When a new leader comes into an organisation, as with any new hire, it is important that they are introduced well. What happens within the initial time from the attraction phase to the acceptance of the offer phase is extremely important as it creates the new leader’s first impressions of the organisation.
What happens in this initial period is crucial for setting the tone and the direction for the new hire. If things are done without care or left to chance, this can lead to problems later down the line.
Attraction
When starting the search for a new senior leader, it’s important for your organisation to involve key stakeholders in the planning of this process as well as the execution. The next stage is to understand what you what you want the role to be, if it is a replacement role, should the person you’re looking for have the same skills or different skills? If it is a new role that has recently been created, what form should the role take?
Outlining the role first is very important and ensuring the role description and the job advert is inclusive, clear and only has the most pertinent and important parts of the job. Research by the Behavioural Insights Team (2022) conducted some research on over 10,000 people. They found that men were more likely to apply to roles compared to similarly qualified women. Based on this, aiming to make the job description and job advert as specific to the role as possible but being clear with the essential and desirable job requirements is important.
Another aspect of ensuring the job description is as inclusive as possible is neutralising the language used. Research by Total Jobs found that after analysing one million job adverts through their gender bias decoder, 69% of the job ads contained gender coded words. They found that 1 in 4 ads had an overall male bias, which has improved since 2019 where it was found that 1 in 3 ads were male biased. This matters because research has highlighted that women can be put off applying for roles that contain ‘male’ coded language, but female coded language doesn’t put men off from applying to roles.
Another thing to ensure you are inclusively attracting great candidates is to ensure you are clear and transparent in how long the selection processes will be and what will be included. This is to ensure people can set aside time and prepare for the processes. This information should be communicated to all.
Selection
At the selection phase, which includes interviews, group tasks, presentations and psychometric assessments; reasonable adjustments and other accommodations must be considered for people who may be neurodivergent or have other disabilities or requirements. This is where equity plays out; giving people the opportunity to perform at their best and show their true selves at work is a sign of a healthy and inclusive organisation.
Some of the things you can do at the selection phase to ensure inclusion and aid diversity
- Understanding each candidate’s need for reasonable adjustments
- Using anonymous CVs can reduce initial biases, removing names and, in some cases, educational establishments and previous organisations
- Making sure at each stage that the process is spoken about in advance to give candidates better notice
- Ensuring interview topics or interview questions are sent in advance
- Presentation topics are also given in advance
- Have a representative interview or assessment panel as far as possible
- Using staff engagement sessions to help select the candidate but give staff enough training and support as to how to select fairly and make unbiased conclusions about candidates
- Train assessors and interviewers on inclusive recruitment and interviewing techniques
- If you are going to use assessments of any kind, make sure the process is clearly communicated to the candidates and reasonable adjustments are taken into account
Onboarding
When the person has been selected, here are some steps you can follow to ensure they have a smooth transition into the role
- Communicate with the successful candidate clearly highlighting their start date and location, who they need to ask for on the day
- Follow-up emails with an onboarding call/ video conference (from HR or hiring manager) giving the individual a chance to ask any questions
- Understand the individual’s preference for working, and, if it’s a hybrid or remote role, send all the equipment to them in advance and arrange set up calls
- Give a chance for the successful candidate to meet with key stakeholders before they start if that’s their preference
- Put introductory meetings into the new starter’s calendar with key stakeholders before they start
- Be available as an organisation to answer any questions
First 90 days
The first initial period where a new senior executive is recruited is crucial for them to have an onboarding plan. This plan can be around who the individual needs to be connected to, clear objectives and:
- Have KPIs that have been co-created, which need to include people skills as well as other technical skills
- Give the new leader (even if they are an internal candidate), the opportunity to be coached by an external executive coach, this can create a level of psychological safety for the individual so they can share challenges and find a way to problem solve and test ideas
- Ensure they have an internal buddy and pair them with peers, so they don’t feel like they are on their own to solve all problems
To conclude, creating a safe and inclusive environment doesn’t just start when the new hire walks through the door. What happens at every stage of recruitment and selection and assessment tells a story to the candidate and the rest of the organisation. It communicates if you care, if you are going to accept them and if you are going to be a safe environment for the new hire to thrive in.
At Oxford HR we partner with organisations to design onboarding, selection and assessment experiences that are inclusive and evidence based. To do this, we have a portfolio of great support that can help you select and search the correct candidate for you using our search services. Additionally, we can also successfully help you to understand candidates more deeply (using our leadership impact assessments), coordinate and manage staff engagement sessions, onboard them using our portfolio of great and highly experienced global leadership and executive coaches. For more information, please contact us.
Dr Grace Mansah-Owusu
Grace is a chartered psychologist, diversity and inclusion expert, trainer, career coach and psychotherapist. She has over twelve years of experience working in people and organisational development, research and facilitation roles in the for purpose sector, academia, transport and logistics and various consultancies. Building on her academic and theoretical knowledge, Grace provides opportunities for people to grow, develop and flourish in the workplace. She is passionate about research, career development and all in all curious about people. Grace has three times been recognised on HR Magazine’s HR Most Influential list for thinkers and practitioners whilst also campaigning for diversity and inclusion within psychology disciplines for over five years. She has also presented at conferences and events for CIPD, HR Magazine, Richmond Events and the British Psychological Society.
