The New Leader's 100-Day Action Plan: How to Take Charge, Build Your Team, and Get Immediate Results, 3rd Edition

APPENDIX X

Onboarding

HOW ORGANIZATIONS AND SUPERVISORS CAN DRAMATICALLY BOOST THE ODDS OF A NEW LEADER'S SUCCESS

The main body of this book is written for a leader moving into a new role. This appendix is written to that new leader's direct supervisor and is geared to helping him or her onboard that new leader (or any new team member). The following is adapted from the executive summary of Onboarding: How to Get Your New Employees Up to Speed in Half the Time by George Bradt and Mary Vonnegut.¹ Not surprisingly, we suggest that you read that book cover to cover if you really care about your new employees. Until you make time to do that, this appendix will get you started.

Onboarding is the process of acquiring, accommodating, assimilating, and accelerating new team members, whether they come from outside or inside the organization. The prerequisite to successful onboarding is getting your organization aligned around the need and the role.

Align: Make sure that your organization agrees on the need for a new team member and the delineation of the role you seek to fill.

Acquire: Identify, recruit, select, and get people to join the team.

Accommodate: Give new team members the tools they need to do the work.

Assimilate: Help them join with others so they can do the work together.

Accelerate: Help them and their team deliver better results faster.

Effective onboarding of new team members is one of the most important contributions any hiring manager can make to the long-term success ...