Offer New Leaders Swimming Lessons

Whether a new leader sinks or swims will depend on the support network a company has in place. Replacing senior talent is typically done by a plug-and-play strategy. Recruit a top-executive from another organization, wow employees and stakeholders with media hype and sit back and enjoy the results.

But what happens once the honeymoon is over? Too often the executive doesn't live up the hype and the organization sees little benefit. A transplanted executive often faces a steep learning curve and finds what worked in the old organization or job doesn't necessarily cut it in the new one. The actions of the new executive and the organization take in the first 90 days will largely determine long term success.

The evidence for failure for newly appointed and promoted executives in both the corporate and non-profit sectors is alarming:

* McKinsey found that 40% of corporate offices in 77 companies said they can't pursue business opportunities because they alack the right leadership.

* Harvard Business School reported a 40-60% failure rate of U.S. executives in 2003.

* A U.S. Conference Board report said that only 35^% of employees rated their companies' leadership as good or excellent, down from 50% from 5 years ago.

* A 2005 Corporate Executive Board Recruiting Roundtable survey found 89% of new U.S. executive hires indicated they did not have the optimum level of knowledge and skills to do their job.

The bottom line is that while the cost of leadership recruitment is likely to increase drastically in the new few years due to a bulge in leadership retirements, the cost of leadership failure exceeds the cost of recruitment. The effect of losing a leadership vacuum is severe, but also because it triggers other turnovers and disrupts and weakens client, stakeholder and partner relationships.

Dr. Michael Watkins, from Harvard, writs in his book "The First 90 Days: Critical Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels", that when leaders derail, the problems can be traced to vicious cycles n the first few months. And for every leader that fails outright, there are many others who survive but never realize their potential.

Fault dos not lie entirely with the executive. Companies must take responsibility for not providing the right "on boarding" or assimilation initiatives. Most organizations view on boarding and orientation as the same. They are not.

Orientation programs focus on providing basic information to a newly hired or promoted leader to introduce the person to the business, its history, structure and who's who. These are short-term programs and are mainly geared to middle-level and junior managers, not senior executives. The reality is that senior executives need assimilation even more than lower level employees.

On boarding is a process meant to ensure leaders adapt and become full contributors in the organization faster, better and with fewer problems. It can take up to three years for a new leader to acquire and translate an in-depth understanding of the company. Best practice organizations such as Johnson and Johnson provide a along-term program with multiple sources for support. An evaluation of that company's program showed it had a 1,400 % ROI.

A good on boarding plan would run anywhere from 18 months to 3 years and begin during recruitment. A mentor or coach should be assigned to assist and support the new hire and have structured extensive networking opportunities both internally and externally. As well, an individual plan for growth and performance must be put in place and deliverables are jointly defined for the first 120 days. The new executives should be immediately immersed in a cross-functional project and be given frequent milestone feedback.

Given today's record of failed executives, the most successful organizations are those that use on boarding strategies to build a competitive advantage by increasing leadership retention. They do not approach the entry of a new leader with a "sink or swim" mentality, but with an understanding that champion swimmers need supportive coaches and team members.