On Transitions
I often joke that our job as recruiters is part-therapist, but it’s not really a joke. The truth is we are dealing with human beings at some of the most vulnerable points in their professional and personal lives: transitioning to a new job or adding a new person to the team.
You can find a lot of jazzy, exciting quotes about “change” and “growth” and such, but there’s no sidestepping the fact that transition is not easy. It’s complex and bittersweet. I have learned that I must make space to hold the good and the hard equally.
For someone taking a new role, they often have to say goodbye to a job that is comfortable because it’s the status quo. Leaving a company means all those “work friends” disappear…or at least are no longer your daily companion. Taking a new job means putting yourself in a position that you hope is an improvement—whether it be the work you’re doing, the culture of the organization, or the leadership.
But change being positive does not equal easy.
Adding a new person to the team is a transition too. As a leader, you have the responsibility of integrating the new person to your culture and mission, teaching them the new skills needed, and ensuring their success as much as possible. This is not to say it’s all on you—it’s not. But as leaders, I believe we have the responsibility of setting our team members up for success as much as possible. That’s a transition for you. And it’s immensely rewarding—but it can be very hard.
Transition is not easy.
As a culture, an organization, or a team, we do ourselves a disservice if we ignore the massive impact transition has on our lives.
Just like the transition of summer fading into fall, the world shifts a bit when you take on a new role or add a new person to your team. You must make space for new rhythms, new growth, and likely, a few bumps along the way.
For me, I’ve learned it helps to acknowledge that change is genuinely hard and to take time for grieving the loss of some of the good things.
The leaves changing colors are beautiful, but that only happens because they’re dying (I know, a bit morbid). They will slowly fade from the fiery reds and oranges to brown, and then fall off the trees. But come April, new growth will appear. And we will all be better for it.
For leaders, I think this is the real work of transition: naming it. Acknowledging that even positive change means letting go of something familiar. Creating space for both grief and excitement, and supporting people through that “messy middle” where uncertainty and hope coexist. When we do that well, trust is strengthened, culture deepens, and retention becomes more real.
And if you’ve recently changed jobs, or are changing jobs, give yourself grace in the adjustment period. You don’t have to change the world overnight :) but work to learn the rhythms and personalities of the new workplace.
Change may be hard, but it’s also hopeful. Like those leaves, what falls away often makes room for something stronger to grow. And if we can hold both the good and the hard at the same time, we give ourselves — and our teams — the best chance to thrive on the other side of transition.