The Other Three-Month Problem: Why the First 90 Days Matter in Specialist Lending

Three-month notice periods.

Probably one of the most common frustrations I hear when speaking to lenders about hiring.

You finally find the person you want, get through the interview process, negotiate the package and get the contract signed.

Then you wait.

And wait.

By the time they actually arrive, it can easily be four or five months since you first decided you needed to make the hire.

For certain senior regulated roles, planning ahead is more than simply good recruitment practice. The FCA's guidance for Senior Management Functions specifically points to maintaining effective succession plans and using notice periods to identify replacements and progress approvals quickly.

But there is another three-month period that I think gets far less attention.

 

The first 90 days after they join.

We've made a number of senior placements across Real Estate Finance this year and, naturally, I keep in touch with people after they start.

One thing that becomes quite apparent is just how differently businesses integrate senior hires.

And that can have a significant impact on how quickly somebody starts delivering.

 

Hiring an Originator Is Only the First Step

This is particularly noticeable with Originators.

Hiring somebody with a strong network is obviously valuable. Their relationships, reputation and understanding of the market are probably a large part of the reason you've hired them.

But that network isn't much use if, three months in, they're still trying to properly understand what the lender actually wants to fund.

They need to know:

• Where can you stretch?
• Where won't you?
• Which deals look perfect on paper but Credit will never support?
• How quickly can you give an answer?
• Who needs to be involved internally?
• Where does the lender genuinely have an appetite to grow?

An experienced Originator will work a lot of this out themselves.

But there is a big difference between being capable of finding the answers and having a business give them the answers from day one.

If someone joins with a strong network, you want them having confident conversations with that network as quickly as possible.

That requires clarity.

 

Senior Hires Need Context, Not Just an Induction

The same principle applies on the other side of the fence.

A new Credit Director might have spent years making lending decisions, but every lender has a slightly different interpretation of risk.

The credit policy might say one thing. The reality of what gets approved can be more nuanced.

Portfolio Management is the same.

So is Capital Raising.

And leadership.

The more senior the appointment, arguably the more important this context becomes.

You're hiring someone because of their experience and judgement. The objective shouldn't be to teach them how to do their job.

It should be to give them enough understanding of your business that they can apply that experience properly.

hat development doesn't stop simply because somebody has reached a senior level. The government's Employer Skills Survey 2024 provides a useful wider picture of how UK businesses approach skills and workforce development, including both on-the-job and off-the-job training.

That means understanding the strategy, the personalities, the history behind certain decisions and where the business genuinely wants them to make an impact.

 

Does "Hit the Ground Running" Put Too Much Responsibility on the Hire?

We spend a huge amount of time talking about finding people who can "hit the ground running."

I wonder whether sometimes that expectation lets the business off the hook slightly.

Because hitting the ground running requires somewhere to run.

A senior hire can arrive with the right experience, relationships and track record, but if they're spending their first few months working out who makes which decisions, what the priorities really are or where the boundaries sit, you've immediately slowed them down.

For me, the basics are relatively straightforward:

• Clear expectations from the beginning.
• Access to the right decision-makers.
• An understanding of the wider business strategy.
• Proper context around previous decisions.
• Clarity over where they have autonomy.
• For commercial hires, a clear definition of what good actually looks like.

For regulated firms, clarity around senior responsibilities has an additional importance. The FCA's Senior Managers and Certification Regime guidance emphasises that responsibilities should be allocated clearly and that senior managers need sufficient authority and resources to exercise them effectively.

None of that is particularly complicated.

But getting it right can make a big difference to what happens during those first three months.

 

Senior Onboarding Doesn't Need to Be Corporate

None of this means creating a corporate 90-day onboarding programme and handing somebody a folder containing 47 policies to read.

Quite the opposite.

For senior hires, good integration is probably about removing as much noise as possible.

Here is what we're trying to achieve.

Here is where you fit into it.

Here are the people you need around you.

Here are the problems we want you to solve.

Now go.

Give experienced people the context, relationships and information they need, then give them room to do what you hired them to do.

 

What Should the First 90 Days Actually Achieve?

The answer will obviously depend on the role.

For an Originator, it could be establishing internal credibility, reconnecting with their external network and beginning to build a relevant pipeline.

For a Credit Director, it might mean understanding the existing book, getting comfortable with the lender's appetite and starting to influence decision-making.

For a senior Portfolio Management hire, it could involve understanding key exposures, borrower relationships and where potential issues may emerge.

For a leader, those first months might be more about understanding the team before making significant changes.

The outputs are different, but the principle is the same.

The first 90 days should shorten the gap between somebody joining the business and making the impact you hired them to make.

 

Key Takeaways

• Three-month notice periods aren't the only three-month challenge in senior lending recruitment.
• The first 90 days can have a significant influence on how quickly a new hire starts delivering.
• Experienced hires still need clarity around strategy, risk appetite, decision-making and expectations.
• Originators need to understand what the lender genuinely wants to fund before they can use their network effectively.
• Senior onboarding should focus on context and access rather than unnecessary process.
• Hiring someone who can "hit the ground running" doesn't remove the business's responsibility to help them do it.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are the first 90 days important for senior hires?

The first 90 days give a new hire the opportunity to understand the business, build internal relationships and establish where they can make the greatest impact. For senior appointments, getting that context quickly can reduce the time between joining and delivering meaningful results.

How should lenders onboard experienced hires?

Senior onboarding should focus on clarity rather than excessive process. New hires need to understand the business strategy, risk appetite, decision-making structure, expectations and the people they need to work with.

What should lenders consider when hiring an Originator?

A strong network and track record are important, but lenders should also consider how well an Originator understands their market, credit and the lender's proposition. Once they join, giving them a clear understanding of appetite and internal decision-making can help them take the right opportunities to their network.

From Time-to-Hire to Time-to-Impact

There will always be pressure to reduce the time it takes to hire, particularly when the best people may already have lengthy notice periods.

And time-to-hire still matters.

But signing the contract isn't the end of the recruitment process. In many ways, it's only the halfway point.

If you've spent months finding the right person, it makes sense to put just as much thought into what happens when they finally walk through the door.

Perhaps there is another metric worth paying attention to.

Not just time-to-hire.

Time-to-impact.

 

Building the Teams Behind Specialist Lending Innovation

Product innovation isn't just about the facility. It's about having people who understand the borrower, the underlying risk and how to turn a good idea into a commercially viable lending product.

At Fintelligent, we work with specialist lenders across real estate and commercial finance, helping them identify the people they need across origination, credit, underwriting, portfolio management and leadership.

If you're developing your lending proposition or building the team behind your next stage of growth:

speak to Fintelligent.