Leadership

On-Boarding Best Practices Tactics For Senior Leaders

By Wendy Weidenbaum

The goal of on-boarding is to help senior leaders better integrate into a new organization. On-boarding allows individuals to more effectively navigate through the organization, become productive and build relationships.

Key Challenges Faced When Entering an Organization

• Understanding performance expectations and business/financial goals
• Clarifying and communicating one’s role
• Building relationships with clients, internal colleagues and direct reports
• Understanding the politics and culture
• Determining how decisions are made, who makes them and how they are implemented
• Learning how to get things done within the existing systems and processes

The hiring manager plays the most critical role in the onboarding process and should assume responsibility for the success (or failure) of a new hire. Human Resources plays an important role in supporting the hiring manager and the new employee.

From Acceptance to Start Date

• Maintain contact with the new leader after the acceptance and before the start date phone calls, breakfasts, emails
• Send non-proprietary reading materials such as the business strategy, marketing plan, etc.
• Prepare and review draft announcement with new hire that discusses the individual’s prior work experience and new role and responsibilities. Be sure to include reporting relationship. Clarity on this issue is critical.
• Ensure that all of the necessary paperwork, including contracts, non-competes, etc. are discussed and signed.

What needs to happen on the first day?

• Hiring manager should welcome the new hire and spend an appropriate amount of time, i.e. at least an hour, helping the individual to get acclimated and answering questions; walk around introducing people in the “neighborhood”
• Provide the new hire with the tools needed to quickly get up to speed, ensure that the computer is up and running, the phone is working, business cards are printed
• Invite to attend an orientation program
• Have a welcome breakfast or lunch with colleagues and direct reports; if this is not possible, plan for someone to take the new hire to lunch
• Send out announcement both internally and externally stating what the new hire’s role is, how the individual can be reached, how this person will add value, and prior experience and educational background
• Provide a list of people to meet both within and external to the firm

What’s still occurring during the first six months?

• Provide technical training and leadership development
• Encourage the new hire to travel to meet out of town clients, direct reports and colleagues
• Establish objectives (during the first week) and priorities; review periodically
• Arrange for the new leader to meet with the hiring manager’s manager, the business head, the head of the company, etc. for more senior level exposure
• Establish a mentor from the pool of people who were involved in the interviewing process
• Help the new hire gain exposure and establish credibility by inviting the individual to the right meetings, spreading the word on successful accomplishments and providing on-going feedback both good and bad on the business side of things as well as the “softer” side of the culture
• Encourage the new leader to have a “Jumpstart” session with the new team at which expectations on both sides are discussed
• Hire an external coach to ease the transition period
• If things are not working out as expected, provide ongoing feedback and development opportunities

Getting to the end of onboarding - from seven to eighteen months…

• Encourage the new hire to get involved in activities that strengthen the firm, such as recruiting and training
• Hiring Manager continues to meet with the new leader to review expectations and priorities and to provide feedback
• Cut bait quickly if this was a bad hire due to cultural fit or skills

The Role of Recruiting

• Coach new hires on what to say when resigning so a counter offer is not considered
• If necessary, ask senior leaders to help close the deal
• Involve other newly hired senior leaders in the onboarding process, so that they can discuss the challenges faced and how to overcome them.
• Assign members of the leadership team to establish relationships with the most talented 20-30 diverse candidates on the street. This will set up long term relationships.
• Ask search firms to provide a slate of candidates, including diverse candidates