Effective onboarding of new leaders is often overlooked. A structured process is essential during the first 30 days. Here is the exact process I used to onboard new leaders at Amazon and elsewhere.
This process was a tool for the new leader, but it was also a tool for me to assess their likelihood of long-term success. It is simple, but shockingly accurate. Here it is.
The first few days included a deluge of key documents to read (especially the annual operating plan for the business unit) and back-to-back 1:1 meetings and introductions with team members and relevant partners.
At the end of the first week, I would give the new manager their first assignment, which is to spend the first 30 days in assessment mode. They were to assess the “Who/how/what” of their organization. At the end of the 30 days, they would complete a written memo with their assessment and review it with me 1:1.
I made sure to set the appointment for the meeting on the calendar right when I gave the assignment.
In this written assessment, they needed to evaluate:
Who: What is the current org structure? Who are the current members of the team? Which aspects of the org structure and people on the team do they want to keep, and which need to be changed?
How: What are the major processes the team uses to do their work today? Which do I wish to keep, change, or eliminate?
What: What is the current operating plan and goals for the organization, and which elements do I propose to keep, change, or eliminate?
This assignment meant that rather than asking them to jump in and start “doing”, I was giving them space and time to learn, assess, and get a complete picture. This was for their benefit, so they could use this space and time to determine an overall direction and, based on that direction, decide on the most important actions they needed to take.
Another benefit is that it meant that they needed to make decisions about the people in their org and take ownership of their choices. Too often, I have experienced new leaders who, for months after their arrival, will fall back on the refrain that “ Well, I can’t get anything done here because the team I inherited is no good.”
An assessment forces them to take ownership of the team — no excuses after 30 days.
Leaders whose assessments were insightful, clear, and decisive generally went on to do well in their Amazon careers.
In contrast, those who did not perform well, did not take the assignment seriously, or who were always pushing back the date to review their assessment, rarely went on to excel in their roles.
In other words, the process served two goals: it was an effective method to onboard and get leaders off to a strong start, and it served as an early indicator of success or failure in the hiring process (see my prior post on hire slow, fire fast).
