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By Jennifer Zaslow

Before you begin a new job, consider this: half of newly hired executives quit or are fired within the first 18 months at a new employer, according to Corporate Leadership Council research. For employers, this "organization rejection" is expensive-the cost of executive turnover reported in Topgrading is an estimated 40 times base salary for executives earning between $100,000 and $250,000. Turnover is not costly only for employers. For individual executives, failure to integrate effectively into a new employer can have ramifications professionally as well as personally.

To improve the success rate of newly hired executives, many companies are investing in programs to help new hires get "onboard." In the past, coaching was typically provided several months into the job-after the executive had already stumbled or difficulties had become apparent. Now, rather than viewing the transition process as a "sink-or-swim" experience, more employers are developing programs to help new executives get acclimated and find their way from their first day on the job. While employers hire executives for their expertise and proven track records, many leading organizations have also come to recognize the perils associated with new hire failure, and are taking pro-active steps accordingly.

"Because many positions now carry increased responsibility and organizations increasingly require early results from their hiring investments," says Peyton Daniel, Managing Director of Executive Coaching for DBM, a human capital firm, "an executive coach is often brought in as part of the employment contract to ensure early assimilation and success of key individuals."

The coach may be internal to the organization, such as a senior consultant in the Human Resources Department, or externally contracted to work with the company's executives. An internal coach can benefit executives by providing deep insight on the organization's dynamics and key influencers. By contrast, an external coach may be able to be more independent from internal politics and truly focused on an individual executive's transition needs.

"Onboarding is one of the best uses of coaching because too many people who stub their toes in the first two or three months have a really hard time recovering," says Ellen Kumata, Partner with Boston-based human resources consulting firm, Cambria Consulting. In Kumata's experience, failure is not because of lack of technical proficiency or experience. Rather, mistakes are "usually around not understanding the culture particularly well or wanting to make an impression quickly because [executives] feel they have to do something fast, without taking a real lay of the land about how to implement effectively, rather than just quickly."

Since the steps of the onboarding process are fairly predictable, coaching uses fairly specific methodologies. For instance, coaches work with executives to understand what their objectives are in their new roles. "The role may have been defined one way in interviews, but it really is something else," says Kumata. "Executives should have all those things well thought through. It is helpful to have a coach to do that."

Coaches can serve an important role in jumpstarting an executive's relationship building by holding focused meetings with the executive and direct reports. This methodology for assimilating new leaders, which was developed at General Electric, involves a full day of meetings facilitated by a coach who is not part of the newly hired executive's team. First, the coach gets buy-in from the executive for the process, which involves open communication with direct reports and a willingness to address the tough questions team members may have for their new leader. Second, the coach facilitates a discussion amongst the direct reports about what they want to learn about their new boss and what they want the executive to know about their group and its previous work accomplishments and challenges. The coach collects comments anonymously, allowing the team to feel more open to participate. The third portion of the onboarding meeting brings together the new executive and the team to review the questions they had posed and provide an opportunity for the executive to respond. The goal is to accelerate the onboarding process - questions, information and insights that might have taken weeks or months to surface can be brought to the forefront through facilitation and a targeted onboarding process.

Executives might also leverage an onboarding coach to get sensitive feedback on performance. When a new executive gets hired, for example, the coach might ask key stakeholders about the toughest parts of the job. Six months later, the coach can go back to the stakeholders to ask how the executive is doing. The stakeholders, Kumata notes, are often "much freer saying things to a third party than directly to the person."

While formal executive onboarding programs are not widespread, many companies are placing greater emphasis on ensuring the success of newly hired executives as they transition into the organization. Working with a coach or having a targeted onboarding process can be negotiated as part of an offer from a new employer. Doing so demonstrates concern not only for your career success, but also for the company's capability to bring on new talent.

Jennifer Zaslow is the editor of Career Tips & Tactics.

Executive turnover rate doubles. Average voluntary turnover among executives more than doubled, from 4.0% to 8.8%, for the 12 months ending March 2004 and March 2006, according to Compensation Resources' 2006 Turnover Survey. Sales positions also experienced increased turnover during the comparison period, increasing from 8.4% in March 2004 to 15.9% in March 2006.

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