HR Professional - February/March 2009 - (Page 25) TA L E N T M A NAGE M E N T B Y N AT S T O D D A R D A N D C L A I R E W Y C K O F F LEADER ONBOARDING: CREATING A DUE-DILIGENCE LIBRARY A lthough organizing and implementing the process for selecting a new leader can seem daunting to all those involved, for the HR professional, the work is just the b beginning. No one can deny that leadership is a performi ing art, especially at the highest level, but leaders a are often asked to deliver in a flawless manner b before an audience whose attitudes may range f from indifferent to highly skeptical. Over the past several years, much has been w written about the value of onboarding and the tools required to help newly appointed leaders transition into their roles effectively. But what m most new leaders and their advisors lack is fingertip access to the necessary facts, hard data a and professional insights of the critical issues, p people and structures in their new organization. Over the past several years, much has been written about the value of onboarding and the tools required to help newly appointed leaders transition into their roles effectively. Ensuring leader success T This is where the need for a due-diligence lib brary comes in. Assembled and maintained in a thoughtful way, it can play a critical role in fac cilitating the new leader’s success. This library is a purposeful collection, review a and organization of relevant management and p planning documents. The specific information needed by a functional h head, country leader, division president, CEO or c chairperson will all be different, but, in general, w w w.H RThoughtLeader. c om ‘‘ the library should cover nine information sections: • Board and shareholders • Enterprise scope and stats • Human resources • Financial • Operations • Marketing and sales • Product • Manufacturing and sourcing • Legal, risk and IT The creation of a due-diligence library begins with a message that the head of the selection team forwards to the executive leadership team (the new leader’s direct reports), and to selected peers of the new leader, requesting them to submit copies of all relevant documents, reports and policies deemed important. A delivery date is established and specific examples of what should (and what should not) be provided is included. Everything that is submitted must be reviewed and unnecessary items culled out and returned to the senders; this process can take several weeks to complete. It is recommended that the materials be stored in either several tabbed binders or digital files, with an annotated table of contents that includes: a description of each document, name of the person and department responsible for it, distribution list of who receives copies, frequency and date of publication of the document and degree of confidentiality of the document. It is almost never too early to start the process of assembling the library. Once created, efforts should be made to keep it current so it can serve as an orientation tool for other newly hired senior executives and outside directors. ’’ Nat Stoddard is co-author of the forthcoming book The Right Leader: Selecting Executives Who Fit and chair of Crenshaw Associates. Claire Wyckoff is a former publisher at the American Management Association and an adjunct professor in NYU’s Center for Publishing. F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 0 9 25 http://www.HRThoughtLeader.com
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