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1 reason orgs hire experienced folks is because they have a gap to fill. The knowledge doesn’t exist internally & they need it to continue to succeed/progress. Bringing people from different backgrounds & exps is good. It stops an echo chamber forming. What isn’t good is... /1
bringing those people in & expect them to fit your way only. What you get when you hire someone externally is different ideas/environments. If they come from a different org, there& #39;ll be time for them to settle into way that works for both of you, however this works both ways /2
You cannot hire in experienced leaders & expect them to not bring that experience & knowledge of what also does/doesn& #39;t work. Yes, they must also be willing to learn but so should the org. If you hire people in & force them into your mould, they& #39;ll leave & you& #39;re back at sq 1. /3
If your org has 1) a high turnover of staff & 2) a short avg tenure of experienced hires, consider why. Are they being welcomed, respected & listened to? Or have you brought them in & disregarded them bc they are "different". Let& #39;s not forget the lens of gender, ethnicity, etc /4
This is all data. Capture it & analyse it every quarter so you can see trends. Do you have a leavers survey? Is it succinct and allow for a clear understanding of tenured vs experienced and additional lenses of gender, ethnicity, etc. If not, you& #39;re not utilising it correctly. /5
Once you have this analysis, there must be accountability. If there is a trend of senior experienced folks leaving, what will you do? You *should* discuss this making it clear what you& #39;ve found out & what the main reasons for leaving are. There is potentially a culture problem /6
What will you do now you realise that the culture may not be as inclusive for some as it is for others? You can either do nothing (don& #39;t do that) or start talking about this transparently. There& #39;ll need to be discussions with tenured staff to understand their views/ideas too /7
These must be safe space discussions to share of perceptions (remember, you have the leavers analysis here too, w/ trends). And afterwards, there must be a clear understanding of how onboarding works, how communication styles work for *everyone* & what happens when they don& #39;t /8
Humans are humans & there will be times people revert back to old habits. Again, accountability is key here. What are you doing when this is raised *again* about experienced people feeling like they can& #39;t succeed or stay because of X, Y or Z reason? /9
You have to be able to have difficult conversations. As a manager/leader/etc, if you cannot deliver difficult news, then you aren& #39;t doing your job. Everything isn& #39;t sunshine & rainbows & poor behaviour will need to be called out professionally. Support mechs must be in place /10
There& #39;s balance here. Experienced & tenured should work hand in hand bc you need both! For this to work in sync, there must be clear accountability, communication & support for all - especially underrep& #39;d hires coming in trying to be heard bc... well that& #39;s why you hired them /11
If reason for someone not being good enough is "They don& #39;t think like us" or "They don& #39;t do things our way", remember... that& #39;s why you hired them. Internally, you don& #39;t have the knowledge they have, so you need it. Yes, balance is needed on working styles etc, but be honest. /12
If you hear this & your trends in leavers backs it up, you& #39;ll see gatekeeping of who is/isn& #39;t good enough. Usually with tenure, there& #39;ll be group think as quite often, orgs do not have a diverse employee based to begin with. Therefore, tenured group may be more homogenous /13
So, knock on effect is - you hire for exp you need; they& #39;re not same as the folks who are already there; you don& #39;t like that; they feel disrespected/unwelcome; they leave; you& #39;re back at square 1.
You need both. Remember that. Use your data to spot trends & be accountable. /end
You need both. Remember that. Use your data to spot trends & be accountable. /end
PS I am writing a book on all this fun stuff with @KoganPage, due for release in April 2021 - so if you find this & my other threads/articles useful, keep an eye out for that soon 
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