them all here.

It’s generally accepted that over the last two years since the pandemic, there have been many sectors and regions that have felt the strain of workload increases and it’s just been accepted as the norm.

Yet the past few years have seen an explosion in the hours worked by many employees as numerous sectors navigated the ups and downs of the pandemic and its concerned client and customer bases.

And it is taking its toll.

The Current Mental Health Challenges Employees Are Experiencing

In a recent C.I.P.D. survey, the evidence suggests that the coronavirus pandemic heavily influences employee health and wellbeing.

The virus has and continues to disrupt due to staff absence, and in some cases, employees are suffering the after-effects of contracting the virus from long COVID. Although organisations are still committed to supporting their people, evidence suggests that activity in this area is starting to slip. A more holistic approach – based on the health risks and needs of the workforce – is much needed.

According to the Mental Health Foundation, “1 in 6.8 people are experiencing mental health problems in the workplace”, that’s an astounding 14.7% with women being nearly twice as likely to experience problems vs. men. Studies show that better mental health care and support in the workplace will save UK businesses up to £8 billion per year and promoting wellbeing within your business can reduce sickness absence days of which 12.7% are currently used for mental health conditions.

Assess The Situation in Your Business

Some of the larger businesses we work with conduct a regular employee survey, though historically, asking your team about their wellbeing hasn’t been included.

Consider the nature of the questions you ask employees, and take proactive measures to ensure that respondents are safe from identification. Attempting to measure mental health and stigma in highly challenging environments like an overworked business may also skew results so that they are not representative of true employee sentiments.

This is stage one, as it is critical to know what you are dealing with first before you can implement a process to make a difference across your business.

Have Mental Health on Your Agenda

As in all areas of business, if you want an area to change, you must give it focus. I am sure your business has a growth plan and ideas on succession planning, and you may be working with someone like ourselves on building your talent pipeline.

Your leadership team will have a strategic plan on how to take the business forward, and in today’s landscape, part of that needs to include looking after the wellbeing of your team.

As a first start, you can find some excellent resources on the Mental Health Foundation website here. In addition, assign a partner to the role of mental health lead in your business. Consider engaging the help of external suppliers to help you implement an Employee Assistance Programme (E.A.P.) which is one part of a well-being solution.

E.A.P.s are intended to help employees deal with personal problems that might adversely impact their work performance, health and wellbeing. E.A.P.s generally include assessment, short-term counselling and referral services for employees and their immediate family – wherever they are in the world.

Support Managers To Coach and Lead Their Team

An easy start to improving well-being is to instil a coaching culture in your business aligned with external training on mental health and well-being. As a manager trained in well-being, you can make a huge difference to your team.

Honest and open communication during regular catch-ups with your team members can help identify struggling people.

We know one business uses a traffic light system during conversations with green when everything is ok, amber when a few cracks appear that require help, and naturally, red for an extreme case and that individual needs support. The well-being plan has created multiple resources we can all now access to improve our mental health, so finally, I want to share a few examples.

Provide Support Resources For Your Team

The way we think and listen to our thoughts can cause us to spiral out of control. It is no wonder that working with a coach proves to be a valuable support mechanism for many.

One business we know utilises the help of an external coach, with team members having the ability to book sessions to help them navigate any stress they are experiencing.

Many of us accept that we lead busy lives, and the ability to handle overwhelm and calm can be facilitated in many ways.

Though it sounds counter-intuitive, there are several online apps that many individuals use with great success. The aptly named Headspace and Calm apps have over a hundred million users and provide access to multiple resources.

Develop Your Action Plan

Finally, improving the well-being of your team is about taking action. We have shared several ideas and resources here.

In addition, the way many people worked remotely during the pandemic helped their work-life balance and well-being. We have written posts about the value of hybrid working here and, most recently, the move to a four-day working week here.

All of these ideas can be used to help your team improve their well-being – although obviously need to be carefully considered alongside business strategy and key objectives.