My rules of how not to drown at the outset
Onboarding? More like waterboarding…
…So said a friend to me the other day when I asked him if his new company was on-boarding him at all. And recently met up with someone else who said the new company’s on-boarding was to go around the office and meet the COO, CMO, CIO (who said, “Don’t bother me, just go to global HQ,” and that was it–and that was for a fairly senior level hire.
Surprising as it is in the day of strategic HR and all the blather of ‘war for talent’, the best way to on-board is (as in true in life) that if you want it done well, do it yourself.
Starting a new job is fraught with all sorts of expectations from both new hire and hiring company. The on-boarding process should allow a strategic hire to move into the new role more smoothly over the first few months, and has moved up the food chain from fairly useless (anyone remember “orientation”) to more strategic and helpful. But the truth is that many companies–and leaders–do a lousy job, often saying to the new person, “Thank God you’re here, you can figure it out–and we definitely do not want it done the same way, so over to you.”
I know I’m simplifying it, but many bosses claim to be far far too busy and travel far too often to have more than a couple of meetings on the fly with the new hire. Hence, as I said above, it is up to the new person to make their own way and do their own on-boarding. And the truth is, that’s perfectly good, preferable, in fact.
In a new company, your time is best spent understanding the rhythm and pace, reading the room, building alliances and knowing precedence. It is NOT rolling your sleeves up and ‘getting into the job’, certainly not at a senior level.
No one can succeed–no matter how smart and enthusiastic–if they are not liked nor respected in a new company. No one. They will either be pushed out, or leave in a huff, muttering about what a difficult place it was to get anything done.
So, here is some quick [self] on-boarding advice for senior people:
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[one_half]DOs
Do learn how to communicate with senior management while developing your own style of leadership with a new surrounding
Do know how to deal with less visible rivals and predecessors-accept life as it is..
Do impart confidence and knowledge to others close by-as often as possible
Do pace yourself and not be seen as a worker bee who’s always at the office
Do take time to determine your predecessor’s legacy, good or bad, both are necessary to know
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[one_half_last]DON’Ts
Don’t spend an inordinate amount of time on the job function, but rather in developing the key relationships
Don’t take far too long to get your bearing straight-the honeymoon is only for so long
Don’t accept hazy expectations from top management-get clarity
Don’t try to accept too tasks at once-that’s worker bee again, and not achievable
Don’t try to go it alone and ignore resources close by[/one_half_last]
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On boarding is serious stuff, and management needs to understand that. But until that happens, DIY is the best–and sanest–recourse.
