Changing management - Do you bring your team with you?
In many top-level interviews, senior executives expound that among their benefits is that they can bring a team with them or create a team from among their former colleagues/employees. They use this as a sign of their leadership skills, and of their ability to solve the company's problems very quickly.
Indeed, it is also widely considered a trait of a top leader that their employees are ready to follow them to a new position in a new company. Even fanatical loyalty is given to the type of leader who has shared their successes with the team, who has touched their lives and empowered them to succeed. It almost seems like common sense that a top executive whose successful team is willing to follow him would bring benefits to the new employer.
On the other hand, there are risks associated with this approach. One prominent Warsaw CEO does not generally work with former employees - partially because he respects his former employers and does not want to hurt them. However, more importantly, he feels it necessary to start afresh since, in his experience, the business or company situation is almost always unique. The risk of bringing a 'ready made' team is that they can become insular against the challenges of the new situation, not to mention that it may de-motivate key middle managers who feel they are being usurped.
This particular Central European turnaround expert generally creates a new team - with few former colleagues - each time he takes on a new challenge. He sees the need to assess and identify the talent within the organization, and encourages his subordinates to do the same. Most organizations, he feels, even unsuccessful ones, have talented managers who only need an opportunity.
On the other hand in Poland, and elsewhere in Central Europe, there can be a certain stigma attached to hiring one's friends and colleagues. Here, this comes from the recent communist past, and current practices among government-controlled companies, where senior management decisions are usually not transparent and are driven by cronyism rather than by the interests of the company.
There is at least one bank in Poland that has a category of employees jokingly called the 'refrigerator' where out-of-power civil servant types are given jobs without responsibility or the need to even come in to the office.
On the other hand, a number of industries and situations in particular bring this issue to the forefront in markets like Poland. During a privatization or acquisition, change can be a paramount value - and the more rapid the change, the better it is perceived. Further, certain sectors, such as professional services and financial services where client relationships are important, can create quick wins by bringing well-connected teams of lawyers or specialist consultants, etc.
Management experts offer advice both to senior executives considering bringing in former team members, and to their superiors (or supervisory board) who may need guidance as to whether or not it is the best approach.
Such advice is applicable everywhere, but we have tailored some examples to a few of the concerns in Poland, where the market is not so mature - particularly at middle management level.
When a director or mid- to senior-level manager brings, or wants to bring to the firm, his former team members - whether they be in a sales force, or the Finance Director - they must realize it is usually a matter of interest to colleagues and superiors (even to the supervisory board). To this extent, the manager must realize that subordinates may understand the appointment differently, for instance as a sign of a lack of trust. Meanwhile, peers of the appointee may be suspicious and see the newcomer as a spy.
As a result, the new executive really should stand on his/her own, because a need for constant support will undermine not only the appointee, but also the appointing executive, as it will be seen as a sign of bad judgment or weakness.
A director may find it tempting when one of his/her managers suggests bringing in a former team-mate or colleague, especially if it is offered as a quick or certain solution. A bit of introspection - and a good independent assessment of the potential candidate - are necessary.
What is the real motivation for bringing in this particular person? If employing a former colleague or contact is only seen as an expedient or quick solution, or as being cheaper than going through a search process, this may be risky. A good analogy can be made if you compare an executive who is hired to solve a particular problem, with an antibiotic. The antibiotic you have in your medicine cabinet will only work if it is the right one. It might save the money spent on the doctor or pharmacy, but it could also make matters worse by leaving the real problem untreated.
Once a former team-mate is hired, the hiring executive must communicate openly and clearly with the affected colleagues and staff, such as fellow department members, to ensure that it does not damage morale. Senior executives must realize, even if they hire someone they know from the outside, that they are still hiring from outside the organization. Insufficient communication and a poorly managed process is an HR executive's nightmare. On the other hand, companies who consider employees actively for promotions typically engender greater loyalty.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the hiring executive must not create a different relationship with his/her former colleague when rehiring them. Special promises, guarantees and the like will almost always create a different working relationship - one that can harm the dynamic that made the relationship successful the first time around.
On the other hand, whenever any executive considers bringing his/her former colleagues to solve problems, another kind of leadership should be kept in mind - the ability of the leader to create a strong new team to resolve the problems of the new business.
Matthew Tebeau, the Managing Partner of Ray and Berndtson Poland and the Baltic States
Indeed, it is also widely considered a trait of a top leader that their employees are ready to follow them to a new position in a new company. Even fanatical loyalty is given to the type of leader who has shared their successes with the team, who has touched their lives and empowered them to succeed. It almost seems like common sense that a top executive whose successful team is willing to follow him would bring benefits to the new employer.
On the other hand, there are risks associated with this approach. One prominent Warsaw CEO does not generally work with former employees - partially because he respects his former employers and does not want to hurt them. However, more importantly, he feels it necessary to start afresh since, in his experience, the business or company situation is almost always unique. The risk of bringing a 'ready made' team is that they can become insular against the challenges of the new situation, not to mention that it may de-motivate key middle managers who feel they are being usurped.
This particular Central European turnaround expert generally creates a new team - with few former colleagues - each time he takes on a new challenge. He sees the need to assess and identify the talent within the organization, and encourages his subordinates to do the same. Most organizations, he feels, even unsuccessful ones, have talented managers who only need an opportunity.
On the other hand in Poland, and elsewhere in Central Europe, there can be a certain stigma attached to hiring one's friends and colleagues. Here, this comes from the recent communist past, and current practices among government-controlled companies, where senior management decisions are usually not transparent and are driven by cronyism rather than by the interests of the company.
There is at least one bank in Poland that has a category of employees jokingly called the 'refrigerator' where out-of-power civil servant types are given jobs without responsibility or the need to even come in to the office.
On the other hand, a number of industries and situations in particular bring this issue to the forefront in markets like Poland. During a privatization or acquisition, change can be a paramount value - and the more rapid the change, the better it is perceived. Further, certain sectors, such as professional services and financial services where client relationships are important, can create quick wins by bringing well-connected teams of lawyers or specialist consultants, etc.
Management experts offer advice both to senior executives considering bringing in former team members, and to their superiors (or supervisory board) who may need guidance as to whether or not it is the best approach.
Such advice is applicable everywhere, but we have tailored some examples to a few of the concerns in Poland, where the market is not so mature - particularly at middle management level.
When a director or mid- to senior-level manager brings, or wants to bring to the firm, his former team members - whether they be in a sales force, or the Finance Director - they must realize it is usually a matter of interest to colleagues and superiors (even to the supervisory board). To this extent, the manager must realize that subordinates may understand the appointment differently, for instance as a sign of a lack of trust. Meanwhile, peers of the appointee may be suspicious and see the newcomer as a spy.
As a result, the new executive really should stand on his/her own, because a need for constant support will undermine not only the appointee, but also the appointing executive, as it will be seen as a sign of bad judgment or weakness.
A director may find it tempting when one of his/her managers suggests bringing in a former team-mate or colleague, especially if it is offered as a quick or certain solution. A bit of introspection - and a good independent assessment of the potential candidate - are necessary.
What is the real motivation for bringing in this particular person? If employing a former colleague or contact is only seen as an expedient or quick solution, or as being cheaper than going through a search process, this may be risky. A good analogy can be made if you compare an executive who is hired to solve a particular problem, with an antibiotic. The antibiotic you have in your medicine cabinet will only work if it is the right one. It might save the money spent on the doctor or pharmacy, but it could also make matters worse by leaving the real problem untreated.
Once a former team-mate is hired, the hiring executive must communicate openly and clearly with the affected colleagues and staff, such as fellow department members, to ensure that it does not damage morale. Senior executives must realize, even if they hire someone they know from the outside, that they are still hiring from outside the organization. Insufficient communication and a poorly managed process is an HR executive's nightmare. On the other hand, companies who consider employees actively for promotions typically engender greater loyalty.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the hiring executive must not create a different relationship with his/her former colleague when rehiring them. Special promises, guarantees and the like will almost always create a different working relationship - one that can harm the dynamic that made the relationship successful the first time around.
On the other hand, whenever any executive considers bringing his/her former colleagues to solve problems, another kind of leadership should be kept in mind - the ability of the leader to create a strong new team to resolve the problems of the new business.
Matthew Tebeau, the Managing Partner of Ray and Berndtson Poland and the Baltic States
