Too many incoming executives replace their direct reports with familiar faces. It's an unnecessary and costly emotional reaction.
The ‘’new broom’’ is the new manager who ‘’sweeps’’ away all inherited subordinates. Why do newly recruited senior executives get rid of people reporting to them and bring in others, often people who worked for them before?
No doubt, fresh blood is often desirable. Sometimes the old team is not up to the changes needed to make the business successful. But there is often more to it than this. Put yourself in the newcomer’s shoes. Your new boss has built you up to justify bringing in an outsider. While you appreciate the vote of confidence, you feel nervous in case unrealistic expectations have been created. Also, you are in the spotlight and you have no allies here. You lost your support group when you left your last employer.
Being only human, you feel under pressure to make your mark quickly, to prove yourself and live up to the hype put out by your new boss. To get some quick wins, you turn to your team and start making some proposals to improve things around here. But research shows that you need to give your new team time to accept you, that if you impose your will too quickly, they reject you. Why should they be like this? Well, put yourself in their shoes. It’s like kids getting a new parent. You are replacing the absent parent and may be seen as a usurper or, at best an unwelcome intruder. They feel demoralized and undervalued because they feel abandoned or rejected. You come along and tell them that they are behind the times. This is adding insult to injury. No wonder they rebuff your advances. They may not be overtly hostile; they may quite gently point out why your ideas won’t work. But, because you feel vulnerable in your new role, you are extra sensitive to any signs of rejection. Even mild rebukes can cause you to classify them as enemies and you soon feel that it is either you or them who have to go.
Further, telling your boss that your new team is resistant to change and needs replacing is a good way of buying time. If you can get some of your loyal supporters on board from a past life, so much the better. A newly recruited team is unlikely to be any more competent than the one you are ‘’sweeping’’ out but they have three advantages: they won’t be wedded to the old ‘’way things are done around here’’, they won’t have any emotional baggage with regard to losing their previous boss and, having worked with you before, you can assume some immediate rapport. But the new broom is a costly waste ot time and money. It is mainly an emotional reaction.
To avoid the new broom trap, be sure to negotiate realistic expectations in the first place. Secondly, show your new team some respect. This doesn’t mean not changing anything. Focus on drawing solutions for improvement out of them rather than feeling you need to call all the shots.
