Organizations and Onboarding: The 5 Biggest Mistakes

(Our story continues with Alex still trying to navigate her new organization and role, without much support from her manager or Human Resources. If you missed the first 2 installments, see blog entries below.)

As Alex begins to have more meetings with the key stakeholders in the organizations, it is clear that they were not prepared to talk with her. Most are polite and ask about her “former life” and work, how she likes the organization, her team, etc. Some have a few complaints and issues that have carried over from Alex’s predecessor, and want quick resolution. Others do not have much information to share and are very unclear as to why Alex would have them on her list as a “meet and greet” because they have very little interaction with each other. The meetings are scheduled in the first few weeks, and Alex knows very little about the organization and cannot ask meaningful questions. It is difficult for her to discern which of these stakeholders may be the ones with whom she needs to build strong relationships.

Frustrated, Alex meets with her manager to get some sense of how she is doing and what her priorities should be for the coming weeks and months. Her manager is late for their meeting and distracted by his email and other messages. He tells her that she is doing fine and that everyone “takes awhile to figure things out here”. Alex asks him for some additional clarification on her role and the objectives for her next 3-6 months. He tells her to “keep doing what she’s been doing” and “keep the customers and the employees happy”.
He says that he will be talking with his boss in the next couple of weeks to get a better picture of what the whole function is going to look like and he will get back to her.

He doesn’t, and Alex is gone after only 7 months on the job.

Did Alex fail or did the organization fail her?

What often happens in situations such as our case study is that the organization blames the turnover of the position on a “bad hire” or a “non-fit” to the organization and takes little or no responsibility for the failure of the individual. The assumption is that the full responsibility is on the individual for her transition and that part of a new leader’s job is to “figure it out”. Our experience and work with clients has proven that a more holistic approach which blends the responsibility of the new leader and the organization yields the best results. Both must have clear roles and actively participate in the new leader’s onboarding process for maximum results.

Summary

Organizations that avoid these 5 biggest onboarding mistakes are the ones which will have new leaders who integrate better and experience smoother transitions. Even if other parts of the onboarding process are not executed properly or activities are not timely, if these 5 critical areas are addressed, the new leader will still experience a higher level of success than he/she would have if they had been ignored.

As a result, organizations can still experience some level of onboarding success if they pay attention to a few critical details,the "5 biggest onboarding mistakes" even if they are lacking a complete and consistent process.

Organizations and Onboarding: The 5 Biggest Mistakes (continued)

(When we last left Alex, our new leader, she was excited and a bit anxious to start her new position--if you missed this, read the blog entry below...)

On her first day, Alex reported early to the office to get her space set up and organized. She is greeted at the front desk by the security officer who doesn’t have her “in the system” so she must wait in the lobby for her manager’s assistant to come and escort her to the work area.

Once there, she discovers that the assistant thought that Alex was starting the next week, so her computer, phone and office supplies are not there and have not yet been ordered. Alex also needs a Blackberry and Amex card, so the assistant has to fill out extra forms to get those items in process. Alex asks the assistant when she will be able to meet with her manager to start her onboarding process. The assistant tells her that the manager is out of the country for the next 2 weeks, but she will put her on his calendar the first day that he is back in the office. Alex would be spending the next day and a half in orientation and has a few “meet and greet” meetings set-up.

Alex begins to try to piece together what she believes her onboarding plan is and what the deliverables should be for her first few weeks and months on the job. She does her best to meet with her team members, peers and other stakeholders. She also uses the information that she obtained during the selection process to make decisions and process information, but she makes mistakes without the context and feedback of her manager.

People are starting to wonder why she is making changes in her department and her team, and are forming perceptions about her not really “fitting in” to this culture.

She starts to think that maybe taking this job wasn't such a great idea after all.

(to be continued)

Organizations and Onboarding: The 5 Biggest Mistakes

What are the 5 biggest mistakes that organizations make when they onboard their new hires? And why do they make these mistakes repeatedly?

The interviews went smoothly. Alex felt great about the company, her new role and team, and she wasn’t relocating, so how tough could it be? But after she accepted the offer, her new organization let Alex down, in a big way—actually, 5 big ways.

Organizations start out with the best of intentions. They don’t usually set out to fail. But when it comes to onboarding their new employees, they unfortunately, are making the 5 same mistakes over and over again, and it is costing them time, money, productivity and some really good people.

The following are the worst (and the most common) mistakes that organizations make when onboarding their new hires:
1. No contact between the acceptance and start dates
2. Not providing the basic set-up and resources
3. Lack of a structured onboarding plan with clear expectations
4. Key stakeholder meetings lack preparation and focus
5. Hiring manager does not give feedback nor role clarity

Alex (our case study) received her offer and accepted within a week. However, after she had officially accepted and the recruiter faxed back a signed offered, no one else contacted her. She had several questions, and wanted to contact the recruiter or her new manager but didn’t want to be perceived as “high-maintenance” so she decided to wait. She called her hiring manager, left a voice mail and received a brief email in return that said he was looking forward to her starting and that he would answer all her questions on her first day.

Find out what happens to Alex in our next blog....

Onboarding Feedback: Why Don't New Leaders Get It?

We all say that we want feedback and most of us believe that we are good at giving feedback.

However, a recent informal poll tells us that most leaders want more feedback from their own boss and admit that they have not given specific, constructive feedback to a team member in the past 30 days.

Feedback is especially important during the onboarding period for a new leader.

Key areas the new leader should be getting feedback around are:

-How are they integrating into the culture?
-Are they meeting expectations of their boss and team members?
-Do they listen and gather input before making decisions?
-Do they respect the culture?

What often happens is that new leaders do not get direct feedback. Bosses and HR partners ask them how they are doing and if they need anything; however, they do not gather and share feedback in a meaningful way. At the same time, impressions are being formed and everyone around the new leader has made decisions about his/her effectiveness, whether or not he/she will “make-it” in the organization and role. They are also deciding whether or not they will support this new leader.

Without this feedback, the new leader is truly “hamstrung”. He/she is working in the dark and is moving forward based on his/her own understanding of how things are going.

Providing feedback to new leaders is not difficult if you have the right tool. Once you give key stakeholders a structured and straight-forward way to provide the feedback, they appreciate the opportunity and gladly share their perspectives. By providing feedback to new leaders you give them the opportunity to understand where they truly stand and make any course corrections needed.

Visit the feedback section of our website to learn more about providing early feedback to your transitioning leaders.

www.connectthedotsconsulting.com/feedback.htm

The First 100 Days: Onboarding for all new leaders

As we mark the first 100 days of the Obama administration, we have the opportunity to compare the publicity of this event to that of new leaders in an organization. The origin of marking of the first 100 days goes back to the Eisenhower administration.

Although the recognition of this milestone has been termed a “Hallmark holiday” by those trying to down-play the event, we not only measure early success of a new president, we use the 100-day mark as a measuring stick, of sorts, for all new leaders in our organizations.

So, whether or not a new leader wants this type of attention and pressure or not—--it is there and it is real.

Here are 5 tips for new leaders to use to manage the expectations of the first 100 days and make sure it is a “celebration” and not a “failure”.

1.) Build a foundation of knowledge base about the organization,your business, unit, function and role.

2.) Identify your key stakeholders and build relationships with these individuals.

3.) Gather feedback from your boss and a few key stakeholders regarding how well you are integrating into the organization’s culture—-“What’s the word on the street” about you?

4.) Identify “early wins” and accomplish a couple visible objectives.

5.) Observe and learn the culture—what are the “unwritten rules of the road”.


It’s all about making, implementing a plan, and managing expectations.

Don’t be a victim of the marking of your first 100 days!

Using Onboarding to Close the Deal

A family member of mine has recently completed a long, and rather challenging job search. He was laid off in July from a director-level position at a large, internationally-owned company with whom he had worked for 12 years. The "happy" ending is that he did find a position and is now working.

However, this new position has not started out as well as it could have. Unfortunately, this organization has not used onboarding to close the deal for him. As matter of fact, it hasn't done much onboarding at all.

Because of the current economic climate and job market, employers may think that they can skimp on the investment of time and resources in the selection and onboarding processes. They are in the driver's seat, after all, but this is temporary. The best talent will always be in demand and will still need to be wooed, engaged and retained. The onboarding process is a key way to do this.

My partner and I were at a conference recently and heard an author speak about how customers are at their most loyal right before they become actual customers. It occured to us that that is exactly what happens with new hires. They are energized and engaged during selection, and often become disillusioned after the "honeymoon" period ends. For my family member, the honeymoon ended during the first week!

Organizations that want to keep their competitive edge and attract and retain top talent, even in this economy, would be wise to tune up their onboarding processes.

A warm welcome and a well-delivered onboarding process will not only get the new hires up to speed faster and more productive, but also get them engaged and retained.

Isn't that that how you want to close the deal?

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.