This is the second post in the series. Please read the introductory post here.

The New Job

Brian and Larry were at the Starbucks in London Stratford Westfield Shopping Center. "Congratulations Larry, well done for your new job" Larry smiled back at Brian, "Thanks to you. I never would have got it. You know I didn't want to go for the job, thought I wasn't experienced enough. But with your persistence as usual I got it, and here I am, the latest learning and development manager in town and in a sector I've always wanted to be part of."

"Nice one, always remember the lesson Larry. You miss every chance you don't take, and if you hadn't gone for the job you wouldn't have known whether you were good enough for it or not. So when do you start?" "One week from Monday," answered Larry. "I know this is your first management role, but I believe you will do very well. Remember I am always around to support, so don't panic, just dive into the job with your usual enthusiasm and passion."

Larry had a smile of gratefulness on his face. "Thanks Brian, it's really nice of you to say that." At exactly 7pm they said good bye to each other and parted ways. Larry and Brian had met on Larry's previous job. Brian was the his manager, and when he left to start his own company called FlexiLearn about 2 years ago, they had kept in touch. Brian had effectively become Larry's mentor. Their’s was a very productive relationship with both of them learning from each other. It was Brian who had convinced Larry to go for the job, and for that he was really grateful.

Larry Meets His Team

It's 9am on Monday and Larry is meeting with his team. Altogether there are three people in the team including Larry, Louise and Saheed who are both learning and development advisors. A bit about the company is necessary at this point. Special Care, the company Larry just got a job with, is a non-profit organisation operating in the health and social care sector.

The company provides care and support services for people with learning disability and mental health support needs. The company has 350 staff, and has just won a bid to manage some more services with another 100 staff. Some of the services Special Care provides are registered care, respite care, supported living accommodation, peer support, community outreach and travel support services.

Now back to Larry and his team. It's now been one week since Larry started, his induction so far has been good. Dara, the HR Director who is also Larry's boss has been really helpful and so have all the managers he met. Unlike his previous job where there was a clear sense of hierarchy, seniority and who is who, the managers here are more accessible and approachable. That would definitely make his job easier, thought Larry. Now it was time to have a proper chat with his team.

"Good morning guys, it's great for us to finally have some time together. It's been a bit manic over the past one week that I started." Although Larry had been given full information about the team by Dara, he wanted to hear their own perspective. He asked them about the team in general, what projects they were working on, plans the team had, their priorities, their successes and challenges. They were very forthcoming, which was good. They were also very positive and enthusiastic about their jobs, which was even better.

Larry thanked them for all the information and told them he would be scheduling one-to-one meetings with each of them. "He said, “I am big on personal development. When I meet with you individually on Wednesday, want to see your personal development plans, so we can start discussing how best to support you with your careers. Also I will be meeting with the leadership team tomorrow. According to Dara they want to know what my learning and development plans for the team and organisation are. I don't think I will be telling them anything yet at this stage. I will just listen to their views and we can discuss it together later as a team. Is that okay?" "Yep," said Saheed, while Louise nodded to agree.