The Leadership IQ study that stated that 46% of new hires fail within the first 18 months on the job is widely quoted in HR departments and senior management offices across the country. They lament the cost of hiring and the subpar returns. In addition to the 46%, another 19% fail to be considered "high achievers." Clearly hiring practices are less than perfect at finding the right candidates for the job.
Or is that really the issue? What strikes me as more interesting than the headline figure is why these hires fail. Of all the reasons cited, the number one reason why new hires fail is coachability. Leadership IQ defines this as "the ability to accept and implement feedback from bosses, colleagues, customers and others."
Here at Oxbridge Executive Coaching, we believe that coaching is a co-creative relationship, borne equally by the coach and the client. "Coachability" implies that the blame falls on the employee, but "bosses, colleagues, customers and others" don't necessarily make good coaches. It is perhaps a breakdown in the co-creative relationship that leads to new hire attrition.
At Oxbridge, we work with senior and junior executives alike: those in the "boss" seat and those in the "subordinate" seat. Both roles benefit immensely from coaching and both can take what they practice with their executive coach at Oxbridge and learn how to apply their co-creative skillset in the workplace.
That's how new hires will go from looking for a new job in 18 months to becoming high achievers at the company who saw fit to hire them.