3 tips on how to thrive in a new role

Starting a new job? A career coach shares 3 tips to thrive

October 26, 2023 4:02 PM

Starting a new job is hard, but setting yourself up for success in your new role can sometimes feel harder.

Ninety-six percent of workers are looking for a new position in 2023, according to a recent report by job search platform Monster. And while starting in a new position is often a new opportunity to advance their career, many employees still worry they'll struggle to thrive in new roles, especially in the wake of hybrid and remote work, and the new skills needed to navigate the workplace.

"The focus comes back to relationships," says Kirsten Moorefield, co-founder of automated coaching platform Cloverleaf. "Who do new hires go to when they need something and they're just learning the ropes? How do they most effectively plug into the people around them when they're new in a remote or hybrid setting?"

For most employees, the anxiety of doing well starts on day one. Fifty-three percent of workers say starting a new job is scarier than a trip to the dentist, holding a spider or snake and even skydiving, according to Monster. Eighty-seven percent of job seekers have new job jitters starting at a new company, and 50% said they had moments during the onboarding process when they worried they might be fired or viewed as unqualified.

As a result, 46% of new hires reported momentarily regretting accepting a new job offer, 30% had moments they wished they had stayed at their old job, 22% say they didn't perform to the best of their ability in the beginning and 65% of workers felt imposter syndrome, the feeling of self-doubt and personal incompetence.

But there are things employees and employers alike can do to avoid those outcomes, Moorefield says.

"You have to get more intentional about making the space for connection and seeking out chatter, without adding more Microsoft Teams messages," she says. "And I think that that's a really hard thing for people to do, especially early in their career."

Moorfield shared her top strategies for employees hoping to thrive in their new roles:

Ask for feedback

"It's okay to say, 'I'm new here, I just presented in front of the company. Can you help me understand what's one thing I did really well? What's one thing I can do better next time?' Or you can say, 'I'm putting together this thing, can you take a look at it and help me see what's missing?' Asking for specific feedback shows people that you're ambitious, reliable and it shows people can trust you and come to you in the future. It also speeds up your way of understanding feedback: They're helping you understand how to read the room and how different people think. That builds up your understanding of not only them, but who to go to in the future."

Start building relationships immediately

"We've had people come into the company and set up 10 minute coffee meetings with people. These are short little meetings where managers can understand what you are excited about in your role, and you can ask them a couple of specific questions that help you understand them. At the end of the call, ask who else it would be helpful for you to connect with because they understand the network inside the organization and they can get you into different departments talking to people you otherwise wouldn't be in a meeting with for three months."

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Let your managers know what you need

"Give your manager your user manual — a profile of specific things about you. In it you can include whether you prefer being texted if it's an emergency or with a Slack message if it's not urgent. Let them know things about your personality and how you show up at work. You can let employers know if details really bog you down or if you do your best work if your manager sets an ambitious goal for you.

Some employees really want to understand exactly what managers expect of them and so presenting that in writing for your leadership says you really want to understand how you can be the best asset. And then ask them: 'What about you? What's different and what else should I know?'"