Careers Feature: It’s Not Easy Being a Dolphin

An article caught our attention over the weekend about the intelligence of dolphins. In short they have long been considered an animal with high intelligence – and the article was highlighting work that disputed whether this is really the case. We are happy to leave the experts to argue the merits of intelligence in the animal kingdom, what struck us was a point in the article which highlighted that our perceptions of dolphins are, to a certain extent, shaped by the way we see them, i.e. through a human perspective. This analogy applies to the workplace. There are a range of factors, which together determine how we perceive somebody or another team, department etc. An accountant tends to see the rest of the company through the eyes of finance, store managers through the eyes of their store (and often have a poor perception of head office). A new recruit will have perceptions shaped by a combination of expectation (often in the recruitment process) and what they have experienced before, at university for a recent graduate, or other work for those with more experience. What are the consequences of this? We think there are three key areas. • The recruitment and induction process is critical in creating an early positive impression with the new recruit, and also in shaping the attitude and approach they take on starting. How many people can say that when they started in a job or at university, that computer logins were in place, all paperwork was complete, induction meetings starting on time etc? • As a new recruit, start with an open mind and don’t form judgements on individual conversations or experiences. It takes time to understand how a company operates, why it does things in a certain way. There is often logic somewhere, it just takes some digging out. This doesn’t mean that you compromise and simply work the way the company works, your best chance to make an impact is in the first few months and you have been brought in to make a difference. The trick is to maintain an open mind, avoid jumping to conclusions and not simply changing everything so it matches what you have done before. • Take whatever opportunity you can to see the world from a different perspective. If you work in a head office department, spend a day in a depot or store. If you are involved in a project to change the way numbers are reported, then spend time with the end user. Have they asked for the right thing? Is there something better you can do to help them? If you think the recruitment process that you went through could be improved – get involved in future recruitment. You will find that simply taking an interest in somebody else not only increases your knowledge and appreciation, but it extends your network. More importantly, being able to see and understand the business from different perspectives is an invaluable skill being increasingly recognised by organisations. St Mary’s Careers Service Team