{"id":4972,"date":"2025-05-12T20:24:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T20:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=4972"},"modified":"2025-07-09T15:45:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:45:51","slug":"a-challenge-of-adapting-to-a-new-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/a-challenge-of-adapting-to-a-new-company\/","title":{"rendered":"A Challenge of Adapting to a New Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher<\/a><\/p>\r\n

New hires face many challenges when they\u2019re getting up to speed at a new organization. One of the biggest is picking up on\u2014and adapting to\u2014scheduling and time management, including how punctual people tend to be and what hours employees are expected to work.<\/p>\r\n

Academy of Management Scholar Abbie Shipp<\/a> of Texas Christian University, who coauthored an Academy of Management Review article<\/a><\/em> on this topic with TCU colleague Hettie Richardson<\/a>, said that people can follow or resist bosses\u2019 attempts to coordinate the pace and rhythm of work.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe know that people, teams, and organizations have a tendency to synchronize their schedules to things outside themselves. So, if your office work week is Monday through Friday, you start your week over on a Monday,\u201d Shipp said. \u201cYou don\u2019t really think about it; that\u2019s just the schedule.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cTeams often schedule things structurally and with their schedules based on organizational zeitgebers, or \u2018time-givers\u2019, those pacers that tell you when and how to do things,\u201d she said. \u201cOrganizations synchronize more broadly based on events or deadlines such as, \u2018This is the time of year when our taxes are due,\u2019 or \u2018This is the time of year when our annual reports are due,\u2019 or board meetings, etc.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Shipp and Richardson focused on the individual level.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cMost people assume that if you have a pacer coming from the outside telling you when something should happen, you should just automatically synchronize to that schedule,\u201d Shipp said. \u201cBut we said, \u2018Wow, no, we\u2019re dealing with individuals\u2014it\u2019s just not that easy\u2019 because people experience and interpret time differently from each other.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cFor example, if I previously worked at an organization and we worked Monday through Friday, eight a.m. to five p.m., then I take a new job, and people stay at work until 7p.m.and then come in the next day whenever they want,\u201d she said. \u201cFor me, that feels very wrong\u2014I won\u2019t know why, but I\u2019ll think, \u2018No, working from eight to five is normal\u2014these are business hours.\u2019 But who says what\u2019s normal?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Shipp and Richardson found that there is a range of other outcomes besides simply blindly following an organization\u2019s work schedule.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIf we look at the individual level, you might go along to get along,\u201d Shipp said. \u201cI might say, \u2018Okay, I\u2019ll stay till seven and then come in later tomorrow,\u2019 but I\u2019d be doing so deliberately, and I might be frustrated with adaptation to a schedule that\u2019s different from what I\u2019m used to and comfortable with.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cUnless the person can change the broader context to their view, this frustration likely accumulates over time and could lead them to quit,\u201d she said. \u201cSo leaders have to have individual conversations to better understand what schedules each person thinks is \u2018right.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n

A sample of Shipp\u2019s AOM research findings:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n