Problems
Onboarding
New Managers
Studies and experience have determined the following as some of
the most important factors behind the unsuccessful integration
of new managers into an organization.
Main Reasons
for Failure
Reason 1:
Exaggerations
EXPLANATION:
Overstatements can occur from both sides during the recruitment process. Hiring
managers who are inexperienced or desperate to make a hire can
inflate the positives of a career opportunity and belittle the
challenges. As well, candidates
can exaggerate their experience and capabilities, especially if
they are overly eager for the position or inexperienced about
the problems they create for themselves down the road. The
expectations gap that results can therefore be compounded on
both sides.
RESOLUTION:
Sometimes if the search team consisted of less than 3 people, there is
greater possibility for exaggerations and/or inadequate
assessment on the employer's side. There needs to be
multiple senior people involved in the search process so balanced information can be
provided to
candidates and ideally better assessments of candidate
exaggerations can also determined.
When a very strong-willed person, such as the CEO or majority
owner, is part of the search committee, he or she may expect to
dominate the process. While this is reasonable (he is the boss
after all), decisions made by a group of interested people are
statistically better than those of one person. The situation
needs to be handled delicately and often an outsider like a
search professional who is respected in the industry can help by
saying things that must be said and challenging assumptions.
Reason 2:
Environment Shock
EXPLANATION:
Similar to culture shock, it is the stress resulting from people
finding themselves in unfamiliar situations. If too severe, a manager may not be able to function
effectively and failure
will be assured unless he receives outside help.
People who have spent many years
with one organization commonly experience a difficult time of
adapting to another. Managers from an aggressive,
individualistic corporate culture will have a difficult time moving to a
consensus organization, and so on.
RESOLUTION:
During the assessment process, corporate culture and related
issues are important to determining whether a senior manager has
a strong probability of adapting to a new environment. Some
organizations wish to hire people from one corporate style in
order to bring fresh ideas and outlooks into their organization.
However, this transformation objective needs to be explained
ahead of time so candidates know what they are going into.
Once a new manager is onboard, regular meetings with more senior
executives will help mentor and guide the manager. Meeting
during meals are generally more effective since people create
strong emotional bonds while eating. As well, senior executives
should make public displays of their support of the new manager
to subordinates. .
Reason 3:
Management Style
EXPLANATION:
Different managers and companies
operate under very different types of management styles. Some
are authoritarian with high degrees of centralized control and
micro-management, while others are consensus-driven and delegate
decision making among many people. Groups used to one extreme will not perform well under another.
New managers used to working under one style and hired to "shake
things up" in another with a different management style often
find it is they who are shaken up the most -- and often pushed
overboard.
RESOLUTION:
As above, the search committee needs to assess candidates'
management styles and ensure there is a strong fit. If a
transformational manager is desired than this needs to be clear
from the beginning.
Reason 4:
Poor Relationships
EXPLANATION:
It is reasonable to expect that some new managers focus so
much on their immediate tasks that they fail to build strong rapport
with their supervisors, peers and key subordinates. Most studies
show that bad working relationships are highly correlative to
failure in the first year.
RESOLUTION:
New managers may be so overwhelmed that they may forget how
important building relationships to support their objectives are
until it is too late. Senior executives can help the situation
by ensuring that relationship building occurs through meal-time
meetings and other team-building activities.
Reason 5:
Time Bombs
EXPLANATION:
In some cases, new managers inherit serious problems they did
nothing to create. Predecessors may have put off responding to
critical problems or tumultuous changes in the marketplace. They
may also have severely cut back on expenses necessary to
long-term success to boost short-term results. New managers can
be doomed to failure unless there is outside recognition of
serious problems.
RESOLUTION:
The situation is a delicate one since there is a tendency for
both new managers and employees (and even senior executives) to
blame current problems on past managers. The result can be a
finger-pointing contest in which no one takes responsibility for
solving the problem. Senior executives must assess the situation
carefully to determine how credible the claims and take
appropriate action toward a solution.
Reason 6:
No Patron
EXPLANATION:
Some organizations hire managers on
a sink or swim basis. They are thrown into their positions and
expected to survive without senior support to back them up.
While this may be an organizational strategy to ensure "only the
fittest survive," it will certainly guarantee that many new
managers are needed to replace those who don't endure the first
year.
RESOLUTION:
New managers need backers with authority and a stake in their
success who will support their efforts. In most cases, this role
will be filled by the hiring manager and direct supervisor.
Whoever it is, their identity and willingness to help should be
made clear to the new manager.
Reason 7:
Organization Support
EXPLANATION:
Despite investing so much in hiring
them, the majority of organizations do not support new managers
with a formal onboarding process and suffer a higher failure
rate than they otherwise would.
RESOLUTION:
Most of the problems described above can be improved upon by
providing an integration process -- now more fashionably known as
onboarding. There are numerous outside service organizations
that provide this service with different levels of support for
senior and junior employees.
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Getting Ready For The
Deluge: Outsourcing in Philippines
by
Chalre Associates senior staff
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[PDF
file, 62KB]
The
Economist Intelligence Unit of the Economist magazine
asked Chalre Associates' Chairman, Richard Mills,
to write a chapter about the Philippine outsourcing sector
in its annual Business Guide Book. The material
provides a Executive Briefing on the progress and major
issues facing this industry that is certainly one of most
significant growth stories in the world.
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Asia Pacific Mining
Conference 2007 - Report
by
Chalre Associates senior staff
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[PDF
file, 28KB]
The 7th Asia Pacific Mining Conference put on by the Asean
Federation of Mining Associations was perhaps the largest
such event in the region. Richard Mills, Chairman of Chalre Associates
gave this report on what was said by the prominent mining
people who presented.
moreb>
The
State of BPO in Philippines: Dan Reyes Speaks
by
Chalre Associates senior staff
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[PDF
file, 31KB]
Richard
Mills, Chairman of Chalre Associates,
interviewed Dan Reyes of Sitel for ComputerWorld (US) recently to get
his views on the state of the BPO industry in Philippines. Dan
presented US readers with compelling information to support his view
that Philippines is currently seen as the "Number 1" option by global
companies sending BPO work to offshore destinations.
Dan Reyes is easily one of most experienced Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) managers in the Asia Pacific region and the world. He
is head of the extremely successful Philippine operations of Sitel, the
world's largest call center organization. Among other things, he is a
founder and former president of the Business Processing Association of
the Philippines. more
