Vic’s Learnings: How to successfully onboard your new executive

After 4.5 years, Men's First Team Manager Erik ten Hag is leaving Ajax. With a well-filled trophy cabinet and attractive soccer, he has set the bar high. Not an easy job for his successor, Alfred Schreuder.

This makes me think of the subject of Executive Onboarding. Because when a company recruits someone for a higher position, there is a lot more to it than where you park your bike or car and whether lunch is available or not.

Executive onboarding: what do you take into account?

When onboarding an executive, you have to think about a lot more, because they also get a say in the company's direction. You often see that a buddy from management or an assistant takes care of the onboarding. The departing executive may also remain available for questions or coaching.

The onboarding process may also take a little longer. Where other employees need up to three months or so (in office settings), an executive might take six months or more to fully land.

Also, consider the history - is it someone coming in from the outside, or has someone been promoted internally? And are there perhaps emotions at play around the departure of the predecessor?

Executive onboarding needs customization

My most important insight is that executive onboarding is actually always customized. My tip: create a generic program with the most important elements (meeting stakeholders, deepening the content) but adapt it to each case. After all, information relevant to the CEO of Ajax is not necessarily relevant to the head coach of the first team.