Any leadership change within Amnesty should be supported through an induction journey for the new person joining. In the case of an Amnesty entity, planning a careful process to introduce Amnesty International and the various strands of work to the incoming Director is crucial for the entity stability ensuring a smooth leadership transition. 

In a multi-level and large organisation like Amnesty, the purpose of the induction is to welcome and orient the new Director to the organisation, at the office, national, regional, and global levels. This is also an opportunity to identify and develop specific training needs for the new Director, and to acquaint the Board and Director with each other in a productive and mutually beneficial manner.

 

A new Director’s induction process is supported by several key actors at the national, regional and global level. At the national level, the Board is well-placed to develop a process for formal introductions to the staff, work priorities and ways of working with the Board. An avenue to start this process is with the exiting Director’s handover notes (see more in the module Managed Exit). This document could contain some thoughts on the induction process for their replacement. Similarly, given Amnesty’s regional and global human rights work, the Director’s induction will also include meeting with key actors and managers across these two levels. 

However, the new Director’s induction is not a one-off event, but an on-going process that typically lasts 6-12 months. During this time, not only national, regional and global key actors are introduced, but is also an opportunity to identify specific needs for further training, attendance of global governance meetings and leadership development initiatives. 

In this sense, through the Movement Building Programme, your Regional Capacity Building Coordinator can also provide support on developing and implementing the new Director’s induction. They can provide advice on a range of induction tools and resources around training, coaching, mentoring, peer-to-peer webinars and best practices. 

See Resources for tools about New Director’s Induction.