Getting Plugged In

Still, he was determined to make his mark. To get a quick win and regain his dwindling momentum, he offered a prospective client novel pricing terms for an engagement — terms no different from those he had been authorized to make at his previous firm. When informed that the proposal was contrary to the firm's business model, he refused to budge — until the CFO stepped in and quashed the deal. This sequence of events alienated the prospective client, embarrassed and angered the new partner, and damaged his credibility among the other partners in the firm.

All of this in the first 60 days!

In the ensuing months, junior staff covertly sought ways to avoid being assigned to his projects, and his administrative assistant complained about being overworked. The new practice area foundered. The firm's stated commitment to strategy gave way to other pressing priorities. Fourteen months after being hired, the new partner left the firm.

There is nothing inevitable about a star at one firm successfully integrating into another. In fact, stories like this are all too familiar at many management consulting firms. A feeling of frustration and isolation on the part of the new hire collides with buyer's remorse from the firm's perspective.
"Looking back," says the partner in this example, "I don't think that their actions were intentional." And that is precisely the point. The intent to derail a new colleague is rare, but so is an intentional, consistently executed, onboarding program for senior hires that explicitly integrates the firm's culture and the interests of the new partner.

Says the leader of an international strategy consulting firm: "Few firms have created what I view to be essential to experienced hire assimilation — formal induction and consistent processes across the organization that give a look, touch, and feel for a new partner to grasp and conform to."

The High Cost of Failure

Though precise numbers are hard to pin down, some estimate that the success rate of externally hired partners over a two-year period runs at about 40 percent — and that's for firms that at least provide new hires with a clear set of objectives from day one and some checkpoints and feedback along the way.

Most consulting firms are wearily familiar with the high costs of such failure. Direct costs in search fees, interviewing, sign-on bonuses, annual salary, first-year guaranteed incentives, and relocation can easily exceed $1 million for an unsuccessful partner hire. When planned but unrealized revenue is added — typically $3 million to $4 million that the new hire was expected to generate in year one — the total cost-of-failure routinely ranges above $5 million. Hidden costs can be even higher: damage to the firm's brand, missed market opportunities, loss of client confidence, and the fear factor planted in the minds of future candidates. Once a firm gets tagged as a bad place to work, filling the next vacant position becomes that much harder. "Steer clear of that firm. Their culture is toxic!"

Sink or Swim

Ironically, most consulting firms have a more robust onboarding program for their newly minted $100,000 MBAs than for their $1 million new partners. "Consulting firms tend to throw you in and you have to learn how to operate within the firm on your own," says a recently hired healthcare industry practice leader for a global IT consulting company. "At my former firm, I was recruited as an experienced hire during a time of significant growth. We brought in over 100 experienced hires within the year, and within five years I was the only one left."

At the senior level, there often exists an attitude of "everybody for themselves" — not surprising among high-performing partners accustomed to great autonomy and great responsibility for their own success.
"I have been an experienced hire in consulting firms that have no culture," says the leader of the international strategy firm. "They have no culture because they are composed of experienced hires who have built no connection, commonalities, or common processes. They are, in fact, cultures of cohabiting independent contributors. The problem is that they don't represent themselves this way to the market, or during the interview process. You do not feel that you fit because there is nothing to fit into."
Partners who were promoted internally to the position may also resent what appears to be the ease with which an external hire suddenly becomes a peer — or a boss.

All of those attitudes undermine the success of the new partner and the firm. To counter them and to increase new partner effectiveness, satisfaction, and retention — and to ensure that the firm captures a return on its recruiting investment — it must establish a strategic onboarding program with clear ownership for implementation.

Clearing the Speed Bump

Although consulting firms invest considerable financial and management resources in recruiting and leadership development, they often pay too little attention to the critical first months of a new partner's tenure. In our experience across the profession, we find that most new hires hit a "speed bump" after about 60 days on the job that causes them to question their status in the new environment: Are my partners reaching out to me? Have I established credibility with junior staff? Will I close new business soon? Am I excited to be here? Overall, am I confident that I made the right decision? To ensure that the new partner clears that "bump," the firm must provide a comprehensive onboarding experience that accelerates the partner's sense of inclusion from zero (the period before the start date) to 60 (two months after the start date). Adopting these best practices in the initial phase of onboarding is crucial to success: Begin onboarding during recruitment. Don't wait until the new hire's employment date. Once it becomes apparent that the candidate will receive an offer, shift quickly from a process of assessment to one of cultivation. Organize a systematic call program where partners personally introduce the candidate to the full range of the firm's capabilities and client work. Understanding the larger whole creates a sense of belonging. Emphasize areas of growth, examples of meaningful client work, and recent significant wins.

While essential to create excitement and buy-in, the "sell" should be grounded in reality to avoid raising expectations that cannot be met. During this period, the firm's leadership should candidly discuss strategy and expectations for the new partner's role. The candidate should get a balanced view of the culture, including its style of decision-making, communications, and collegiality. Make clear such key factors as reporting structure, dedicated resources, and future opportunities. Begin to embed desired behaviors via interview feedback, e.g., "Susan questioned your receptivity to our highly matrixed organization, given the more unilateral strategy focus at your current firm." Many subsequent failures have their roots in the recruiting process. Ensure a staged schedule of contacts with the candidate that simultaneously demonstrates your keen interest and conveys helpful information for a successful integration.

Designate an appropriate mentor. After an offer has been accepted, assign a mentor who will, in effect, "own" the integration of the new hire into the firm. Serving right through year one of the new partner's tenure, the mentor should make the introductions required to help the new partner build a strong network, educate the new partner about available resources, and provide an understanding of policies and how to address problems. The mentor should be a widely respected member of the firm with a track record of achievement and a strong commitment to the mentoring role.
Communicate the culture. It is often easier for consulting firms to find a new partner with the right experience than one who will be a good cultural fit. Unless the firm has done everything possible to educate the new partner up front about the culture, it should not be satisfied to watch qualified partners depart after a year with comments like, "It just wasn't a good fit with your firm." Learn about the partner's previous firm and cultural expectations. Have an early and open discussion about how the new firm is likely to differ. Expose the partner early on to people who best embody the culture. Impart insights about the culture to the new partner in social gatherings to encourage openness and informality. Demystify the culture and tell the new partner frankly how best to communicate and get things done.

Tailor the onboarding program to the individual. Although a basic onboarding process should be created, it should also be individualized to take into account the new hire's strengths and weaknesses that were identified during recruitment. Where will the new partner need critical support in the coming months? Are there likely to be problems of cultural fit that will need special emphasis? What kinds of baggage are the partner likely to bring from a previous job? The goal is to help new partners understand how best to use their demonstrated skills and experience in a new culture with a different way of doing things. In many cases, personal assimilation coaching provided by external professionals has added value.
Define deliverables. Agree with the new partner on a precisely defined set of objectives for the first 60 days, the first 120, the first six months, and the first year. If the new partner proposes a period of assessment or strategic planning before action, then superiors and team members should have agreed to it.

"The challenge is maintaining client focus to drive revenue while getting in and meeting colleagues as quickly as possible," says the healthcare practice leader. "Many can't balance the two. Either they focus on internal assimilation and lose credibility by not generating new revenue, or they maintain market focus, generate revenue, and become isolated and ineffective."

Get the new partner on a project team — any project team. Just as the fastest way to pick up a foreign language is complete immersion, the fastest way to find out how a consulting firm really works is to plunge into a client engagement. Even if the new partner has been hired to work in, say, the firm's pharmaceuticals practice, he or she can benefit greatly from even a short stint on a project or account pursuit team in another industry.
Integrate the new partner with the peer group. The new partner should not only become familiar with other partners, especially those who share mutual interests, but also be encouraged to seek out other recent external hires who have been successfully integrated into the firm. Also, enlist the new hire into firm-building activities such as campus recruiting and development of intellectual capital — and see that credit is given for those contributions. "Organizations that I have found to be effective at assimilating experienced hires have established a culture that creates one-on-one opportunities with key decision-makers and influencers across the firm," says the healthcare practice leader. "For example, the organization that I have recently joined has a culture that gives me access to whoever I want to meet as a newcomer. No one turns you down, and everyone shows up to the session."

Provide regular, constructive, comprehensive feedback. In addition to putting in place a formal system for gathering and analyzing feedback, the firm should encourage the new partner to seek out feedback independently. Regularly solicit comment from all constituencies — the partner's peers, subordinates, and superiors — and constructively communicate the feedback to the partner.
Be prepared to intervene early and often. New partners often begin to derail within the first two months. Timely corrective action is critical. Take a quick 360-degree "pulse check" with the new partner, the team, and a few peers. Have the partner update a self-assessment and personally gather feedback on what is working and what is not. Evaluate how the partner is executing against the quick wins that have been projected. Discuss any issues that have emerged and plan how to resolve them. Discuss ways to remove roadblocks to success and to adjust resources, if necessary. Derailment remains a threat even after two months. Continue the evaluation and assessment, but go beyond it by helping the partner to parlay quick wins into confidence and firmwide buzz.

Winning the War for Talent

For partner-level consultants, transitioning from a new hire to a respected colleague can be an uphill journey intellectually and emotionally. Clearly, a thoughtful onboarding program can boost the effectiveness of the new hire and maximize the firm's recruiting investment. Even better, it reinforces the firm's reputation as a place where newcomers thrive. Attracting senior candidates to lead critical initiatives becomes far easier once institutional "immune systems" are overcome and mutual trust is established with each new hire.

With the pace of experienced hiring on the rise, the war for talent is back. In that war, an onboarding program that accelerates the inclusion and success of new talent can be a formidable weapon.