From BusinessWeek online’s How To Take The Reins At Top Speed:

In today’s era of increasingly activist investors and boards, a heightened focus on fast results is making the first few months feel more like a trial by fire than a honeymoon.
…
“Many senior executives feel they have a much shorter time frame to prove themselves.”

This accelerated productivity demand is common to almost all positions within a company. I am appreciative of CEOs finally having this demand placed upon them also. In sales, it has been this way for years . . . maybe decades.

Despite having a name only a consultant or HR professional could love – onboarding is also known as management integration or, worse, assimilation coaching – the practice is taking off. Headhunters Egon Zehnder International and Heidrick & Struggles International (HSII ) both report rising levels of interest from companies for their onboarding services.

We are making adjustments to our sales offering also. One thing we learned years ago was that good salespeople still can fail in a new role if there is not a plan for onboarding (that is an awful word). Hence, we now include our Sales Development Plan for all sales candidates our customers hire. Since incorporating this approach, we have seen a drastic reduction in the new salesperson’s ramp-up time. The goal with any new sales hire is to get them up to speed on revenue production as soon as possible. Unfortunately, many companies hire a salesperson, train them on the product/service offering and then put them out in the field. I’m always amazed that a company would spend so much money acquiring and hiring an important piece to their business and then almost neglect them once they are in place.

At a time when CEO failure rates are running at 40%, after all, helping executives “stick” makes sense. “It’s like an insurance policy for your placement,” says Rich Rosen, a partner in Heidrick’s leadership consulting practice.

I’m not sure where that 40% number comes from, but it is noticeable. I wonder what sales position failure rates are? In sales, I would deem a failure to be a salesperson who simply performs at an average revenue level or below. I suspect it is greater than 40%.

Executive search firms counter that where coaching relationships exist they’re careful to make leadership teams off-limits to recruiters. And they note that headhunters aren’t necessarily trying to double as coaches. “We’re training our search consultants to recognize a need,” says Joseph E. Griesedieck, Vice-Chairman of Korn/Ferry International. “And then they bring in the people who are experts.”

We are working on a similar model at Select Metrix and hope to have more to report on this topic soon.

Lastly, a quick excerpt from the article that caught my eye:

For Citrin, who co-wrote the new-leader guide You’re in Charge – Now What? with fellow kingmaker Thomas J. Neff, onboarding can be as simple as giving a client a copy of his book and sharing insights over a leisurely breakfast.

I have a general disgust with this approach. I have worked with consultants in the past who believe their book is the definitive authority for a specific topic. I prefer consultants who roll up their sleeves and get down in the mud with their clients.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Hiring,Retention,Sales Management,Team Management | | Comments(2)