Culture shock

No matter how confident you feel, a new job and working environment can be a shock to the system. Tom Kelly reveals how not to fall prey to the culture vulture.

Joining a new working environment can be a daunting experience: cultural differences can make communication difficult - you might be working with people much older or much younger than you€?ve previously experienced, for example.

Not everybody in your new office may welcome your presence - even before you've arrived, you may have already trodden on several toes. Lunch hours may be strictly monitored compared with the flexibility you might have enjoyed before. Or, your social life may take a nosedive, and that extra hour's travel could be a real bind.

It's perfectly normal to feel a sense of loneliness and regret at having left your previous 'comfort-zone' post, but don't despair, this feeling will pass.

This is a good time to draw on your soft skills and you will find that interpersonal and communication skills are important if you're to get to know your new company and your new colleagues.

'Doing' the knowledge
Assuming that you haven't done this at the interview stage, finding out all you can about your employer's business and your job role before you begin can give you a head start on your first day. Resources are all around you: so, speak to anybody you know who has worked there, especially those in a similar role; read online or hard-copy annual reports, press releases, publications or any other company literature available in the public domain. Starting an information file is a good move. And don't be afraid to ask if there are any in-house training or induction materials, procedure manuals or organisation charts that you could look at. If you will be preparing particular reports, request to view the most recent ones available. This will immediately provide a benchmark for your own work.

If you are moving to a different geographical market or industry sector, you may need to gain knowledge about regulatory and reporting requirements. In any case, make sure you brush up on required skills, especially those you have said you could provide.

Keep up-to-date with internal/external developments on a daily basis - weekly, if daily is not practicable. Visit the key websites servicing the industry and the company's own intranet for the latest developments.

Understanding your remit
Find out if there is a CPD programme in place and whether key personal development objectives are set by your boss or by yourself. Review the available information and identify the key areas that you need to focus on to ensure you deliver the results. Teamwork and understanding the work of your colleagues will be crucial to your success - namely, knowing where your role fits into the larger organisational structure, and how your key results areas affect others' work.

It's important to get to know your colleagues on a personal level too. Knowing the type of people that you are dealing with will give you invaluable insight into the most effective way to handle or manage them.

Don't be afraid to ask questions as that way you can avoid potential errors, identify your weaknesses and address them. You may have been told that you were employed for your valuable experience, but don't let the company use this as an excuse for not giving you direction. Working things out for yourself may not be a good use of your time.

Rome wasn't built in a day
It takes time and effort to settle into new surroundings and absorb the different elements of a new organisation, so remind yourself why you took the bold step to uproot yourself in the first place.

If it was a financial decision, then enjoy it. If it was a career move, then make sure you keep those prospects within sight. If it was just a stepping-stone to other things, then make sure you do a good enough job to allow you to take that step forward when the time comes.

Whatever the reason(s) behind the change, use the experience to your advantage and take comfort in the thought that, after the initial culture shock, things will get easier. One last word of advice: do not forget to stay in touch with previous colleagues - it's good for your social life and your morale, and old colleagues can be a fount of information

Tom Kelly is a full-time auditor (within the NHS)