One of the most important actions for you to take in order to be more successful after joining your new company is to set “short-term goals”.

In this column, I would like to suggest how you should set short term goals on a weekly and monthly basis, and during your probation period of three or six months (depending on your company) to help you to be successful quickly at your new company.

These will just be examples, so please feel free to explore short-term goals which are most suitable for you.

Weekly short-term goals:

The theme is communication.

It may depend on the size of your company. How about setting a goal of getting to know at least a person from each division or team?

This approach will help you to understand the whole company quickly. My recommendation is to use “a referral system”.

This is done by first asking a colleague in your own team to introduce you to a member of another team.

Then, ask the newly introduced person to refer you to a different person.

This way, you will be able to gradually expand your circle of communication within your organization.

I also recommend for you to request introductions of people of different groupings, such as those with a long or short length of service at the company, or those who are good at building internal networks, and so on.

It may be a good idea to invite your colleagues for lunch or have a cup of coffee at a cafeteria during your breaks.

On a different topic, it is critical to gather tips and advice from your colleagues to achieve your KPIs or goals of your probation period at an early stage after joining.

Monthly short-term goals:

The theme is gathering and managing information.

I recommend you decide on several topics to research and gather information accordingly. Then create a sheet that will become a visible list of this information.  

For example, if you set three topics like

1.) Understand the state of the company through its numbers (e.g. revenue of the Japanese market, revenue by area of the global market, number of stores, profit, number of products, etc.)
2.) Annual calendar (information on annual projects, the launching of products, events, and promotions, etc.)
3.) Job Description and action plan (fill in your action plans inline on each task listed in your Job Description)

By gradually collecting this kind of information as you start to participate in the induction training and company meetings, you will be able to work while getting a grasp of the overall state of the company. Saving the gathered information in online documents will allow you to manage the information in one place.

Short-term goals for your probation period:
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Once again, understanding the requirements and KPIs to pass your probation period from an early stage, and planning your actions backward will help you to work efficiently without rushing towards the end.

On a different note, some job seekers ask recruiters to check requirements and KPIs for passing probation, prior to joining the company.

If that is the case, our consultants will confirm the requirements with our client in advance and will share them with our candidates.

Even if a client does not have KPIs, it is also important for you to check the expectations of your hiring manager in advance. (In the case of a sales position)

Besides your performance goal such as “X yen of revenue”, setting activity targets such as “arranging X number of meetings”, will make it easier for you to meet the actual expectations.

We often hear that after joining the company, you get too busy to make time to set your short-term goals.

Therefore, we encourage you to consult with our consultant in advance, as they will be able to support you to enable your success at your new company.

■Read a previous article >> 1st Month: "Comparing and Adjusting your Manager's Expectations"

Toshiyuki Takahashi
B2C / Sales and Marketing
Sales Team Manager

Toshiyuki Takahashi graduated with a BS degree from California State University in 2005. He experienced working on sales strategy for a global FMCG company, then joined en world in 2014. Currently is a Manager for the B2C Sales/Marketing team, supporting to achieve the company mission of “Enabling Success” for clients of all sizes, from large multinational companies to start-ups.