Sandy Schwan at Evolving Strategies, LLC

Survey: Most Companies Do Poor to Average Job Integrating New Managers

Please don't spend your corporate dollars to work with me until you've read this entry. I've noted some tips below on how to improve the performance and retention of newly recruited managers. If you want to discuss further, let me know. I am happy to help. There is no sense in wasting time or money - or frazzling the nerves of everyone involved! - when you can easily resolve this issue.

Almost two-thirds of companies say they do less than a good job of integrating newly recruited managers and executives into their organizations, according to a survey by Salveson Stetson Group.

Sixty-five percent of companies said they do an average or poor job of assimilating newly hired management employees into their organizations, with 46 percent rating their efforts as average and 17 percent as poor, according to the survey of about 100 companies.

Only 25 percent said their organizations do a good job, while 10 percent categorized their integration efforts as excellent.

“Once the hiring process is complete, many companies fail to provide sufficient assistance to integrate newly recruited executives into their organizations, which can lead to poor performance and an early voluntary or involuntary exit,” said John Salveson, Salveson Stetson Group co-founder and principal.

Here's what can you do to improve the performance and retention of newly recruited managers:

Help adequately assimilate new hires into your organization’s culture.

“Lack of cultural fit is one of the biggest reasons why newly recruited employees fail,” said Sally Stetson, Salveson Stetson Group co-founder and principal. “A comprehensive on-boarding process that identifies cultural values, introduces key internal stakeholders and takes the pulse of the business units and departments new executives are inheriting will significantly decrease ramp up time, and can turn potential hiring mistakes into key contributors to the leadership team.”

If you are a newly hired executive and you find your new company doesn't have much of an on-boarding process, then create your own. Check out books like 'The First Ninety Days' as a guideline.

Help clarify the most important critical objectives of the job. Assist new hires in determining the most important goals of their new jobs and establish a time frame for achieving them.

"Both the employer and the new hire need to know what success looks like," Salveson said. "Outlining a clear plan for the first year, which includes defined and measurable goals, facilitates a more successful integration. Without it, many new executives flounder a bit early on in their tenures while they attempt to identify key objectives. Having an agreed-upon plan serves as a framework to measure the new hire's performance and aligns expectations between the executive and his/her boss. The newly recruited executive’s performance within the first 12 months will be judged primarily by how well he or she has attained these primary objectives."

Assist new hires in building team work with subordinates and peers.

“New management hires need to establish good working relationships not only with their bosses but with their direct reports and peers, who will be crucial in assisting them to achieve their goals,” Stetson said. “New management hires frequently overlook the importance of establishing a rapport with peers within their functional areas and departments and in other areas of their organizations.”

Colin Powell's Leadership Lessons & Joel Dant's Beef Tongue Tacos

My colleague extraordinaire, Joel Dant, recently shared Colin Powell's Leadership Lessons with our team. Joel is a well-respected leader in the HR field, building his pedigree at companies such as Ford Motor Company, United Airlines and Alliant Energy. Joel said he keeps this presentation handy to share with managers and leaders for inspiration and a reminder of what it means to be a leader. Each slide can also be framed, highlighting a certain aspect of leadership - along with a quote - that might be most relevant to a situation you may be experiencing. Here's one of my favorites:

Lesson #1: Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.

"Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions.  It's inevitable, if you're honorable.  Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity: you'll avoid the tough decisions, you'll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted, and you'll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential performance because some people might get upset.  Ironically, by procrastinating on the difficult choices, by trying not to get anyone mad, and by treating everyone equally "nicely" regardless of their contributions, you'll simply ensure that the only people you'll wind up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organization."

Joel, thanks for sharing this. You've redeemed yourself now since you made me eat beef tongue tacos - yuk! Everyone else - enjoy.

Survey: Employment Outlook Positive for 2007

According to CLO magazine, the majority of executives and managers expect an increase in the overall number of employees in their organization over the next 12 months, based on the worldwide survey of 203 senior executives and managers conducted by NFI Research.

More than half (57 percent) of senior executives and managers say the overall number of employees in their organization will increase over the next 12 months.

Fifty-one percent of executives and managers said the number of employees in their organization will increase somewhat, while 6 percent said it will increase significantly.

“Many businesses will have to staff up to handle the increase in business, since managers and workers are about at their limit of how much they can do,” said Chuck Martin, NFI Research CEO.

Almost a third of executives and managers said the number of employees in their organization will stay the same, while 12 percent said it will decrease somewhat, and 1 percent said it will decrease significantly.

The percentage of those seeing an increase in the number of employees in their organization is about the same as in the same survey NFI Research conducted a year ago.

Almost half of executives and managers said business increase will be the leading reason for the change in number of employees in their organization.

The other leading reasons for the change in number of employees are expansion (26 percent), business stability (23 percent), industry conditions (21 percent) and current economic conditions (21 percent).

There was not a significant difference between of viewpoints of senior executives and managers.

By company size, however, three-fifths of executives and managers in small and midsized organizations said the number of employees in their organization will increase over the next 12 months compared with only two-fifths in large organizations.

NPR: Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting

Here's a story from National Public Radio [NPR] this week covering one of the key tools of the recruiting and retained executive search trade: LinkedIn. Even before I was a retained executive search consultant, I used it, believed in it, and now further believe that the concept of social networking will continue to further develop and THE primary means to finding opportunities.

The High Cost of Turnover

I just read that the experts at the Families and Work Institute tell companies it will cost about 75% of a non-managerial worker’s annual salary to replace him or her and at least 150% of a manager’s annual salary. That percentage continues to increase as you move up the corporate ladder.

Take care of your employees, folks! I'd much rather you keep your folks engaged and content before having to come to me to assist in your retained searches. Keep checking my blog's categories of 'Employee Engagement,' 'Inspiration,' 'Talent Management,' etc. for ideas on taking care of your employees.

"What my years of business have taught me is that the key to competitiveness is innovation, and the key to innovation is people. Taking care of people, therefore, is an essential way of taking care business."  - Randall Tobias; Chairman of Eli Lilly

Nine Best Practices for Gen Y

I read with interest the Nine Best Practices for Gen Y article on today's Electronic Recruiting Exchange. Generation Y, ready to make a meaningful impact, brings unique attributes and talent into the workplace. Leaders and companies that are sensitive to their needs will have a distinct advantage and opportunity to capture their contributions in this increasingly competitive marketplace.

"As Boomers approach retirement and employers confront the talent exodus resulting from this natural attrition, many will find it necessary to adjust to the nuances of the new workforce in an effort to attract, engage, and retain a generation that is projected to be increasingly mobile and interested in seeking the next assignment. This may be in the context of the current employment relationship or often, ready to jump to the next gig.

Labels like high-maintenance or unrealistic may tag the Millennials at the onset of their entrance into the workforce. However, this educated, increasingly diverse (one in three is a minority) generation is also anticipated to be both quick to contribute and deeply coveted in a job market that includes a projected talent shortage between four and 10 million by 2010.

As your organization competes to attract the best among Generation Y and integrate them into the workforce, these nine best practices are important to consider in demonstrating a compelling employment opportunity that ultimately can help you both acquire and retain the new talent you need to accomplish key business objectives into the future. "

Here's the list. For more details, follow the article link above. I think these nine best practices are relevant and worth consideration no matter the generation.

1. Relationship recruiting
2. Employment branding
3. Candidate experience
4. Offer
5. Onboarding
6. Mentoring
7. Feedback
8. Flexibility
9. Career pathing

Cross Pollination: Pharma & Fashion

You may have read yesterday’s article in the Wall Street Journal or seen the posting on Forbes.com about William McComb, a drug industry veteran from Johnson & Johnson being chosen as CEO to lead one of America's largest fashion companies, Liz Claiborne Inc.

What was it about Mc McComb that helped him win the appointment?

• Led the turnaround of a product
• Expanded multiple brands through new products and new advertising
• Fortified ties with retailers
• Has extensive operational and international experience in multiple industries
• Posseses strong leadership skills, creative abilities and global brand expertise
• Has an 'amazing ability to protect the genius in an organization.'

As a leader looking for other leaders to join your team, consider casting your net beyond typical boundaries to find strong candidates.

Women Face Uphill Battle Earning Seats In Boardroom

Women want to earn their way into corporate board rooms and are more likely to be successful if they aggressively support each other, according to a national survey of women board directors conducted by Heidrick & Struggles International and Women Corporate Directors (WCD). The survey findings were the result of feedback from 77 women board directors at 165 public companies who are members of WCD. The study cites an increase in the number of director searches targeting women across the U.S.  But, women still lag far behind their male counterparts. The 15 percent of Fortune 500 corporate board seats held by women in 2006 is an increase of less than one percent since 2003 [ouch].

Despite the slow inroads women are making in the boardroom, women do not want to be handed board seats simply for the sake of equality; they feel they must earn their way into the board room. Seventy-six percent of respondents said they oppose a legal quota mandating an increase in the number of women occupying public board seats. Almost unanimously, 99 percent of respondents said that sitting women directors can make a difference in helping their peers gain board seats. Sixty-four percent said they have taken steps to make sure that women were included in the pool of candidates considered for boards on which they sit.

Adapted from Hunt-Scanlon