Imagine if you will a large organisation.  It’s a veritable business, been around for years and has a good reputation, but has been undermined by some missteps in strategy over the last few years, and now the industry it’s in is undergoing fundamental changes too.

To help address these issues some of the previous leaders have gone, new ones promoted or hired, and work has been concluded on the strategy for the forthcoming years.

So now the hard work starts: determining and implementing the changes – to structures, processes, products and services.  A small organisation just does it, acting swiftly, but a large organisation, especially one flux, has many variables to manage, many people to consider, and many internal & external procedures and policies to meet.

So does it do all the changes at once – if so how quickly?

Does it step the changes – if so what goes first & what follows on?

How far through these changes does it look to see if it’s working?

These are the issues that are happening all over the Western world in the years following the most recent recession – and it’s also the environment that today’s graduates and placement students are walking into.

So if you’re about to go into an organisation like this, take time to understand what it is trying to achieve, the processes it’s going through now, just been through & about to hit, and then empathise with your new work colleagues – each of them will be working through all this is their own way.  For some, a bright-eyed & bushy-tailed newcomer will help them deal with it all better, for others newbies will be the last thing they want around.

Your new employer might not be like this, but if it is then it’s a wonderful learning opportunity.