Plan to Win: How To Prepare your Top Talent to Rise in 2020

Getting new team members up to speed a few months ago was hard enough. How the &%!$ do you do it now??? 

New hire assimilation is a monster that already wasn’t getting enough attention; now, it’s in dire need of a whole new plan.  

Under normal circumstances, assimilating top talent to a new role is hard work for the company and individual, and it’s shockingly easy to screw up. Typically, an employee spends the first six weeks trying to grasp the day-to-day work. Then, it takes another three months to gain buy-in from their leader/team. It’s generally six additional months before the employee uncovers their new role’s full impact. Concurrently, behind the scenes, there are stress curves for both the company and the individual (buying/selling homes, late-night work sessions, changing family surroundings, etc.) 

Honestly, it takes new employees an entire year to understand the fullness of their new opportunity and how they’ll create long-term value. If that didn’t make things hard enough for companies, now everyone faces these new cultural challenges.

In addition to working remotely for what may be the first time, in many cases, overarching organizational strategy has shifted. By the time a new hire begins their new role, the company they learned about during the recruiting process has evolved, along with the job responsibilities they thought they had. The stress from all sides of this is ripe for disaster! 

Plan to WIN: Prepare Your Top Talent to Rise in 2020  

Companies need their new talent to learn, adapt, and overcome. And if you need that from them, they need the same from your company.

Medallion Partners’ expert executive search team guides companies through the ups and downs of assimilating leadership teams and has compiled a list of critical components to enable new hires to rise to the top.  

Overcome Change and Uncertainty with Immersive Time 

A lineup of 30-minute one-on-ones won’t cut it. And drowning them in PowerPoint won’t add clarity to the big fears. They need structured and unstructured time to be with their peers and leaders, which provides space to ask questions, observe others’ work, and enjoy the team culture together. They will need a healthy dose of vision and strategy from leadership balanced with opportunities to hear others’ perspectives and questions. The true aim is to build TRUST. 

Form Adaptable Priorities with Feedback Early and Often 

“Identify the situation” is the first tactic for problem-solving and, in this case, has become exponentially more difficult. The employee doesn’t have the historical knowledge or the access to assess the entire situation with remote or limited interactions. At the same time, part of the reason you hire top talent is to bring their unique perspective to your challenges. Providing early and often sessions for feedback where there’s a rolling priority list allows for a fast start and adaptable game plan. You’re encouraging different thinking and, more importantly, gaining commitment and accountability.   

Create a Foundation of Good Conflict Using Uncommon Vulnerability

Beneath the surface, teams can struggle with dysfunction that prevents performance. With a scattered workforce, limited interaction, and universal stress of the times, it becomes even harder to root out the dysfunction lurking under the surface. The key to unlocking this is in sharing your vulnerability. No matter how uncomfortable, teams need to know they can be honest and open without retribution. Developing good conflict through openness encourages others to be more honest and bring things to the surface that may have otherwise been a hidden barrier. Healthy conflict fosters faster collaboration and prevents future failures. 

Fight through Exhaustion with Empathy  

Imagine how a new leader must feel as they try to make the kind of explosive impact you’ve hired them to bring while being physically cut off from everyone. New talent may have never even seen the office, never met their supervisor in person, and likely haven’t talked to the team they’ll be leading. They are going to lack the professional immersion and intake of tribal knowledge. It’s like learning how to swim by taking a shower and watching others swim! Can you imagine the daunting task? Carry that empathy in your conversations with your new leader. They’ll be more forthcoming about the challenges and opportunities they encounter along this path to the “new normal.” Results follow quickly after that! 

We know that needs for assimilation are ever-changing, and we assist our clients in bringing the best out of their newly acquired talent. What key strategies led your new teams to successful assimilation in 2020? 

Check out Medallion 365 Assimilation Program to guarantee the success of your new leader.

Tags:

 new hire, post-hire assimilation, talent acquisition, transformational hire