During an employee’s first few months at a new job, most of their focus tends to be on learning the ropes, settling in, and getting to know the role, the company, and coworkers. But by the time they reach the six-month mark, many employees are ready to start evaluating how they feel about their progress and how they and their supervisors might picture their long-term future with the company.

In this type of evaluation, there are three main types of questions employees should ask: questions that evaluate culture fit and the employee’s relationship with the company as a whole; questions that analyze the employee’s technical and professional performance in their specific role; and questions that explore how the employee’s supervisors perceive their work and company fit.

These types of questions are valuable in helping employees get a good understanding of their relationship with and feelings about the overall company, their team, and their manager(s). While they can and do involve looking at the day-to-day realities of the job, these questions are focused primarily on the big picture of an employee’s engagement, fulfillment, and long-term career potential with the company.

Company Culture & Fit

These types of questions are valuable in helping employees get a good understanding of their relationship with and feelings about the overall company, their team, and their manager(s). While they can and do involve looking at the day-to-day realities of the job, these questions are focused primarily on the big picture of an employee’s engagement, fulfillment, and long-term career potential with the company.

• Is the situation here with my new company as described in the pre-employment phase?
• How would I describe my relationship with my new boss (and others to whom I may report)?
• Are the company’s values aligned with my own (these may include an approach to safety, quality, the value of the individual to the organization, treatment of suppliers and subcontractors, etc.)?
• Do I find myself looking forward to going to work Monday morning, or do I have feelings of apprehension?
• Can I see a career path here that will foster professional growth?

Individual Performance & Growth

These questions narrow the focus to individual performance and development. It takes time to settle into a new role. Even when an employee has held similar roles in the past, every company does things differently, so there’s always a period of adjustment. By the six-month mark, employees should be able to take a close look at their day-to-day performance and their short-term growth and development in their role. These questions can give insights into what the employee should celebrate as successes, as well as what they might focus on improving in their next six months.

• Where have I excelled during the acclimation process? Where do I need to focus on improvement in the next 6 months? (Examples might include time management, task prioritization, technical proficiency, etc.)
• What have I done to move my projects, my division, and/or my whole organization in a positive growth direction? If applicable, is it possible to put a hard number on the value I have brought to the company? How does that number increase moving forward?
• Have I truly taken the time to nurture relationships, both internally and in the marketplace?
• If applicable, are my direct reports equipped to be successful daily?
• Am I operating at full capacity, and is this role providing me with professional challenges? Am I learning on the job?

Management Perspectives

The first two sections focused on questions employees should ask themselves to self-assess their performance and fit in their role. However, it’s equally important to get an understanding of how their manager(s) view their performance and growth. These questions demonstrate to managers that an employee is ready and willing to take constructive feedback, that they want to continue to grow and learn, and that they’re open to providing value to the company in new ways, meeting any new needs or challenges that have arisen.

• Where do you believe I have excelled and where can I continue to improve?
• Are there specific skill sets or extra training you would recommend for me?
• Am I properly communicating with you and other company leaders?
• Do your expectations of my work change in the next 6 months, or are we on the right track currently?
• How can I, while continuing to focus on my work, make your job easier in managing me and others in my position?

Six months in a new role is an important milestone. Employees should take the opportunity to perform an honest, thorough self-evaluation and also to seek honest, constructive feedback from their manager(s). In taking the time to ask these types of questions, employees can demonstrate their willingness to learn and improve, their interest in a long-term future with the company, and their desire to deliver value and support their team however they can.

We appreciate Colby McCoy, Michael Murphy, Mike Frosaker, and Max Gunther contributing their unique perspective and expertise to this article.