New job, reporting manager is not replying to me after a few days: how to proceed?

Question

I recently joined a new company and team. And the hiring manager assigned me my reporting manager a few days after I joined. It has been a week and I've yet to be introduced to the team or have a conversation with my reporting manager regarding the exact project I will be working on.

The hiring manager seemed nice enough and asked good questions. I was not interviewed by the reporting manager.

I have blocked off time on the reporting manager's calendar where he indicated he would reach out to me in a few minutes, but has yet to reach out or respond for that matter.

I have already emailed him to indicate I completed all of the mandatory training and will proceed to read up on the technology the team is using (ascertained at the time of the interview).

What are my options here? I feel that reaching out to HR or employee relations could be a slippery slope just the same as not doing anything.

Answer 1

What are my options here?

Stop scheduling. Stop waiting. Call them directly. Now.

Via phone, via comunication software, whatever is available. Take initiative.

If you cannot reach them, try again in 5 minutes. Ask whoever you can reach. Not being in direct contact with your manager after a week is more than weird. I have never had a manager not contacting me on the very day I started.

Answer 2

I sympathize. When I was hired for my first tech job (many years ago and fully on-site), the day I arrived my team and manager didn't know I was coming, and there was no desk, no computer, no work available for me.

The no-work thing lasted for several weeks, and I remember this as being incredibly stressful (thinking I'd be let go, etc.). I was clearly being given disposable make-work tasks (like reorder header file listings) until they figured out something for me to do. It was about a month before I got legitimate work projects, but to this day it was probably the most stressful work period I've had.

I would recommend not tearing your hair out about this, sometimes that's just how corporate on-boarding works. If you're remote, maybe email your manager once a day about your availability. If you're getting paid, it should work itself out reasonably soon.

Answer 3

@nvoigt is correct in following up with them directly. You may have to be more direct since you don't work in the same location. With that said, it's not uncommon to have ramp up periods for tech jobs.

I previously worked in a development support role (on-site). Essentially the company had a website with a database behind it. I supported the website and the database. However, my first 3 weeks consisted of them putting me in an isolated room and giving me access to the test database and basically saying "play around". They did give me some "homework questions" that they did follow up on. But overall, the first 3 weeks was very light and basically focused on getting me comfortable with the core database.

After that, my feet went to the fire pretty quickly. I'd say enjoy the downtime and learn as much as you can about whatever tech they use.

Answer 4

In addition to seeking out other contact options with your manager it might also be worthwhile to talk with several of your peers. Understanding the organization is part of any job and you'll see this add value in the sense that you are regarded as proactive. Essentially, this indirect approach will be nudging your manager without becoming a bother.

Recently we also had to bridge a very considerable time lag in our organization. After a mere 4 months (and several direct nudges before it would come across as stalking) I was finally contacted by an external organization whilst we had actually given up on the project. Repeated visibility with other clients appears to have driven this project forward. I must admit that we did not incur any cost during this time and 'neglecting' this specific contact allowed us to continue with items that we would usually spend our time on.

Answer 5

I agree that you should call them. I don't know how big the organisation is, what are the current circumstances (e.g. preparing for a new project, busy with existing customers, something personal in the manager's life, etc.), but do call the manager, then try the hiring manager and finally the HR.

I don't believe it's a slippery slope. Be genuine in your enquiries, after all you're there to help them and you need to know how to help them.

I've been in similar situations where very large corporations did not properly onboard me for months and afterwards failed to assign me any work - meanwhile I was still paid but unable to do anything. It can be frustrating. In one case I've solved it by reaching out to HR which put me in touch with another department that needed my expertise for a short while.

Answer 6

Yes it's the manager's job to contact you and assign you projects. You can call them or approach them personally if they are not on the phone or busy with someone else. Yes, managers can get this busy where it may be weeks until you talk to your direct manager.

In the mean time, make sure you get your computer, your login info, access to all network drives and other systems that you need. And get office supplies too. I think I have 30 usernames/passwords for work alone. Another 500 for home. Not all are used, but most are.

When I started one job I just designed a backup system using a cmd.exe batch file for my files that would be stored on my PC. We now have network drives that are backed up by the IT department and I store my work on there. Or I store files on our OneDrive which gets synced with the cloud.

I've been in similar situations. My direct manager replies to my emails normally within 48 hours but he too, does get busy. If I have a question about a project I'm assigned, this may be a low-priority project for him and he may not be able to answer it right away.

If I do jobs for other managers (who are not in my department) and I have a question for them that only they can answer, it may be 2-12 weeks before I hear back from them. They have many priorities and jobs seeking their time and my jobs just happened to be lower priority. If a job I'm working on gets close to a deadline then it becomes a higher priority for them and they return my emails more often.

I just follow up with them every 2 weeks. They seem fine with that.

In the meantime, find other departments physically nearby where you can help them. Ask for the supervisor and ask then if you can help them out. Be proactive.

Answer 7

While it is the manager's job to keep in touch with you and assign you work, you should take the initiative.

My approach would be to "Call him and make an appointment to discuss issues". Discussing anything face to face is multiple times better than doing it over the phone, especially when you hardly know the other person.

At no stage should make this into a complaint to HR. If you are unable to reach your manager than request the HR to make an appointment for you. Then you can discuss your issues directly.