Maximizing Your New Executive’s Chances of Success
In connection with an executive transition, boards of directors often spend countless hours (more often than not unpaid) over a period of many months searching for the candidate they believe will best lead their organization into the future. The direct and indirect costs expended by an organization to recruit and hire a new executive are significant, though most organizations do not calculate these costs. If organizations did track these expenses, I’m rather confident that they would spend more time in the post-hire period ensuring that this critical investment was protected. Instead, too often boards of directors, fatigued by the search and relieved to have found who they believe is the ideal candidate, turn the reigns over to the new leader and breathe a sigh of relief. Their work, so they think, is done, at least for a while. In my view, if boards of directors want their new executive directors to succeed–and want to avoid having to navigate another executive transition anytime soon–then they must recognize that their most important work is in the months (sometimes as many as 12 mos.) ahead of them.
In order to succeed, new executive directors need a wide range of post-hire support from across the organization. Boards of directors in particular must provide executive directors with five critical things:
- Job description. Make sure your new executive director has a copy of this document.
- Roles and responsibilities. Provide a document that distinguishes the roles and responsibilities of the executive director from those of the board of directors or, at a minimum, have a discussion with her/him about these issues;
- Expectations. Provide a document outlining what the board believes it should be able to expect from the executive and what the executive should be able to expect from the board of directors or, at a minimum, have a discussion with her/him about these issues;
- Monitoring. Provide a document outlining how and when the executive will be monitored/supervised (e.g. weekly check-ins with Board President or monthly Executive Committee meetings); and
- Evaluation. Provide a document outlining how and when the executive will be evaluated. (e.g. 90 day evaluation; annual performance review)
Over the years, I’ve heard more than a few horror stories about the actions of boards of directors in connection with the orientation period of their new executives. These stories compel me to share a few more tips about how to ensure that you don’t unwittingly diminish the tenure of your new executive.
- Consider a policy that prevents your outgoing executive director from cycling immediately onto the board of directors. New executive directors deserve the opportunity to create their own vision and demonstrate their leadership free of the complications of a former executive director.
- Respect your new executive director in how you make decisions about who sits on your board of directors and in what positions. I’ve heard of two scenarios that are very troubling and highly problematic for new executive directors: 1) organizations that take the names of losing executive director finalists and turn the names over to the board development committee only to lead to those finalists being added to the board of directors; and 2) organizations that quickly promote to board president a member of their board of directors who was an unsuccessful candidate for executive director. If these individuals applied for the director position, clearly they have ideas about how the organization should be run. Refrain from putting such individuals in a position where they might–at the expense of your new executive director–try to impress the rest of the board with why they made the wrong decision about who to hire.
- Be sure to formally evaluate your executive and to do so in a timely manner. I recommend that you conduct 90 day and annual evaluations (and others, if necessary.). This process is not only good HR practice, but is also feedback which is often desired by the executive in order to help her/him enhance her/his performance. Another benefit to the evaluation process is that it sometimes reveals to a board of directors that an executive director is struggling more than the board realizes–and than the executive has admitted–and that the board needs to take action to address the executive’s needs.
If the candidate was good enough to hire, s/he is good enough to continue to invest post-hire support in until you–and they–are confident that they are “up and running” in their new job. If you’ve made a good hire, this is one investment you won’t regret.
