Stay positive

NEW JOB: You’re excited about your new job and ready to do your best. But wait: what’s with all the long faces around you? Why does everyone seem so negative? Welcome to your new workplace, where layoffs and budget cutbacks have demoralized and demotivated existing staff.

The worldwide recession has led to company failures and to widespread layoffs. Fortunately, many companies are hiring again, but new employees frequently find that their colleagues are distant and sceptical — sometimes even downright unfriendly.

What should you do if you find yourself surrounded by less-than-enthusiastic co-workers? “Keep putting ideas out there,” says Paul Baard, a workplace psychologist and professor at Fordham University in New York City. Look optimistically towards the future, and don’t let the negative emotions of those around you make you nervous or worried. “The less dependent [you are], the less vulnerable [you will] be going into an atmosphere that is anxious,” Baard told The Wall Street Journal.

"Keep putting ideas out there." Dr Paul Baard

Don’t take sides, advises Margaret Morford, president of the management and training consultancy HR Edge Inc. in Brentwood, Tennessee. “Stay out of conflicts. If a co-worker needs to vent, tell them that you prefer not to hear anything negative about other employees since you have to work with them,” Morford says. “Whatever you do, don’t join in on the negative talk.”

Your new colleagues may see you as a threat to their own jobs. Try to reassure them by offering to help with their projects. But don’t be surprised if they’re suspicious at first, Baard says. After all, you're a potential competitor for scarce jobs and resources.

Margaret Morford suggests taking colleagues out to lunch as a way of appearing less threatening. But take each one out individually, not a whole group. “As a group, they are used to relating in a way that doesn’t include you,” Morford says. “Groups may also bring tension with them to lunch.”

Meanwhile, don’t jump to conclusions about your new workplace or about your colleagues. Career experts say it can take several months before you really understand the way your co-workers think and work. Give yourself time to get used to your new working environment — and for your colleagues to get used to you.