With the increasingly frequent onslaught of mergers and acquisitions for companies seeking to grow manufacturing revenues and profit margins to meet investor expectations, many find themselves in the position of having to hire functional Commercial Business Leaders (i.e., Strategic Business Unit (SBU), Marketing, Sales, Product Management, and New Business Development Managers at all levels). These leaders are directly responsible for achieving profitable, sustainable growth of their companies.
In the recruiting process, companies inevitably make the same enormous mistake – they limit their scope to employees in their industry niche – under the belief that a narrow focus on qualifications will enable the new hire to hit the ground running.
This is a costly mistake.
Time is money. And, during those first weeks and months on the job, it's not industry knowledge that will determine how fast newly hired leaders are able to get grounded and to make a positive impact. It's you – or more specifically your onboarding process.
The more items that the new hire has to work through and figure out on his or her own, the longer it will take for him or her to be fully up-to-speed and fully productive. Each knowledge gap can cost a new hire 2 to 4 weeks of productivity – potentially resulting in months of revenue loss or an inability of new hires to reach their full potential altogether.
Listed below are 10 types of training needed for the successful on-boarding on commercial business leaders. Which of these training areas is missing from your new hire onboarding process for functional commercial business leaders?
1. Functional Insider Orientation
2. Who's Who
An intimate understanding of Who's Who is extremely helpful for newly hired leaders. Leaders need to know the structure within their department including their functional and cross functional peers in addition to the top levels within the company. Of particular interest are understanding where their resource limitations and leveraged resources (like Marketing support at a SBU level and not dedicated to their product area) and areas of strength (like resources staffed up to support a specific initiative). Beyond the org chart, business leaders should also receive an insider's insight into the Who's Who of the organization. Examples include the resources who act as historians and a wide range of subject matter experts on how to get things done. Ideally, 1-on-1 meetings are set-up on the new hire's behalf and this schedule is made available to the new hire on day one.
3. Product Training
4. Business Intelligence (BI) and other IT Tools
It is not unusual for newly hired leaders to have an incomplete computer set-up on their first days. Given the reliance on computers in this day and age, this is one of the larger (and most preventable) time wasters associated with the onboarding of new commercial business leaders. Oftentimes, the computer set-up is limited to a general standard for office workers with basic productivity software and email. Instead, consider the needs of the role and plan accordingly. Commercial business leaders often need access to Business Intelligence (BI) and Business Process Management software (such as a Quality Management System (QMS), Enterprise resource planning (ERP), or a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software), Expense Reporting Systems, Product/Project Management software, and more. Commercial business leaders that are power users may need faster computers with a bigger-than-usual hard drive. Marketing leaders need file sharing capabilities. Most leaders need large email storage allocations. It is also important to set up access to shared folders and for work done by predecessors, particularly ongoing project work. The training needed to use these software packages and the processes that they support should also be lined up. The sooner this resource is fully plugged into software and platforms, the better. It is critical that the computer, software, and access needed to do the role are set-up and ready for newly hired leaders, ideally on their first day. Top notch organizations follow role specific computer checklists and pair new hires with skilled and experienced users of this software.
5. Business Performance
The role of commercial business leaders is to drive business performance. So, a newly hired leader's onboarding should also include a review of the business performance, strategic plans, vision and mission statements, KPI goals, and enablers. Furthermore, personal goals like a 30-60-90 and departmental goals should also be communicated. Whether the leader has leeway or a mandate to provide a certain result from a predecessor should also be made clear (e.g., implementing growth strategies for a specific product line to attain a specific revenue target.)
6. Business Processes
Mature businesses have a cadence or Standard Operating Rhythm (SOR). These regularly scheduled meetings and deadlines help to ensure that routine performance and reporting needs are met (such as Stage Gate, SIOP, Pricing Action, Quality/ISO Management Reviews, Contract Reviews, month-end KPI dashboard reporting). Furthermore, within each processes, there are Roles, Responsibilities, and Expectations (RREs) and workflows that help enable teams to work together smoothly. It is important for new hires to understand what business processes are in place, what their responsibilities are (particularly if they are the lead), and the roles of others. Alternately, organizations may be missing these processes, particularly those in their early stages of development. So, this training serves to help experienced hires to assess gaps which may hinder or aid in making progress and which create business risks. These new leaders also need to get a feel for how much time they can dedicate to sustaining and business growth opportunities and to pick up on similarities and differences between the company and their prior experience. These scaffolding associations are essential for a quick start.
7. Marketing
Commercial business leaders need to present a professional presence – both for themselves and on behalf of the organization. So, it is important that these newly hired leaders understand core marketing presentation, such as, their official job title, official email signature, and where to obtain branding guidelines. In addition, marketing and sales campaigns need to be part of the onboarding process for commercial business leaders with product, sales, or marketing focused responsibilities. If there are active campaigns or routine ones, the existence of these initiatives should also be made known to these commercial business leaders as part of their onboarding.
8. Change Management
The edict “Fix it but don't change anything.” is a persistent wish of organizations who have seen progress derailed due to an unexpected change or new requirement. Raw material suppliers, customers, regulatory issues, slower than expected sales, and maintenance failures can halt progress and redirect efforts. It is important for new hires understand the organization's change management policies, approval processes, and records. This enables newly hired leaders to help the organization to quickly address any follow-up actions and to build a mental library of best practices and problematic ones. Unless a crisis is brewing, this training should simply be high level coverage of current or recent issues, upcoming or missed deadlines, and where to find the details on work done so far.
9. Legal Agreements and Other Obligations
Newly hired leaders can feel blindsided by agreements made with predecessors that they are responsible for but not made aware of. Make sure that new hires are up-to-speed on expectations put in place prior to their arrival. Examples include legal agreements, customer obligations (such as promotional discounts and stocking levels), and contracts. Depending on the leader's role, having an understanding of Intellectual Property (IP), whether a name is a registered trademark or just a product name, and trademarks is also helpful.
10. Customer and Marketing Insights
Last, but certainly not least, commercial business leaders should also have exposure to the companies insights on and from customers as well as market research – even if the commercial business leader was hired on the premise of having expertise in this area. In many cases, companies hire for experience in their specific industry and product. If this is the case, the new employee may have worked for or with a competitor – and they must respect confidentiality for their previous employer just as they will have to for their current one. If hired from a competitor, then the newly hired leader needs to know what is known already and what can't or shouldn't be disclosed. Alternately, if a new hire lacks prior industry experience, then it is beneficial to have industry coverage.
While the general rationale of hiring managers is that it is important to hire someone with experience in the same industry and product for rapid onboarding, the reality is that the time it takes for an employee to get up to speed is largely based on having a stellar onboarding process. The faster the professional has essential information needed to surpass the orientation phase, the sooner they can make significant contributions. With the proper training, an new hire with leverageable skills, competency, and a compatible mindset can begin making major contributions within a few days to a few weeks.
If you are interested in an online training program for commercial business leaders, such as product managers, marketing managers, new business development, or sales, please contact Felicia Littlejohn.
About the Author
Felicia Littlejohn, Ph.D., is Learning and Development (L&D) professional, leadership coach, and former commercial business leader who empowers others to achieve their goals. Her work in leadership development, coaching, and strategy consulting has helped businesses, teams, and professionals to upskill, cultivate leadership potential, enhance performance, and overcome growth hurdles. Felicia is a Certified Professional Coach (C.P.C.) who holds a Ph.D. in Engineering, an M.B.A. in Marketing, and is currently pursuing an M.Ed. in Instructional Design.
This is a great list of tips and, even though I am not in the business world, I have been researching this onboarding topic for educators in hopes of finding a more effective way of relieving the stress of both new hires and mentors assigned to work with them throughout their first two years. I love that you have thought out a comprehensive process for getting the new hires up to speed and that you mention the impact that can have on productivity. It is so important for companies, schools, businesses etc. to have an organized orientation in place and, as you mentioned, easy access to resources the new hires can use from the get-go. Job aids can help tremendously in getting new hires up and going and still so many businesses try to cram in meetings and trainings with an overwhelming amount of information. Great post for me to bookmark!
Thank you so much, Jacyln, for your comments. I’m glad that you found this post to be useful!