Developing a CEO induction and onboarding plan for your community organisation

Congratulations, you’ve recruited a great CEO for your community group!

For many community organisations, the next step is challenging: mustering the energy needed to provide a good induction.

How can you ensure that your new recruit receives an induction that gives them everything they need without overwhelming them and burning out the board?

These tips will help you to develop an induction and onboarding plan that leads to a smooth and successful leadership transition and an uninterrupted progression of your mission.

Assign responsibility

The first step as soon as the contract has been signed (or, even better, as soon as the job advertisement has been published) is to identify who will be responsible for overseeing the onboarding process. This will often be the chair, but it can be anyone on the board, or you can create a subcommittee to share the load. It’s best not to delegate this task to staff because this could create awkwardness. The overseer doesn’t need to do all the hands-on work, but they should ensure introductions are made, information is provided, meetings are set up and there is a plan for the CEO to follow. This board member should liaise with senior leaders and, if appropriate, important stakeholders to arrange introductory meetings with the right people.

Set Priorities

In developing the CEO’s position description and contract, the board should have agreed on its expectations of the new person’s performance, priorities, goals and impact. The induction plan should align with these, and it should also allow a certain amount of flexibility to enable the new leader to take ownership of the role. Overall, the board and the CEO must have a shared understanding of what the priorities are and how they will be achieved. This should be clearly communicated so there can be no misunderstandings.

Plan for priorities

Based on the priorities identified, what information does the CEO need to know straight away? Who do they need to meet, and what do they need to investigate or learn immediately? The induction plan should set out what information the CEO needs to have, who is responsible for providing it and in what format. The induction overseer or subcommittee should organise an orientation schedule so the CEO knows who is providing what information and when.

Protect time and energy

It’s important to ensure the incoming CEO has enough time to develop a good understanding of the organisation before they are expected to make any major decisions. The first few months are critical in developing internal and external relationships and bringing a fresh perspective to the strategic goals of the organisation. If the CEO is immediately swamped with operational tasks, their opportunity to see the big picture is compromised. An effective onboarding plan should allow time for the CEO to review key information, observe operations and activities, deeply consider and consolidate this information, ask questions, and talk to people about the organisation’s “why”.

To enable the CEO to prioritise these things, consider:

  • delegating operational tasks to existing senior managers for the first few months to enable the CEO to focus on absorbing as much information about the organisation as possible and meeting with key stakeholders
  • providing the CEO with a summary of key organisational information, sector-related information, and guidance on organisational values and culture
  • organising regular informal catch-ups with the chair and the induction subcommittee so the CEO can ask questions, discuss observations and consider actions from here
  • scheduling opportunities for the CEO to identify and discuss areas for development and plan for training, coaching and self-learning. It is unlikely that your new CEO will have all the skills and experience required for the role, so it’s important to have a strategy for upskilling.

Start as you plan to continue

While it’s important to make the new CEO feel welcome and empowered in their role, it’s also essential to ensure that the board remains in control of organisational direction. The incoming CEO will bring new ideas of how things should operate and why, but it’s important for the board not to get swept up in excitement and new energy and drift from their strategic goals and objectives. The CEO is fundamental to cultivating the culture of the organisation, and if they don’t receive guidance and direction from the board, things can shift very quickly, which can lead to confusion and discomfort within the staff and sometimes the membership.

The board has the ultimate responsibility for the organisation, including the CEO, so it must establish clear performance expectations and management routines and provide feedback, guidance and support when needed. If the board directs the CEO to take a certain direction, the CEO must deliver on this. If this becomes an issue early on, the board needs to be clear about its authority within the relationship. On the flipside, the CEO needs to feel empowered and enabled to take ownership of the role and provide advice and guidance to the board as they become more familiar with the organisation.

It requires a fine balance, but setting up consistent performance management processes at the beginning of the relationship will help to ensure that the board and the CEO develop a collaborative partnership that supports the organisation.

Use ICDA's Induction template to help you to plan a thoughtful and effective induction and onboarding process for your incoming CEO and set your organisation up for strong leadership at all levels.

More tools & resources to help with your recruitment and onboarding
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