Why executives are failing at alarming rates and what can be done about it.
This can’t be right! It was the first thing I thought when I read about the failure rate of senior leaders in new roles. This was over a decade ago and unfortunately, the stats haven’t changed much since.
Leaders who are onboarding into new roles need help! With a failure rate, depending on which source you’re citing, from 50% to 70% within the first 18 months. The statistics are dismal and frankly in my opinion unacceptable. What makes this situation worse is that the effect on the leaders’ career and the associated costs incurred by the hiring organization can all be prevented or, at the very least significantly mitigated, with thoughtful onboarding.
According to Michael Watkins, as published in the Harvard Business Review, 87% of senior HR professionals believe that transitions into significant new roles are the most challenging times in one’s career.
Why Executives fail
Let’s face it; there are numerous reasons why a new-to-role executive fails. These are the most common sited reasons;
- They failed to meet the expectations of their superiors, whether it is a direct boss or a board of directors, as in the case of a CEO.
- They failed to mesh with their team and/or other important stakeholders, both internal and external
- They didn’t “fit into the culture” of the organization
- They didn’t get a firm grasp of the organizational political landscape
… are you starting to notice a trend here?
This is further backed up by Egon Zehnder’s 2017 online survey of 588 senior executives who had recently taken on new roles.
“Organizational culture and politics, not lack of competence or managerial skill were the primary reasons for failure. Almost 70% of respondents pointed to a lack of understanding about norms and practices, with poor cultural fit a close second. When asked what would reduce failure rates they emphasized constructive feedback and help with navigating the internal networks and gaining insight into organizational and team dynamics.”
How most organizations approach onboarding
Most organizations, when asked if they have an executive onboarding program, will typically and enthusiastically confirm that they do. The sad reality, however, is that many of these programs are far from what is really needed to ensure success in the new role. In an article by Todd Mclellan, entitled “Onboarding Isn’t Enough”, he describes four distinct levels of executive support in the onboarding process, along with associated statistics from recent research. The findings may surprise you……Or not!
Sink or Swim: Organizations at this level simply provide the executive with space and basic resources, such as technology and administrative assistants. Their research indicates that about 5% of global companies offer such minimal support.
Basic Orientation: At this level, the organization is sharing information regarding policies, structure, team member evaluations and organizational results. The company basically provides raw data for the new leader to interpret independently. If there is any additional qualitative information provided there is no support offered to ensure that its significance is thoroughly understood. The research shows that about two-thirds of global companies still take this approach.
Active Assimilation: At this level, meetings are set up by the organization with key stakeholders to increase the level of knowledge about the organization, team, culture and important strategic initiatives. 25% of global organizations provide this level of support. Despite the fact that this is a more involved approach, the new executive still has difficulty adjusting to the new context. It is difficult to accurately allot the correct amount of time for these meetings without adequate briefings beforehand to adequately equip the new leader to understand how the context of the previous role may influence this new one.
Accelerated integration: At this ideal level, the organization designs a custom made experience for the new leader to be fully and more quickly integrated into the organization. Activities such as team building workshops and participation in strategy sessions may also be included. The executive would also be aided in identifying and overcoming any cultural challenges. Although this is by far the most effective approach the research suggests that approximately only 2% of companies address integration this systematically.
The results from these findings say only one thing. The large majority of organizations are falling short when it comes to preparing new executive hires to succeed in their new role.
Framework for Leadership Success in a New Role
“The will to win is not nearly so important as the will to prepare to win.”
~ Vince Lombardi
Planning for success in a new role is critical to creating a lasting and sustainable impact on your resilience in the new organization. It must begin from the moment you walk through the door.
First impressions are made in seconds and, as a new leader, this is one area where you can ill afford to stumble. You must capitalize on that first impression, which is especially true if the team is not adequately prepared for new leadership. It is well documented that teams can “make or break” a new-to-role leaders’ success based on those all-important first impressions.
The PGR Catalytic Framework for Leadership Success in a New Role* is a proprietary eight part coaching framework, identifying and eliminating the failure risks mentioned above. It lays out a custom tailored and measurable ongoing development plan to ensure success in the new role and beyond.
We work closely with you in the first critical months through a number of important areas that include, but are not limited to, the following;
- create a lasting first impression
- clarify what success means in the new role, to you personally, and your boss or reporting body,
- develop key performance metrics associated with the formal job description,
- identify what is really expected from superiors,
- learn the organizational culture and how to fit into it,
- align with key players
- discover and understand formal and informal powerbases
- discover and avoid political issues that require delicate navigation
- understand strategic intent
- take enough time to ‘observe and discover’ organizational nuances and
- create a development plan and metrics to keep improving
Of course, this is merely a high-level overview of the elements in the framework, but if you are a leader in a new role or know someone who is, you owe it to yourself to find out more about how we can add demonstrable and cost-effective value to help you or them succeed. Take this simple Success in a New Role Assessment for yourself.
We are committed to your success! Thank you for taking the time to read this article.
Please contact us for a free no-obligation consultation to see if we are a good fit for your journey to success.
Paul Royce MBA, CEC
Direct: (613) 601-5800
Email Paul@PGRConsulting.ca
PGR Management Consulting Group