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Executive On-boarding
Ensuring a successful transition for your leaders
The transition period for any new executive is crucial to long term success. There will naturally be an adjustment period when demands on the time of the executive will be enormous, including where the appointment has been an internal one.
We know that nearly half of all leadership transitions fail within the first two years and nearly 70% stated organisational culture and politics were the primary reason for failure.
Given how vital it is to ensure the success of Executive level appointments, we provide one-to-one on-boarding programmes for your senior level roles.
Our on-boarding service has been specifically researched and designed to ensure the long-term success of a Senior Appointment. It works by combining expert board advice and executive coaching with a trusted conduit for confidential communications between the business and the new senior team member. This significantly reduces the risk of failure as we help identify and address any cultural and wider organisational challenges.
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Whilst every programme is bespoke to the individual and organisation, we have a downloadable sample on-boarding programme for each key level of your organisation.
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What is On-boarding?
On-boarding is a process which helps newly hired executives to adjust fast and easy to the new social and functional context of the new position. Important elements include:
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Understanding the new role and function
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Acquiring detailed knowledge of the internal culture of the company
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Ensuring the right communication and leadership style
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Dealing effectively with the various internal and external stakeholders.
Why use On-boarding?
The transition period for any new employees (including internal appointments) is crucial to long term success as is highlighted by the following statistics:
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40% of all newly hired executives fail within 18 months
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Nearly 70% stated organisational culture and politics were the primary reason for failure
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69% of all newly hired employees are more likely to stay with a company for 3 years if they experience great on-boarding
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Nearly 33% of new hires look for a new job within their first 6 months on the job
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The organizational costs of employee turnover are estimated to range between 100% and 300% of the replaced employee’s salary
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60% of companies fail to set milestones or goals for their new hires
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It typically takes 8 -12 months for a newly hired executive to reach full productivity
Given the costs associated with new appointments and the challenges highlighted above, it is vital to get the integration right which is why we have developed a suite of on-boarding programmes tailored to different organisational levels. You can download a sample of each of these programmes below.
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Main reasons why Senior Executive transitions fail (Source: McKinsey & Company)
Why use us?
Our On-boarding service is tailored to your needs and the position of the newly appointed employee. We know the importance of successfully integrating new individuals within an organisation across all levels - including internal appointments where a promotion may require a significant step up in terms of stakeholder management and cultural awareness.
By ensuring a smooth and coherent integration process, particularly at C-Suite level, there is a measurable output in terms of performance improvement if the transition is done in the right way.
Many organisations view on-boarding integration as simple ensuring there is a good cultural fit, but we know it's so much more than this. Cultural fit is a critically important component but it's not the only one - the most successful on-boarding programmes focus not just on the individual adapting to the organisation but also how the organisation adapts to the individual.
​Applying this 4 step process ensures our on-boarding specialist will listen carefully and acquire a detailed understanding of the needs of the individual. We will always work with their priorities within the organisational framework. Our approach is facilitative and designed to help the individual to develop strategic direction and tactical plans, whilst ensuring that stakeholders are managed and involved. Our 3 downloadable sample on-boarding programmes are:
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Furthermore, if there are any core skills training sessions identified as being relevant and beneficial to the on-boarding process, you can extend the invite for up to 10 existing members of the team who you think may also benefit from the course for no additional charge.
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Whilst our approach is tailored to the individual, there are 4 key “anchors” around which the on-boarding conversations can be facilitated. This provides a framework for discussions and stimulation of ideas.
No matter what level role the individual is appointed at or whether it's an internal or external appointment, we always rigorously apply our proven 4 step process to ensure maximum success of any on-boarding programme. Our 4 steps are:
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1. Analysis
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Meeting with key business stakeholders to understand the goals and challenges relating to the new appointment as well as the company culture to aid transition.
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Meeting with the new appointee to do Insights profile, discuss their goals, and identify areas for support and development to ensure successful integration.
2. Design
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Designing a bespoke on-boarding programme which will be a combination of coaching, mentoring and training.
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Everything will be tailored and contextualised to the specific company, industry and role.
3. Delivery
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One of our highly trained team will deliver the on-boarding programme and free unlimited telephone support.
4. Review
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Final meeting to assess the transition and integration so far, and make recommendations for any further support if necessary.
Our 4 Key Anchors
Whilst our approach is tailored to the individual, there are 4 key “anchors” around which the coaching conversations can be facilitated. This provides a framework for discussions and stimulation of ideas.
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Each element of the model is interdependent and each session’s discussion is likely to touch upon all 4 elements. Click on the links below to find out more about each anchor.
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