Executive Coaching - A Guide For The HR Professional.pdf

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Assimilation Coaching
Assimilation coaching helps a person adjust or “assimilate” into
a new organization. Used most often at the executive level,
assimilation coaching can accelerate the learning process to enable
newly placed individuals and their teams to reach their business
goals faster.
Assimilation coaching gained in popularity during the 1990s as
more people moved laterally across companies as a result of the
increase in downsizings, consolidations, and mergers and acquisitions.
Many organizations were faced with the task of “assimilating”
new executives from outside the company who were unfamiliar with
the culture. Having spent most of their careers at another company
or at several other companies, these executives had learned patterns
of behavior appropriate to a different corporate culture.
Frequently, the newly placed executives ran into difficulties very
early on—perhaps as early as the first three months. Within two
years, they were seeking employment elsewhere. These executives
frequently held upper-level positions, with responsibility for large
numbers of people and big budgets. Their failure to perform meant
greater risk and expense for the organization. Many savvy companies,
therefore, realized that a coaching program could assist these
newly appointed individuals in making this important transition to
their new roles. It just made good business sense.
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