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How NOT to Screw Up Executive Onboarding

Writer's picture: Andrea MaizesAndrea Maizes

Let's talk about one of the most overlooked transitions in the workplace: onboarding new executives. You'd think after all the hassle and cash spent finding the perfect person, you'd roll out the red carpet, right? Nope, sometimes we just shove them into the deep end and hope for the best. Spoiler alert: that usually ends in disaster.


๐—™๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—œ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ. ๐—•๐—ถ๐—ด ๐—ง๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ.ย 


You REALLY do get only one chance to make a first impression. Mess it up, and you'll be spending the next year trying to clean it up.ย ย So, whoโ€™s supposed to make sure things go smoothly? Newsflash: beyond the basics like payroll and benefits, itโ€™s NOT just a job for HR.ย 


In my opinion, successful onboarding is a tag team effort between the hiring manager and the new hire. Hereโ€™s how you, as the new executive, can avoid creating a mess for yourself!ย 


๐Ÿ‘‚ ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜‚๐—ฝ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป. No, really. Just listen. Ask questions and absorb the info. Show off your brilliance later when people actually know and trust you.


๐—™๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€. Hint: theyโ€™re not the ones with fancy titles. Seek out the people who actually make ๐Ÿ’ฉ happen and make them your BFFs.


๐Ÿšช๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฟ. Seriously, check it right there.


๐Ÿค ๐—ญ๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐—ฏ. No one cares about "how we did it at X company." If it was so great there , whyโ€™d you leave?ย 


๐Ÿ“„๐—›๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ, ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฌ, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐Ÿต๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€. Ask for feedback from your boss and your team. Donโ€™t wing it.


๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—›๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ:


๐Ÿ’ป๐—˜๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ. Make sure they have a laptop, system access, and a phone. Nothing says "we don't care" like not having equipment on day one.ย 


๐Ÿ“„๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น. Introduce the new hire to everyone who matters either the day before or on their start date.


๐Ÿ“†๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐˜‚๐—ฝ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ. Donโ€™t make them awkwardly schedule their own intros.ย 


๐Ÿ’ผ๐—–๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ/๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฌ/๐Ÿต๐Ÿฌ-๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป.ย ย With a specific deliverable a the end of 90 days. ย I like an overview of what the leader learned and what their plan is for the next 90 days.ย 


โœ…๐—–๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป. Daily for the first two weeks, then every few days.ย ย Always ask how you can help.


๐Ÿ‘‚๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜‡๐˜‡. Pay attention to what others are saying about the new hire.ย 


Transitions of any kind are HARD and they take planning and time.ย ย ย Time is the one thing most leaders are short on. ย If you don't have the bandwidth to onboard your a new leader, think about bringing on an Executive Coach to work with you to set up the plan and then work with the new hire during their first 90 days to make sure it's a success.ย 


Whatever you do....don't wing it!ย 




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