高管上任靠自己摸索？

Lucy McGee knew there was a problem – friends had told her at dinner parties – but even she was surprised at the findings of a survey into how well senior executives cope with moving to a new job.

露西·麦吉(Lucy McGee)知道一定存在问题——朋友们曾在晚餐派对上对她诉苦——但即便是她也对一项调查的结果颇感惊讶，这项调查是关于高级经理人在走上一个新岗位后是否适应新环境。

The research showed that almost 40 per cent of senior executives starting a new job found their first three months to be so bad that they considered walking away from it.

这项研究显示，近40%的高级经理人在开始一项新工作的头三个月里感觉极差，以至于都考虑过辞职。

Ms McGee is director of leadership services at Harvey Nash, the executive search firm that conducted the research, and she says the idea to carry out the survey grew out of a dinner party conversation with friends who had recently started new jobs.

麦吉是猎头公司Harvey Nash领导力服务业务的主管，上述调查就是这家公司开展的。麦吉称，进行这项调查的想法是在一个晚餐派对上与近期换了新工作的朋友们谈话时产生的。

“There has been a lot of research about executive failure and, at the other end, about onboarding mostly at the junior level – but not the two together, she says. “We’re saying you have to go back to the roots of where failure might start.

她表示：“关于经理人无法适应工作岗位有过很多研究，对于以初级职员为主的新入职员工工作状态的研究也不少，但对于新入职经理人的研究在此之前仍是空白。我们认为，必须追溯问题可能发端的源头。

The survey, “Onboard and upwards: How an executive’s first 90 days make or break the ones that follow, was of more than 280 executives changing jobs in the past year. Many said that because of incomplete and inaccurate information, they felt they did not fit in well in their new role.

这项研究名为“高管履新：经理人走上新岗位的头90天如何决定此后的领导力表现，调查了280多名在过去一年中换过工作的管理层人士。其中很多人表示，由于信息不完整及不准确，他们感到自己并不能很好地适应自己的新角色。

It meant 73 per cent planned to leave within three years and 37 per cent planned to stay less than a year or were already seeking new posts. Only 24 per cent found their induction very useful. This can have an impact on the business: responses suggest they could be much more productive with a better organised start.

调查结果显示，73%的受访对象计划在三年之内辞职，37%则计划在一年之内离开或者已经在找新的工作。只有24%的人认为自己能在新岗位上很好地发挥作用。这种状况可能对公司经营造成影响，受访对象的反馈表明，如果在经理人走上一个新岗位时公司能对他们做出更好的规划，他们的工作效率会更高。

“Executive salaries haven’t faced any cuts or freezes, in fact they continue to grow. But if companies were more attentive, they would get a better rate of return on their investment, says Ms McGee.

麦吉称：“经理人的薪酬水平并未下降或者停滞不前，事实上仍在继续增长。但如果企业本身更加关注经理人的需要，他们的人力资本投资将获得更好的回报。

The research backs up the work of Niamh O’Keeffe, founder of the First100 consultancy, which helps executives to make a good start, and who has just written her second book Lead Your Team in Your First 100 Days.

上述调查结果为咨询公司First100创始人尼姆·欧基弗(Niamh O’Keeffe)正在进行的工作提供了事实依据。First100致力于帮助经理人顺利融入新的工作岗位。欧基弗不久前刚刚完成了自己的第二本书《在头100天里带好团队》(Lead Your Team in Your First 100 Days)。

She has identified the top six pressure points for newly appointed leaders: speed is the new business weapon; leadership tenures have shortened; responsibilities have expanded considerably; leadership has become complicated; leadership “change fatigue has emerged; and team performance affects a leader’s reputation.

欧基弗列举了最容易使新入职经理人感到压力的六大因素：一是反应速度已经成为一种新的商业武器；二是管理层任期趋于缩短；三是管理层的职责范围显著扩大；四是领导力的内涵复杂化；五是领导层出现“人事变动疲劳；六是团队表现影响经理人声誉。

“These six points are the result of my observations and experience working with clients on the ground, says Ms O’Keefe, a former management consultant with Accenture. “People are using the language of the first 100 days but then seeing it as time for a soft landing or honeymoon period and that drives me nuts.

欧基弗指出：“这六大因素来自于我的观察以及与客户共同工作的实际经历。大家都懂《在头100天里带好团队》所讲的道理，但仍把这段时间看做是软着陆或者蜜月期，这让我感到很是抓狂。欧基弗曾在埃森哲(Accenture)担任管理咨询师。

“We know that executives spend more time and effort on learning when they’re seeking a promotion and starting a new job. And companies still spend millions on training when executives aren’t as engaged.

欧基弗称：“我们都知道，当经理人寻求提升或者开始一项新工作时会花费更多的时间及精力来学习。而企业目前仍在管理层参与度不高的情况下在培训方面投入大量资金。

Executives told the Harvey Nash survey they could have been, on average, 50 per cent more productive if their start in the business had been more effective. Those who said their start was positive reported differential productivity of up to 30 per cent.

经理人在接受猎头公司Harvey Nash调查时表示，如果能够更有效地融入新的工作岗位，他们的工作效率平均可以提高50%。那些表示自己在新岗位上表现良好的经理人相对于其他新入职经理人的工作效率差异可高达30%。

Taking into account a typical executive salary of perhaps ￡180,000 a year, and the costs of an executive search, plus the impact on the team the executive is leading – perhaps hundreds of individuals – the report says that “as lost productivity cascades through the team, the total financial impact of a poor start is exponentially multiplied.

考虑到高管的年薪一般约为18万英镑，再计入寻找一位经理人的成本以及管理者对所带领团队的影响——团队规模也许达到数百人——Harvey Nash的调查报告指出，“随着工作效率低下现象从上到下侵蚀整个团队，新上任经理人开局不利的财务成本将呈指数级增长。

The survey used a mixture of online and telephone interviews with senior executives from a cross-section of public sector, FTSE 350 and non-listed UK companies and subsidiaries of multinationals. A smaller number of human resources directors were also interviewed.

该调查采用在线以及电话访谈的形式，访问了来自公共部门、富时350(FTSE 350)指数成分公司、英国非上市企业以及跨国公司的子公司等多元化背景的高级经理人。少数人力资源主管也在受访之列。

Executives in the survey summed up the “onboarding or induction process by saying:

接受调查的经理人是这样概括自己开始一个新工作岗位时的“新人入职情况的：

“I was given an hour-long overview of the business by my MD, a laptop and a phone. Then left alone.

“总经理花了一个小时为我介绍公司的业务概况，给我配备了一台笔记本和一部电话，我就被晾在了一旁。

“It was a case of ‘here are the key names, go and figure it out’.

“当时的情形几乎就是‘这些是公司的重要成员，其余的你自己琢磨吧’。

“It was left to me to make my own meetings and introductions.

“当时我只得自己跑去跟其他同事见面并做自我介绍。

“It was sink or swim.

“走上新工作岗位的感觉是：成败全靠自己。

A key way in which companies could retain and squeeze more productivity out of their newly hired executives would be simply to use the information gathered during the selection process, such as psychometric evaluations. Almost 30 per cent of executives never see the results of these, the report says.

公司留住新聘用的经理人并尽可能提高他们工作效率的一个主要办法是，用好招聘过程中收集到的信息，例如心理测评结果。调查报告指出，大约30%的高管从来不看此类评估结果。

Key performance indicators should also be set as soon as possible, with at least one development-related objective to keep the focus on the “leadership and cultural champion aspects.

此外还应尽可能早地制定主要绩效评估指标，其中至少应有一个指标与发展相关，以保证管理者对于“领导力和文化维护方面的持续关注。

A good onboarding plan should extend beyond 90 days and a mentor or coach should be given at least a year’s remit.

一项好的入职培训计划的时长应该超过90天，此外还应在不短于一年的时间里安排一名导师或者辅导者为新入职经理人提供指导。

Also, the new executive should be involved in a cross-functional project as early as possible.

此外，新入职管理者还应尽可能早地参与到跨部门项目中来。

Mark Bardoe, regional vice-president for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Stefanini, a global IT and consulting company, says his induction process was a good example of how to do things right compared with previous bad experiences.

国际IT与咨询公司Stefanini负责欧洲、中东以及非洲业务的地区副总裁马克·巴铎(Mark Bardoe)表示，相对于曾经有过的糟糕经历而言，近期他的入职经历可以作为如何安排好入职培训的优秀范例。

“There’s an assumption by many people that the more senior you are, for some reason they perceive that you don’t need an induction process to hit the road running, he says. “But there’s no question that if there’s an effective induction process, you don’t waste so much time.

巴铎表示：“很多人都想当然地认为，管理者级别越高，就越不需要通过入职培训适应公司环境。但毫无疑问的是，如果公司有行之有效的入职培训，经理人就不用浪费大量时间自己摸索。

Sometimes companies forget to ensure very basic knowledge. One company Mr Bardoe worked for had an online system to approve requests but “the system didn’t recognise me because I never sat down with HR.

有时企业会忘记要确保新入职的经理人对公司的情况有最基本的了解。巴铎曾经工作过的一家公司有一个线上审批系统，但他表示“我没有登录该系统的权限，因为我从未和人力部门的负责人坐下来聊过。

He says companies that quickly acquaint a new executive with their colleagues, such as asking senior executives to comment and take part right at the start in the interview process, make it easier for them to build networks quickly.

他指出，如果公司能将新入职的经理人迅速介绍给其他同事——例如邀请高层从最初的招聘流程就参与进来并发表意见——新入职的经理人便能更加容易地快速建立起人际关系网。

He once left a company within the first three months because he felt he was given “unrealistic scenarios at the selection process. “I think it doesn’t hurt you as much to get out in the first three months if it isn’t working out, he says. “You need to have a tough conversation and getting out early leaves you less damaged.

巴铎曾经加入一家公司不到三个月就离开，因为他感到该公司在招聘过程中对他描述的情形“并不真实。他表示：“如果事情进展不顺，在入职的头三个月内离开不会对你造成太大伤害。你必须态度强硬地与公司沟通，尽早离开可以使你减小损失。

One senior executive who did not want to be named says he found the size of a company made no difference to its induction process – it was down to culture.

一位不愿透露姓名的高级经理人表示，他发现公司规模大小与其入职培训的质量无关——企业文化才是根本因素。

“In my role as a senior operations director, I have to build relationships across the company very quickly and I’m at a disadvantage if there isn’t a good onboarding process. It slows me down, he says.

这位高管指出：“对于我所担任的高级运营主管职位而言，我必须快速与公司各个部门建立联系。如果公司缺乏一个好的入职培训机制，我将处于不利地位，因为这将延长我建立内部联系所需的时间。

“I need to learn the basics and link things together quickly and it’s better if there’s a structured process. Business runs at a fast pace so I need to run to keep up. I want to be impressive and make an impact but I might be running in the wrong direction.

他表示：“我必须快速学习新知识并将它们归纳联系起来，一个结构清晰的入职培训过程对此将很有帮助。当前企业经营的节奏很快，我必须跑步前进跟上企业的进度。我希望能够给人留下深刻的印象并发挥影响，但我前进的方向可能并不正确。

“Buddying or partnering are important ways of learning quickly about a company, he says. He has been in his present role for about eight months but is still considered a “new hire, which means he receives support across the company and no one assumes prior knowledge on his part.

他指出，“提供伙伴或者合作对象是让新入职经理人快速了解公司业务的重要方式。他担任目前的职位已有约八个月，但仍被认为是一名“新人，这意味着他能得到来自公司其他部门的支持，而且不会有人以为他对公司业务已经非常了解。

Lesley Uren, a talent management expert at PA Consulting Group, says many senior executives do not want to show ignorance by asking for guidance while companies do not realise that the success of many executives is often “contextualised in a particular role or company.

莱斯利·尤伦(Lesley Uren)是英国博安咨询集团(PA Consulting Group)一位富有才干的管理专家。他表示，很多高级经理人都不希望因为要求得到指点而令自己显得无知，而公司则没有意识到，很多经理人的成功都与他所担任的职位或者任职的公司密不可分。

“The more senior you become, the less dependent your success is on technical skills than on softer skills, such as networking and the ability to influence and to get things done in an organisation, she says. “Companies should do more to ensure those networks are accessible and be really clear what success is.

尤伦表示：“经理人的职位级别越高，专业技能对其成功的影响就越小，在组织内部的人脉建设、影响他人的能力以及圆满完成工作等软能力就愈发重要。公司应该为保证管理者能够获得相关部门合作做出更多努力，并对究竟什么是成功有清醒的认识。