Lateral Hires...

Before we dwell on the subject of handling Lateral Hires, here is a layman’s definition of Lateral Hires. A Lateral Hire is one who joins a company as a fresher after having work experience in various fields and companies. The new hire maybe a fresher to the current company but may be an expert or popular figure in the industry.

So, how does the management deal with a Lateral Hire? Can he or she be given the same treatment that is given to their colleagues? How do the team members respond to a Lateral Hire? What type of assignments and responsibilities can a Lateral Hire handle? These are few questions that will invariably pop up when an experienced - fresher enters an organization.

Subroto Bagchi, co-founder of Mindtree, in his book “High Performance Entrepreneur” suggests that Lateral Hires (LH) be handled by an experienced mentor in the organization. The mentor need not be the immediate supervisor of the LH. However, the mentor needs to have the experience, maturity, sense of humor, and compassion to make the LH feel at home.

The sensitivity factor here is the other team members should not start feeling that the LH is given preferential treatment or importance. So, a fine balance needs to be maintained.

In one of the companies I worked, a new employee has to send an e-mail to all employees of the company (including the CEO) describing his or her education, areas of expertise, strengths, weaknesses, and a bit about their personal interests and lifestyle. This introductory mail helps everyone to understand the newbie. And also evaluate themselves as compared to a new or LH.

I feel this type of an introduction is important because most of the time your own colleagues, whom you have lunch with, have no clue of your areas of expertise. A healthy induction and introduction will help the other team members understand why critical assignments and new business initiatives are being directed to the LH.

Job markets these days are very fluid. Stereotypes have been diluted and hence we have an influx of housewives, rural wannabes, freelancers, and crossover specialists entering the corporate arena.

So it is a challenge for the Human Resource Executive and/or the management to acknowledge the diverse workgroup and devise appropriate strategies to make everyone feel at ease and work together in peace.