Onboarding Leadership or "First of its Kind" Roles

Onboarding Considerations

"First of their Kind" Roles

When hiring digital talent, it is common to make hires for leadership roles and/or new roles that may not yet exist within your organization. It is critical to be aware of the added attention necessary to set up the individual(s) being hired and the organization for success. For these roles, consider an added onboarding focus on the following:

• Creating a shared understanding of the role and expectations

  • This should be done amongst the entire team and most critically amongst the closest collaborators

• Strategic alignment: Ensuring your org’s overarching strategy and vision are clear

• Identifying key partners/stakeholders they’ll work with and the existing coordination points

Onboarding for New Leaders

Specific to new leadership, HBR recommends assessing your current onboarding approach on a spectrum of support which ranges from Level 0 “Sink or Swim” to Level 3 “Accelerated Integration.”

While Level 3 is the ideal scenario, at a minimum for new leadership hires, you should focus on:

• Facilitating or recommending listening tours to ensure new leaders get an organizational culture immersion and hear directly from those they will be leading and supporting

• Stakeholder mapping including facilitating introductions and relationship building initiatives with key collaborative partners

• Re-establishing expectations - this includes clearly defining the remit for their role and aligning on key deliverables & focus areas during onboarding

• Familiarizing them with existing guardrails and constraints - These could be budget, key policies, etc. This upfront guidance may help reduce potential frustration/tension points later on.