7 Best Practices for a New Leader Assimilation

When a leader assumes a new position, the first 90 days are critical. It sets the tone for their tenure and determines employee expectations. You, as a consultant, have a unique opportunity to provide essential and critical support that will make or break both this leader's effectiveness and organizational performance. 

Here's 7 best practices that you can share with your clients to make sure that they transition well into their new role and quickly gain trust and connection with their direct reports. 

1. Do Nothing.

The first thing they should do is nothing. Do not introduce any sweeping change initiatives. And do NOT fire anyone right away. It is important for me to say that again: Do NOT fire anyone. Any change effort at this point will be viewed with skepticism, because employees are of the opinion that the new leader doesn't really know or understand them or their business yet, and are thus unable to make informed decisions.

Action Ideas For Your Clients to Consider:

• Encourage your clients to capture in succinct message points the reasons that they took this job, so they can utilize this information in future communications. Direct them to ask themselves: Why did I want to work for this organization? What difference did I think I could make? Why did I think I could make those differences?
• Help them strategize on finding ways to develop personal credibility with their direct reports, their direct reports' reports and their peers. 

2. Take a Walk.

Encourage your clients to get a feel for the “neighborhood” they've moved into. Suggest that they take walks to explore the work area, find out where everyone’s desks are located, where employees congregate for lunches and/or breaks, and where the “water cooler” conversations actually take place. A new leader also needs to know what customers and/or clients experience when interacting with employees. First-hand observations are critical data points to use in making decisions later.

Action Ideas for Your Clients to Consider:

• “Mystery shop” their area.
• Find alternate routes to their office to maximize your exposure to employees.
• When meeting your direct reports, do so in their office. Greet their employees as they walk to and from meetings.
• Have lunch where their employees eat.
• Get your own beverages and make a point of engaging any of your employees you see along the way.

3. Grab a Cup of Coffee.

Employees across the board LOVE it when leaders, especially those who are more than one leadership level above them, seek their input. Often, the closer the employee is to the customers and/or clients, the more in touch he or she is with potential ideas for innovation or process improvements. So, by all means, encourage your clients to connect with their employees and ask them to have coffee to share their perspectives on the business. Remind your clients that listening to employees doesn’t mean that they have to do what employees say, but giving employees a chance to be heard will do a world of good for their credibility.

Action Ideas for Your Clients to Consider:

• Conduct informal meetings with employees.
• Establish and chair “circles of excellence” meetings during which employees can share ideas to improve the business.
• Start a blog to solicit employee conversation and input.
• Create “office hours” with open-door time so employees can stop by and provide their input.

4. Read up.

More than likely, there is plenty of documentation available that will give your clients insight into their new area. Obviously, they want to look at financial reports. But the organization may also have an annual report, performance reports, succession planning summaries, customer satisfaction survey results, employee survey results, etc. So, your clients should read up and familiarize themselves with how the team is doing against key measures.

Action Ideas for Your Clients to Consider:

• Ask key business partners such as finance and human resources for copies of all relevant reports and written documentation from their areas.
• Ask peers for copies of other reports and measures.

5. Throw a party.

Even though you HOPE your client will NOT have a big change to introduce right away, they do need to find ways to get groups of employees together so they can start experiencing your client as the “face” of their team. It is important that employees get a sense of who your client is and why they want to be a part of the team, as well as a feeling for his or her overall leadership style.

Action Ideas For Your Clients to Consider:

• Host a “Town Hall” meeting where accomplishments are celebrated.
• Initiate a weekly teleconference for all employees to share updates and download relevant information.
• Host a “meet and greet” lunch during which employees can come by and meet you in person.

6. Be a good neighbor.

A successful executive is one who knows how to lead not only up and down, but also across. They MUST find out who are their peers are and create strategic alliances and partnerships. The quickest route to broader organizational credibility is for a department and its leader to be seen as a positive partner with other departments or areas.

Action Ideas for Your Client to Consider:

• Schedule meet and greets with every one of your boss’ or bosses’ direct reports.
• During your meet and greets, find out who the key players are in other areas of the organization that your executive team often partners with, and schedule meetings with those individuals.
• Ask your direct reports about the areas they partner with and how effective those partnerships are, then schedule ongoing meetings with the leaders in those areas.

7. Conduct a New Leader Assimilation Meeting.

"A New Leader Assimilation" work session is a powerful way for a new leader to dramatically accelerate their ramp up time. A session facilitated by an outside process expert can help leader and his or her team have open discussions about needs and expectations. This process is the single best way to avoid conflicts and ensure the team is set up for high performance.

Next Step

The OD Consultant’s Toolbox is all about landing and delivering strategic consulting engagements that will make a difference for both your career and the organizations you want to help.

Ready to take your place as a sought-after, credible organizational consultant?

Click here to learn how to get my proven OD best practices, frameworks, and tools...at whatever price you can afford.