New Joiner

In the past few months, when I talked about I am a new joiner to SAP during the Movement Control Order period due to Malaysia's Covid-19 situation, most of my candidates who had conversations with me were surprised. Yes, they were more surprised when they realized I worked 11 years in my ex-company and chose to leave the company, a most probably the comfort zone. They feel it is not right to take a risk to join a new company during an uncertain time; they seem worried about me.  

My candidates asked me how I was coping with the new working environment changes while I have no one sit side-by-side; how would I have gotten the team's response when I need immediate answers? They asked me how my relationship with colleagues when we do not see each and other. They asked me how to learn to use the systems/ tool when no one teaches me to end. And lastly, the hottest question that they asked me is whether I am afraid of losing my job if I do not pass the probation period. 

We heard of the economic crisis in the past few months that causing some companies are closing down, people losing jobs, cut in salary, forced to take the unpaid leave, and the worst is losing beloved family or friends in the pandemic. Therefore, it is reasonable that they asked me those questions. Those questions had never bothered me much, even though I have been concerned the same as a normal human being. Who does not afraid of losing a job when the bills are coming over monthly?

There might be a danger in job security when there is the uncertainty of negative factors externally, but I truly enjoyed my new joiner life in SAP. I started to work from home the second day after joining the company. Up to date, I only went back to the office in less than a hand count. Having said, counting the 200 days and more now working from home seems an extended period for a new joiner, I do not feel negatives at any single time, not at all!

The well-organized onboarding process allowed me to collect my laptop, security badge, and work tools without a missed. I have intranet access granted on the first day of joining the company. It is beneficial for having me never thought of the inconvenience. I have not physically shown up in the office for months. However, I feel engaged with the company and the team through effective communication channels daily. 

I have been lucky enough to receive tremendous support from my reporting manager and fellow team members. My reporting manager spoke to me daily to share the great supports that I need in the first month I joined the company. The colleagues in my team take turns to involve me in the projects they were doing. They invited me to share thoughts and never exclude me from working as a team for important agendas. We have a strong teamwork spirit to achieve the team goal together. The HR partners and advisors that I work closely with shared their business knowledge with me and helped me build business acumen skills patiently. I feel like I have never been left out even though I was not familiar with the operation flows initially. I appreciated all their attributes in welcoming a new joiner to the team.

I learned the work processes, company policies, and business insights online in innovative online platforms. Everything I need to study or for references is few clicks away in the intranet. I like the feeling of accessing the information transparently in the well-organized tools or systems in the company. I am glad my learning journey in the company is always pleasant and never disappointing.

Since joining SAP, I have positively considered moving on to a new career journey should not worry about timing. The interviewing process, accepting the offer, and the onboarding experienced would not permit us to determine whether we are entering the company at the right timing. The company would not tell you whether they got you at the right or wrong time the same. We can only find out the answers through the learning journey. When we enjoy being a newbie in the company, we will respond to the appreciated right or wrong timing feelings. 

After so many years working in my ex-company, when I become a "new joiner" again in a new organization, I realized the tips that make us comfortable performing in a new job are learning and adapting to the company cultures fast. Once we are familiar with the operations, the people, the must-know, and the good to know, we should be fine and will be fine to overcome challenges from time to time. 

Besides, having visibility is essential to show the new joiner's values in the company. I always like the quotes by Richard Branson: You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over. Therefore, I will suggest raising our hand to say YES to accept the project or mission we do not know how to do. Have ourselves get involved in the stretch projects or any events that seem new to us. We will learn from the processes, and along the way, we manage to expand our networks and get support from the people we have never worked with within the organization. We learn from them and understand the working cultures through connections. We are opening the gate of inclusiveness to participate in the company's essential plans and agendas. People will recognize us when we make ourselves visible and show an engaged employee's image.  

We need to find out what we want in our career plan before looking out. Never tolerate anything we are not comfortable with when we are making the career movement. Should we believe in making the right choice to accept the offer with other companies and prepare for the brand new starts in our career, our passion for focusing on the new job will drive us to become the performer with no doubt. There is nothing to worry about regarding the probation period's risk if you are a trusted professional employee and believe in your technical and soft skill's capability. When a company is investing in hiring you, they trust the investment returns must be positive. They will appreciate a good employee and want to see the values of the employees to perform well. In such a scenario, anything out of our control should not be confusing us. Most importantly, we need to focus and contribute to work with to show us a real performer.

Good luck to new joiners in any company. Hopefully, you are doing well and get off from the fears of so many out of control factors which could be harmful to your job security. You will be doing well and all right as long as you know you are performing and achieving career success. No afraid and keep fighting!