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2 BANK OF AMERICA

BRIAN FISHEL AND JAY CONGER

A comprehensive, multi – phased executive on – boarding program that leverages multiple sources of feedback, coaching, and leadership and cultural competencies.

Introduction

Company Background

The Leadership Dilemma

The Need for On – Boarding Interventions at the Executive Leadership Level

Leadership Development Activities for Executive Leaders

The Design Assumptions Underlying the Bank of America ’ s Executive On – Boarding Process

The Bank of America ’ s Executive On – Boarding Program: Phases and Interventions

Lessons for Designing On – Boarding for Executive Leaders

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Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons

18 Best Practices in Talent Management

INTRODUCTION

The Bank of America is the fi rst true national retail banking brand in the United States. Over the last two decades, the bank has grown dramatically, primarily through acquisi- tions. It began as the small regional North Carolina National Bank and has become one of the largest companies in the world. As a fi nancial institution, it serves individual consumers, small – and middle – market businesses, and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management, and other fi nancial and risk – management products and services. Following the acquisition of Merrill Lynch on January 1, 2009, Bank of America is among the world ’ s leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes serving corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals around the world. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries.

In this chapter, we will describe the Bank of America ’ s executive on – boarding programs. Through a multi – phased approach supported by comprehensive feedback and coaching mechanisms, the bank ’ s programs have proven highly effective at both pre – empting leadership failures and for accelerating the knowledge and relationships necessary to step into an executive role. Our insights are drawn from an in – depth case analysis of these on – boarding programs at the Bank of America.

Company Background The Bank of America example is one of the most comprehensive approaches to execu- tive on – boarding in the fi eld today. It also has a proven track record of seven years with successful results. For example, the Bank of America hired 196 externally hired execu- tives between 2001 and May 2008 and had experienced twenty – four terminations — a new hire turnover rate of approximately 12 percent. This compares to estimates as high as 40 percent turnover in large corporations (Watkins, 2003). The Bank of America has tested its approaches out on a very large sample of on – boarded executives — over fi ve hundred internal and external over the last seven years. Over the last decade, the Bank of America has been actively involved in acquisitions as well as organic growth. As a result, the organization must annually on – board a signifi cant number of executives — both externally and internally sourced. This demand has created many opportunities to learn about the effi cacy of various executive on – boarding interventions.

In addition, the Bank of America ’ s on – boarding program is expressly designed to help new executives learn to be facile at navigating the bank ’ s large matrixed organi- zation as well as building and leveraging networks of relationships for career success and for implementing company initiatives. These same demands are common in most large corporations today. We feel that this particular case holds lessons that readers in a wide range of organizations will therefore fi nd useful.

The Leadership Dilemma The fi rst – time executive leader faces three dilemmas as he or she steps into a new role. In a brief period of time, the leader must gain mastery over a complex and demanding role.