Onboarding Takes Too Long

We recently met with some HR leaders at a large organization (which is still hiring new leaders) and they told us that several of their new hires who were onboarding said that it took too long. There were too many "meet and greet" meetings, introductory receptions and lots of information about the organization to absorb.

These new leaders were anxious to get to their "real jobs" and saw the onboarding process as getting in the way.

So, one of the HR leaders had a bit of a revelation as we talked and said, "But isn't onboarding what they are really supposed to be doing?!" We continued to talk about how new leaders cannot be effective at all at their "real jobs" until they have learned the culture, built the relationships and understand the processes of their new organizations. And then throw in, how do they know where they are hitting or missing the mark? (getting feedback!)

The challenge for HR is to present onboarding to new leaders in such a way that it doesn't feel like "extra" or "instead" of the real work at hand. They need to be able to effectively communicate to the new leaders that the process is essential for their success and really non-negotiable. If presented in a coaching model between 2 business leaders, this should be fairly seamless.

New leaders will not only actively engage in the onboarding, they will be asking for more.