Jean T. Brown, partner with MacKenzie Brown, advises, "When onboarding a new executive, the announcement sets the tone, and can contribute to the employee's success at a significant level." Brown was interviewed for an "Inside Recruiting Onboarding Experts Series" on TotalPicture Radio, a popular career and leadership development podcast.
(PRWEB) November 23, 2009 -- "Connect, Inspire, Persuade: Onboarding a New Employee for Success" is the title of a 19 minute interview podcast featuring Jean T. Brown, a New York City based leadership and communications coach. Ms. Brown has an M.B.A. From The Wharton School, and has an extensive background in marketing, advertising, and the performing arts. She contributed to a new business book for hiring managers and C-level executives titled "Onboarding: How to Get Your New Employees Up to Speed in Half the Time."
Interviewed by Peter Clayton, producer/host of TotalPicture Radio, Brown articulates the importance of managing the communications, and announcement, to create a successful onboarding experience for new employees. "First impressions really do matter," Brown believes, "you are trying to set the tone for the employee's relationships, and the entire team's success. Not just with the organization, but with coworkers and key stakeholders."
An often missed opportunity, Brown describes, involves internal promotions. "People make too many assumptions. They assume for example that the role and the expectations of the new role will be clear. They assume that the relationships will take care of themselves. They assume the culture of the new group is the same as the culture of the old group." This leads to a series of missteps which ignore the importance of effective communications: "In terms of the announcement process, I think a critical mistake is they assume that credibility is taken for granted. That's where the announcement becomes especially important, because not only should it clarify the role of the new person, but also establish the credibility of this new person to fill that role."
Brown lists "four keys to an effective message" in her Guest Expert segment in "Onboarding." On TotalPicture Radio, Clayton asks her expand on each, starting with concrete. Brown advises, "Don't talk in concepts, be specific," and gives the following example: "In the onboarding announcement, a key component of that announcement is the vision. So what is the future that this person is being brought in to build? A lot of times, people will think of their announcement as, 'We are so delighted that Sue - whoever is joining our new team - we want to all give her a big welcome.' - That's not an onboarding announcement," according to Brown. "We could go one step further. 'We are bringing Sue in to affect change in the organization.' Well, that's a little bit better, but it's still a vague concept. That concept of affecting change doesn't really mean anything. So what is the change that Sue is being brought in for? Is she being brought in to expand our manufacturing operations overseas or she's being brought in to focus our organization on new client development, what are the specifics of that change?" She concludes, "That's what I mean by concrete."
Brown expands on the other keys to an effective message, including "Targeted to Your Audience," "Pithy and Memorable," and "Short." "You want employees to be able to repeat the message and remember it. Ten words or less." Brown has seen, first hand, the impact a carefully crafted communications strategy can have though leading numerous workshops and executive coaching assignments.
In closing out the podcast, Clayton asked "Is there anything I haven't asked you that you think is important to share with the audience around this whole issue of onboarding?" "My final hot tip for everyone – is just practice, practice, practice. Practice your message out loud in front of somebody else so that you can get some feedback on whether the message is communicating clearly and persuading people appropriately. There are no casual presentations. At work, you are always presenting yourself to others, and they are always forming impressions of you. So be sure you are projecting yourself as you want others to see you."
Jean T. Brown's interview is in the Inside Recruiting Channel of TotalPicture Radio. Her feature page contains a full transcript of the interview. Listener's can subscribe to TotalPicture Radio on iTunes, and other podcast aggregation sites, including Odeo.
About Jean T. Brown and McKenzie Brown LLC:
Jean provides dynamic leadership and communication coaching to a diverse group of professionals in such industries as investment banking, financial services, health care, real estate, management consulting and law. MacKenzie Brown LLC clients include BNP Paribas, Stryker Spine, Archon Group LP, The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Columbia Business School, among others. Jean also coaches senior executives privately to help them enhance their leadership presence and impact. Brown received an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A. from Dartmouth College.
###
