When the workplace honeymoon period ends
Like a new romance, after a while the novelty of the new relationship disintegrates, writes James Adonis.
It only lasts about six months. That’s it. The initial exhilaration you feel being in a new job, having a different boss, walking into an unfamiliar building – all those novelties eventually wear off, usually within 12 months if you’re lucky, within six months if you’re in the majority.
Which makes life difficult for managers tasked with helping employees get over what’s known as the honeymoon-hangover effect.
The honeymoon-hangover effect is the perfect name for it. Much like a romantic relationship, there’s a blissful prelude, a time when the new employment relationship fulfils much of what was missing from the employees’ dalliance with their ex-employer.
Until a new point arrives, one at which the high they’ve been on starts to unravel, revealing flaws and shortfalls they’d been too intoxicated to notice until then.
Disappointment and cynicism quickly arrive as new bedfellows. ‘‘Yeah but I seriously love my new job,’’ they (or even you) might say. ‘‘It’s the best job I’ve ever had.’’
Well, that may be true, but pivotal research a decade ago proved the more intense a honeymoon period is, the more shattering the hangover becomes. And it almost always does come.
Expanding on those findings is fresh research that’s been published in the respected Journal of Vocational Behavior by a team of researchers led by Rutgers University.
The scholars have surveyed hundreds of employees who were recruited in various jobs across the United States in 27 locations. The participants were surveyed at multiple points throughout their first six months on the job.
Consistent with the study a decade earlier, job satisfaction was found to decrease steadily during the so-called honeymoon.
And the more the honeymoon diminished, the more a nasty hangover would set in, such that people were more likely to resign.
But we know that already. What makes the study especially interesting is the revelation that efforts to buffer new employees from the inevitable crash were actually counterproductive.
For example, if you provide newcomers with an orientation programme that imparts a range of knowledge and skills, or if you allocate a mentor on their first day, or if you set in place a comprehensive training process or even a promising career plan – those efforts, while noble, can make the problem worse.
That’s because those initiatives ramp up the recruits’ newfound euphoria, which ‘‘sets the stage for a greater ensuing hangover as newcomer attitudes may fall more drastically as normalisation sets in’’, the researchers note.
The key word is normalisation. If those critical support provisions aren’t maintained at a consistently high level, work practices soon become normalised – much like any other ordinary company – and that’s when employees become disenchanted with their employment relationship.
Similar to a potent love drug that generates a euphoric high quickly, the come-down generates a hangover that’s just as fierce.
It very much mirrors a new romance. For the first few months, both partners are usually on their best behaviour. There are cute surprises and romantic dinners, thoughtful courtesies and nice appearances, but after a while the novelty of the new relationship disintegrates.
The two partners become so comfortable, so complacent, the romantic gestures cease. The cute surprises stop. They start to make less of an effort with what was once deemed essential.
And that’s when they start to notice flaws more frequently in one another. That’s when they suddenly realise the honeymoon period is over.
The workplace is seriously no different. –Sydney Morning Herald
James Adonis is the author of The Motivation Hoax: A smart person’s guide to inspirational nonsense.