• 2.1: Talent Management
• 2.2: Learning & Development
• 2.3: Interim Services
• 2.4: Business Consultancy

 Time must be spent on good inductions not just recruitment

Many organisations are suffering a higher than necessary turnover and watching new staff failing to meet expectations because they don’t take the time to ensure that they are properly inducted and settled into their new organisation and their role within it.

So what measures can you take to alleviate these problems? The ‘100-day rule’ is a theory expounded by management experts and HR professionals, but it is rarely effectively put into practice, impacting on service delivery, valuable management time, and other costs in wasted recruitment fees and advertising spend. How much did it cost you to recruit your most recent senior manager? Did you spend big bucks advertising in a quality paper and a professional journal with a seductive headline and a bit of spot colour?

 Then you’re spending between £50,000 and £100,000 each year in salaries and other related costs. The employee stays for five years tops…

...you don’t need a calculator to understand how much you’re investing in your organisation’s future – or the cost of failure.

 No doubt your HR team organises a carefully structured induction programme for new management, but do they stick to it? Operational pressures can mean that no matter how carefully structured the programme is, much of it doesn’t happen in practice. Immediate requirements and issues crop up from day one.

There go the carefully planned meetings with important stakeholders, their new team or time for reflection on their new ‘big picture’ and your plan of action. Sound familiar?

Often several months, or perhaps years, may pass before a new manager or leader acquires the knowledge, skills and contacts they need to do the job you both thought they’d do when you recruited them.

The more senior they are the more likely this is to happen, yet paradoxically, the more likely it is they’ll be expected to hit the ground running. So how can you give your new leaders and managers the maximum opportunity to live up to the promises made at interview?

How do you make their first 100 days continue on into a successful career and effective contribution to your business?

You need to ensure that the new manager is clear about:

• Their role, how they fit into the organisation’s strategic plans and culture, and others’ expectations;
•  How they’re going to meet the people they need to influence, to get ‘on side’, both within their team and internal and external stakeholders;
• What the issues are, where the skeletons are buried and what level of performance is expected; and
• How their performance is measured, what success looks like and how well they’re doing. Expecting any new employee to ‘hit the ground running’ is not only unrealistic, it stifles initiative and creativity. This discourages them from taking the time to identify what actually needs to be done, let alone bring their skills and experience to bear on a new solution.

The more senior the new employee the more likely it is you’ll expect them to be agents for change. They can’t do that effectively without a thorough knowledge of the culture and management style and, of course, being forewarned of who’s tried what before.

So devote time to them to ensure they identify their action plan. This will cover where they fit in, key relationships, internal and external performance expectations, who’s responsible (and accountable!) for what, communication systems, what (and how) key stakeholders and staff think, and help them develop and use effectively all the skills they convinced you they had during their interview.

So what’s in it for you?

 You’ll maximise your investment in your people; you’re likely to get them on board far more quickly;

• You’ll show them from day one that you value them;
• You’ll give them their confidence to make the transition and to establish credibility with their team and peers;  
• By working through a programme of development they will raise their performance to that of an established high-achieving leader more rapidly.

And, as well as retaining them, you’ll also show you’re serious about all those promises you made in that glossy advert.

Greg Brown is a Senior HR & Executive Coaching Associate with over 30 years' successful experience in local authorities, the NHS and Social Housing and at senior levels operating as Director, Chief Executive and Board member.