Research carried out by executive search firm Egon Zehnder looked at the biggest challenges facing recently hired executives. Forty percent of companies said they offered no formal integration support to internal candidates.
The biggest challenge facing managers hired into senior roles is understanding cultural complexities (87%), followed by stakeholder relationships (75%) and gaining acceptance from the team (46%).
Egon Zehnder partner Mark Byford told HR magazine senior managers often assume internal candidates will be able to adapt to these challenges easily. However, this is not always the case.
"Internal transition is as difficult as external. Often a new manager will be coming from a completely different department with different cultures and practices," he said.
"Increasingly managers may be coming from abroad so that only adds to the need for support when learning the ropes."
Byford added that the research shows the average employee moves into a new role internally once every three years. New managers surveyed said it takes them an average of six months to be fully effective in their role.
The nature of internal hires often means they need more support than external hires, according to Byford.
"By definition if you're hiring an internal candidate it's someone who is more junior and who you expect to develop," he said. "It doesn't make sense to hire these people and then not give them the level of support they need."
