Executive Onboarding: We Are Not There Yet
It is 2019, and executive onboarding still doesn’t get adequate attention. Onboarding programmes tend to be focused more on entry to mid-level staff. After all, executives are big boys and girls who have run the show for years. It is believed they should be able to settle in and sort themselves out. However, the sink or swim approach has often proved costly. The executive may have shown to be a perfect person for the job; the reality is that organisations are different — culture, processes, priorities, people, name it.
As high as forty per cent of executives who change roles or get promoted fail in the first eighteen months. Top reasons cited for new executives failing include lack of cultural fit; inability to build teamwork with peers and staff; unclear performance expectations; lack of political savvy; and absence of a deliberate, formal process to assimilate executives into the organisation. These executive failures can cost up to forty times their base salary.[i] Of course, executives are also in a prime position to turn employee engagement efforts to dust, and skilled employees can be lost.
Executive recruitment is not cheap and effective onboarding strategies can help these leaders better navigate the organisation and achieve the desired speed to results delivery. How to effectively onboard an executive? Whatever approach you choose, here are some helpful pointers:
§ Customise — While lessons can be learnt from successful onboarding programmes in other organizations, tailor your onboarding program to the needs of your organization and the individuals. Leverage on the information from the recruitment phase, including behavioural profiles, to customize the onboarding programme for a stronger impact. This does not necessarily imply a wholly different or brand new programme for each executive, incorporating some bespoke features can improve the overall experience and effectiveness.
- Connect — Connect the new executive with key colleagues and stakeholders. Help identify those vital relationships for success, facilitate introductions and meetings, and help to secure the enabling support and buy-in the executive may require. Yes, there are tales of new executives struggling to get a meeting with a key stakeholder in the organisation, and tales of key officers dodging and avoiding a new executive.
- Communicate — Information is critical, and the new executive must be well informed and have access to knowledge to thrive. Information such as the organisation’s history, the journey so far, direction and strategy; culture and people; processes; the role, challenges etc. are important. Contextual insights would help the new executive hit the ground running and develop a best-fit action plan.
- Clarify — While expectations for the role would have been discussed during the interviews, it is important the direct supervisor clarifies performance expectations in specific terms — KPIs, timelines, modalities and processes etc. Regular check-ins should also be scheduled to review progress and give feedback. Building this strong momentum early on the job would help set the executive on the right path to delivering the desired results on time.
If you are ahead in the game and have a solid executive onboarding program creating value, well done!
Monitor, evaluate, and make strategic and analytics-driven adjustments as required, for best outcomes.
[i] Executive Onboarding: How to hit the ground running , C. Ndunguru, ATD | Take your investments in new executives one step further, N. Breekveldt, Business First Magazine | Employee Onboarding: 5 tips to help executives make a smooth transition, S. Woolfe, Clear Company
