Starting a new leadership role comes with particular requirements. In addition to professional tasks, relationships need to be built, expectations clarified and existing structures understood.
A structured onboarding process provides orientation and can reduce uncertainty during the first few months. For HR, the question therefore arises as to which elements make up good onboarding for managers and how the process can be designed sustainably.
Managers Need a Different Kind of Onboarding
Onboarding is often primarily associated with organizational processes: workplace setup, access, systems, documents, and initial appointments. These aspects are necessary, but they are not sufficient for managers.
A new manager does not simply take on a new position but also enters an existing social and organizational system. Employees have expectations, teams have their own ways of working, and interfaces are already in place. In addition, there are strategic requirements and expectations from higher-level management.
This creates a particular situation: the new manager first needs to find their bearings while at the same time becoming capable of taking action relatively quickly.
Good onboarding should therefore not only communicate what needs to be done from an organizational perspective. It should also help managers understand their own role, the organization, relevant relationships, and the expectations associated with their leadership responsibilities.
The First Few Months Need Structure
Especially in leadership positions, there is a risk that too many expectations arise simultaneously during the first few weeks. New managers are expected to make decisions, get to know employees, understand processes, and initiate initial changes.
A structured onboarding process can provide a framework here. A timeline that distinguishes between the first few days, the first few weeks, and the first few months can be useful.
At the beginning, the focus is on orientation and access to relevant information. After that, the emphasis shifts more toward relationships, tasks, and responsibilities. As the process continues, the manager should increasingly develop their own priorities and take on responsibility.
Onboarding does not have to mean that every step is defined in advance. Rather, a clear structure creates a framework within which the manager can engage with the specific requirements of their position.
Clarify Expectations Early On
One of the most important foundations for a successful start is clarifying expectations. Particularly in leadership positions, different ideas about goals, scope for decision-making, and priorities can arise.
The manager at the next level up may have different expectations from the team or important internal interfaces. At the same time, the new manager brings their own ideas about their role.
The following points should therefore be clarified early on:
- Which goals should be prioritized during the first few months?
- Which decisions can be made independently?
- Which topics require coordination?
- What expectations are there regarding leadership and collaboration?
- Which changes are already planned?
- Which topics should initially be observed and understood?
Questions like these provide orientation and reduce the risk that differing assumptions only become apparent after several months.
For HR, it can therefore be useful to make clarification of these points a fixed part of the onboarding process.
Understanding Relationships and Corporate Culture
Leadership does not take place in isolation. A new manager therefore needs to become familiar not only with tasks and processes but also with the organization as a social system.
This includes relevant stakeholders, informal communication channels, existing decision-making structures, and collaboration between departments.
Corporate culture also plays an important role. Formal values and mission statements convey only part of how an organization actually works. In everyday working life, culture can be seen, for example, in how decisions are made, how mistakes are handled, or how conflicts are addressed.
Good onboarding should therefore provide sufficient opportunities for conversations and observation. Discussions with the manager's own team, other managers, important interfaces, and higher-level management can provide different perspectives on the organization.
The aim is not to immediately evaluate existing structures. The initial focus should be on understanding the situation.
The Team Is a Central Part of Onboarding
When a new manager joins, the transition does not only affect the individual. The existing team also needs to adjust to a new leadership situation.
Employees often have questions: How will the new manager work? What changes can be expected? What decisions will be made? What expectations will there be for the team?
Transparent communication can help reduce uncertainty. At the same time, the new manager should be given sufficient time to get to know the team.
An early focus on change is not always appropriate. Particularly during the first few weeks, it can be more important to listen, understand ways of working, and take in different perspectives.
This creates another important task for HR: onboarding should not be understood solely as an individual process for the manager. The team and relevant interfaces can also be included in its design.
An Onboarding Plan Alone Is Not Enough
A documented onboarding plan provides structure, but it does not guarantee a successful start.
What matters is the quality of the actual conversations and interactions. A list of appointments and information can quickly turn into an organizational checklist. For managers, however, access to relevant context is particularly important.
Regular discussions with the manager at the next level up can be helpful, for example. These discussions can cover progress, open questions, priorities, and initial observations.
A sparring partner or mentor can also support the onboarding process. Such a role provides an opportunity to ask informal questions, better understand connections, and reflect on situations.
A clear division of roles is important. Mentoring, professional onboarding, and disciplinary leadership fulfil different functions and should not be mixed together.
Making Good Use of the First 90 Days
The first three months are often regarded as a particularly important phase of onboarding. However, they should not be understood as a rigid deadline.
One possible structure consists of three phases:
Orientation: At the beginning, the focus is on information, relationships, and observation. The manager becomes familiar with the organization, team, processes, and expectations.
Understanding and prioritizing: In the next step, the information gathered is put into context. Initial areas for action and priorities are identified. At the same time, expectations can be aligned with the manager at the next level up.
Taking action and reflecting: The manager then increasingly assumes responsibility and sets initial priorities. Regular reflection helps put experiences into context and adjust priorities where necessary.
Onboarding Managers Is Also an HR Responsibility
Responsibility for onboarding does not lie exclusively with the direct manager. HR can create a framework that ensures important topics do not depend on chance or individual people.
This can include standardized onboarding modules, discussion guides, information about the organization, and defined points in time for feedback and reflection.
At the same time, such a framework should allow sufficient flexibility. A new manager in a small team requires different information from a manager taking responsibility for a large organizational unit.
HR can therefore distinguish between standardized and individual elements.
Organizational processes, relevant information, and certain discussion points can be standardized, for example. Goals, priorities, stakeholders, and specific areas for development, on the other hand, should be designed individually.
Making Onboarding Success Visible
When onboarding managers, the question also arises as to how a successful process can be identified. This is not simply about the number of completed onboarding appointments. Questions relating to actual orientation and the ability to act are more meaningful.
For example:
- Have goals and responsibilities been clarified?
- Are important contacts and interfaces known?
- Does the manager understand the key processes and decision-making channels?
- Does the manager have a realistic picture of the team and organizational situation?
- Have initial priorities been defined?
- Are there regular opportunities for feedback and reflection?
Criteria like these can help HR regularly review and further develop onboarding processes.
Feedback from new managers is also relevant. After a few months, organizations can assess which information was helpful, where gaps existed, and which elements of the process should be adapted.
Conclusion: Orientation Before Change
Good onboarding for managers consists of more than organizational induction. The focus is on orientation, clarity of expectations, relationship-building, and a gradual transition into leadership responsibility.
The balance between structure and individual design is particularly important. A consistent framework can provide security but should leave sufficient room for the specific situation of the manager and the organization.
For HR, this means treating onboarding for managers as a distinct component of personnel development. A well-structured process can help clarify expectations early on, build relevant relationships, and systematically support the first few months.
This turns onboarding from a one-time checklist into a development process that supports the transition into a new leadership role while also providing important feedback for further personnel development.
