90 days is a long time, depending on where you are or what you're doing. It's a long time to wait for something.

It's a long time to be bored or unhappy.

It's a blink of an eye if you love what you're doing. Time flies when you're having fun, right?

90 days is also one of those milestones that everyone in the professional and most of the academic world just seems to agree on. Given that it's pretty much a quarter, it makes sense... a year is a long time and a month is a short time, so let's carve the year into four easy chunks, right? Enough time for interesting trends to present themselves and play out but not *too* long to be unwieldy.

Apparently the 90 day benchmark is part of the US immigration process as well, and is the basis for a successful reality show that everyone I know seems to talk about - and it shows up elsewhere all over pop culture, too.

When it comes to onboarding, 90 days is a nice, clean fit as well. Not exactly a honeymoon period - work is work, even if you're not expected to be capable of everything in your first two weeks - but it's definitely evaluatory... and that's a two-way street.

Employer wants to see employee begin to learn the ropes and weave themselves into the org's culture and demonstrate all of the great things their interviews suggested that person was capable of doing.

And employee, particularly these days, needs to confirm that taking this job was a good choice for them, as they're more likely than ever to have other options. They need to become confident that things are, from the inside, close enough to what they seemed to be from the outside. They need to feel good about their ability to learn and grow and thrive and contribute meaningfully here.

90 days in an office is a feeling many are well-acquainted with. You've got to be friendly and outgoing and present the right image of yourself to your new peers, because first impressions count for a lot. And, sooner or later, no matter how you come across, people will get the true measure of you... because over the next several months or years, you'll be spending more than a third of your days going to and from, working at or thinking about this job.

90 days on the other side of a laptop camera, a.k.a. working remotely, is different. It's still establishing your identity and getting a sense of your new team and employer, but it's a face and a voice and a background. It's talking about the weather outside and making excuses for loud human, animal or machine noises in the background. A truer window into your life than before... but it's just that, a window.

In other words, it's a slice of yourself. Don't get me wrong - there's a ton to love about WFH and I definitely enjoy its various benefits. But, in the year 2022, it means a literal 2-dimensional version of you is the version joining a new team.

How do we make up for this? welcomary’s position is that we can, and should, open up the workplace even as parts of ourselves (for better or for worse) are closed off to it. Transparency is king. News of arrivals and departures, knowledge, announcements and updates, let's get them out there just as soon as it makes sense to. If you're a manager needing to communicate feedback or news to a report, don't drop cryptic Slack messages or hold anything back unnecessarily. Office intrigue can be fun when you have people to talk about it with. Behind a monitor, miles away from others... not quite so much.

Because 90 days is a long time to not feel good about what you're doing and where you are. On the whole, a quarter to a third of hires would agree depending on the source; these are the folks who are compelled to resign before that third month is up.

I've met a lot of people who have spent most if not all of their career at one company, and the above information is often unbelievable to them. How could someone leave so quickly?

But if you're one of those people, try and remember your first 90 days. What made it special? Or not so special? There's a reason you stuck around.

First impressions aren't everything... but they are a lot. So, as a leader, make someone new feel welcomed and supported and believed in. It's worth the time and it's easier than you think, especially with the right mindset and tools.