On the Search: Being a Culture Detective at Your New Job

When you first start a new job, you should focus on fitting into your new position seamlessly while being as productive as possible throughout your first few weeks.

However, you should also take it upon yourself to add a new, unwritten job title to your name: culture detective.

As a new employee, it is just as important to determine the culture of your new workplace as it is to adjust to your new position. The quicker you are able to decode your office’s environment, the faster you can find your niche within it.

Determining how much creativity is encouraged in the office setting can help you avoid making mistakes. For example, if you see your boss and coworkers have little to no décor in their offices or cubicles, you may stop yourself from hanging decorations from your walls (it may be against company policy),  or at the very least, you will know to ask someone before hanging anything.

By observing how your coworkers interact, you will be able to see how much socializing is appropriate in your company. If there are times when coworkers go to each other’s work spaces for friendly conversations, you can be sure of yourself when you feel the need to converse with someone during your shift.

Another important area to study is your boss’s feelings towards working from home and swapping hours. Some offices are friendlier with employees working from home on a Friday or leaving an hour earlier one day and staying later the next. However, not all offices accept this behavior, and for the most part, a new employee should not test their luck until they have worked at the company for a few months.

By keeping a close eye on the policies and social happenings at your new office, you can stay away from making embarrassing mistakes and begin growing into your new position at a faster rate!