Dive Brief:
- After decades of promoting leaders solely from within, Procter & Gamble (P&G) has shifted gears towards hiring and onboarding the best external candidates for executive roles, including new Global Media Director Gerry D’Angelo.
- P&G is turning a new leaf as they look to fresh ideas and perspectives that external candidates can bring to the table, says George Bradt, columnist for Forbes and author of 'The New Leader's 100-Day Action Plan'. In February, P&G's new CEO, David Taylor, was quoted saying the company would be bringing in new marketing talent.
- Bradt says that there are concerns over the current P&G onboarding program, specifically at the executive level. He mentions that, "Through the years, a large portion of the executives they’ve [P&G] brought in through acquisitions have ended up leaving at the end of their lock in periods." Statistics indicate that around 40% of new executives falter in their first 18 months on the job.
Dive Insight:
Bradt offers several tips to D'Angelo on adjusting the current onboarding program:
- Getting a jump start on building relationships with his new team;
- Manage corporate messaging around converging and evolving;
- Establish a clear directive to create a strong team; and
- Sustain the new forward motion that can deliver ROI in a reasonable amount of time.
These suggestions, which should help D’Angelo adjust to his new role, could be applied to any executive entering a new organization.
Onboarding and training are the keys to long-term success in any new job. The Wynhurst Group presented a study at a SHRM conference in 2007 that revealed when newly hired employees were given a structured onboarding program, they were 58% more likely to remain loyal to their company 3 years later. This process is even more crucial given the rise of external-candidate CEOs hired in recent years.
If P&G can use the same approach with its new initiative to hire more great people from the outside, this onboarding program can support them with a loyal base of executives who can take the company into the future.
