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Every once in a while, a new team member “wows” leadership right out of the gate. Whether it’s because they dove headfirst into an important project, shared feedback on an inefficient process or simply asked great questions, these new employees found creative ways to impress their leadership and quickly establish themselves in their new positions.
As business leaders, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council have brought on many new hires over the years. Below, they each share one effective method they’ve seen new employees use to jump right into their new roles and explain why doing so can create such a positive first impression with the leadership team.
1. Try To Offer New, Thoughtful Insights
New team members who are thoughtful and find new insights into company problems always stand out from their peers. For example, one of our new hires questioned the efficiency of our SOPs and offered a suggestion for reducing redundancies. It was so insightful that we immediately integrated their idea into our new SOPs. This level of thought showed that they were not only intellectually capable of higher positions, but it also showed that they understood our company mission and were able to provide productive feedback. New team members should take time on or off the clock to think about their job and how it fits into the company. There’s no better way to impress your manager than by coming up with an idea they’ve never thought of. Unique, insightful thinking will always be recognized and promoted. – Shaun Conrad, My Online Accounting Course
2. Document What You’re Doing
In my experience, a new team member who does something as simple as documenting what they’re doing makes a powerful impression. If they document their team workflows, help improve processes or provide actionable insights, that’s even better. Very often, businesses get busy with taking action. So, important activities like documentation are often left behind. This makes it difficult for new team members to understand what’s been done and how they can get started. So, if you’re a new team member, my best tip would be to start your first few days with a deep dive into existing processes. Take notes and ask questions. Then keep documenting what you do and how it contributes to the team’s goals and objectives. That’s a surefire way of quickly establishing yourself in your new job. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
3. Help With Tasks Outside Your Responsibility
New employees who proactively take on tasks outside of their responsibility truly inspire me. Once, we were in the middle of a very important project. The deadline was fast approaching and we had a lot to get done. One of my new team members noticed this and proactively offered their help, despite the fact that the task was outside of their defined responsibility. This helped me a lot and I still cannot forget how it helped us meet our deadline. It saved our reputation as a brand. Small things like this show that even though you’re a new team member, the company’s reputation matters to you. – Josh Kohlbach, Wholesale Suite
4. Share Your Knowledge With Others
Share your knowledge or skills with others if you want to wow the leaders in your company or are looking to establish yourself in your new job. People are often reluctant to share the resources or knowledge they have with others, thinking they’d lose their edge over others in a race to the top. They prefer their own success over the vision of the company, and that’s actually a weakness in my book. So, if you truly wish to make a place for yourself in a new company, try to help others, as it fosters collaboration and enables you to strive toward a common goal as a team rather than as an individual performer. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms
5. Attend Learning Opportunities
If you want to impress the leadership at your new company, attend every optional event possible and ask plenty of questions. We have internal webinars each month for various teams, but everyone is welcome to join. I always find it impressive when people outside of the department show up because they are interested in learning and growing with our business. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
6. Actively Volunteer For Work
Don’t wait to be asked before plunging into the more intensive parts of the job. Actively volunteer to take a first pass or cut at something your team needs. When you take that first pass, show self-awareness of where you may still have gaps or need help understanding your new team’s approach by proactively flagging the parts of your work that you’re less certain about. – Jake Goldman, 10up Inc.
7. Be Approachable And Reliable
It’s common for new hires to initially feel out of place and nervous. However, going above and beyond helps you make that initial first impression, get you in the good books and establish a great team bond. The quickest way is to be approachable and reliable. Be reliable and open to helping other team members. Show up on time, make yourself available for new projects and complete tasks before their deadlines. This is the easiest and quickest way to establish yourself in your new position. Reach out to all stakeholders, build relationships along the way and always be willing to listen. When you don’t understand, ask. Understand the culture and the people. Be willing to help. Helping others is the best way to learn and expand your knowledge base. – Candice Georgiadis, Digital Day
8. Fully Understand The Business And Your Role In It
If you’re a new employee, take time early in your tenure (or ideally before your first day on the job) to really understand how the business works, what the vision and strategy are and how your role fits into driving that vision. If the picture is not crystal clear in your mind, do some digging by speaking with your manager or the leadership team to understand how your work directly contributes to top-level company goals. Then, once that mechanism is clear to you, come up with a few ideas for how you might make a major impact on the company objectives in your first few months. Lay out this plan for your manager in a 30-60-90-day action plan and ask for their feedback on it. The proactivity you show in doing this exercise should impress them, and then you can execute against the plan. – Andrew Powell, Learn to Win