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If the employer does not take care of the onboarding, you have to look for a connection yourself (symbol image)
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Willie B. Thomas/Digital Vision/Getty Images
My first real day at work after graduation ended in tears.
In the morning I was still full of motivation.
But when I got to the office, my boss wasn't there.
Worse still, no one on the team knew I was coming.
The colleagues made every effort, organized a computer for me and showed me around.
But I spent the first few days setting up my e-mail program and opening and closing files.
After a week, the boss stopped by for the first time.
He named a few tasks, but he didn't seem to care when and how I worked on them.
My motivation for the job was gone after just one week of work.
The first days in the company serve to introduce new employees to their areas of responsibility.
They should also have the opportunity to get to know the company, its organizational structure and the people there.
Designing this so-called onboarding is actually the task of the company.
Unfortunately, that doesn't always work.
In the home office in particular, there is a great danger of being forgotten.
There are proven measures that HR professionals use when onboarding.
The good thing: You can use a few of them yourself in an emergency - and thus prevent the first few days from becoming a motivation killer like I did back then.
Before the first day of work
If no one has answered from the company in the week before starting work, it is legitimate to call them.
It is even well received when new employees use this method to signal that they will start soon and look forward to working together.
And when in doubt, the responsible persons are reminded that the new person will be coming soon.
When making a call like this, you can also ask if there is an employee handbook or onboarding plan that you can use to prepare for the coming days.
Or simply if there is anything else to think about when you show up on day one.
With that, you've done what you can to avoid accidentally forgetting your first day at work.
In the first week of work
If you have the feeling of being left alone in the first few days, ask your colleagues or superiors about the following things:
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Guided tour of the company:
If the corona situation allows, you should definitely be shown the company building.
Such a tour gives you an overview of the company and the connections between the departments.
At best, you also get to know people in key positions.
The somewhat more relaxed variant is to first be shown the canteen.
Contact persons:
Many companies have established a sponsorship system.
Here, an experienced person takes care of one or more new employees, she is the first point of contact for big and small questions.
But what if there is no such person?
Then find a nice person and ask them if you can pester them with questions on a regular basis!
This can be the colleague in the same office - or the colleague who always seems particularly open in the video conference in the morning.
After two or three weeks
Requesting
a feedback session: Talking to your manager can be helpful, especially if nobody gives you clear tasks.
It should take place as early as possible so that too much idleness or unproductivity does not build up.
Even if it can take effort to ask for such a conversation: It's worth it.
Write a short message to the person responsible for you: "Could you have a few minutes for me in the next few days?
I would like to talk to you about how you rate my work and what I could do better.« This is a way of showing that you are looking for a constructive dialogue.
Describe your own situation:
In the conversation itself, it is important to send I-messages.
So not to say: »You don't give me any tasks and that's why I hang around inefficiently in my office half the day.« But: »I've now had three weeks to settle in and I have the feeling that the structures and people are now quite good know.
Now I would be very happy if you could give me a task so that I can contribute my work to the team.« Perhaps you have already identified tasks that you think are important, but are currently not being processed and are able to do so propose proactively.
You can pretty much score with this.
Of course, there are also times when a company is under particular pressure, for example because a major trade fair is imminent or an important order has to be completed promptly.
It can happen that the onboarding of new employees temporarily takes a back seat.
But that must not become the norm.
If, despite your best efforts, nothing moves after the first three weeks, alarm bells should be ringing.
If you are not interested in your employees at the beginning, you probably won’t be later either.
If in doubt, it is better to pull the ripcord sooner rather than later – and look around for a new employer.