07 Jul Remote onboarding – the organizational hand needs to extend longer and stronger
You have a new talent management leader joining your organization this week. You have hired him to transform the in-house talent management processes. With the current COVID crisis and the subsequent prolonged lock-downs, the workplace has dramatically changed. So the new Talent Management Leader has to join only on “remote” mode. As a result, goals, processes and priorities look different from what they looked like about a couple of months ago.
Now, what can the organization do to make his onboarding experience earnest and effective? How can you support him to move into the role quickly and start being productive?
Ongoing pandemic notwithstanding, organizations are onboarding employees and many at leadership positions. Yet, how many of these organizations have an evolved and effective system for the leaders to join a remote work environment?
Traditionally, every organization strives to have a great leadership onboarding program that focuses on:
· Developing a strong connection with the organization and the team.
· Providing the new-hire the basics about the job function and inducting them into various policies and procedures.
· Introducing the new employees to the culture of the organization and providing context to their work.
· Empowering the new-hire to feel productive and purposeful.
Given the current situation, almost all organizations are being tested in getting accustomed to the new way of working and certainly in the case of leadership onboarding. Some points that organizations can think about and use as process guidelines are:
Giving role clarity
A lot about the role, depending on the function the leader is a part of, is expected to change from what was planned before all this mayhem. It’s important for the resource coming on-board to be clear about what parts of his or her role are of priority and what aspects have changed or put in the back burner for now.
Improved stakeholder engagement plan
The next step would ideally be to help our new leaders in identifying and building relationships with key stakeholders. Given that it’s virtual, it’s important that the plan is detailed and structured. Key stakeholders need to be prioritized based how much each one is going to collaborate with or support the new leader. Continuing with the example, for our TM leader, there may be various BU heads, CFO and the Head HR of the organization.
Leveraging the buddy model
Many organizations have an established buddy system especially for senior members joining them. In the current scenario, the buddy would play an even more critical role in easing the leader into the organization’s processes and also in facilitating connections with other important departments and people. Therefore lot of thought needs to be given in choosing the ideal buddy who has the ability and inclination to help in this process.
A structured e-learning process
With remote induction into the organization, attention on amount and kind of data that is shared with the new leader is critical. Documents like org charts, financial reports, project documents, department plans etc. need to shared. The next step could be setting up virtual sessions with different department leaders to understand their processes and challenges.
Virtual team-building
A new-leader orientation/assimilation program would be essential given that it’s all virtual for now. This is essential for alignment and building a good connection between the leader and his/her team. This step could be facilitated by someone senior in the system who can help in guiding discussions between the new leader and his team.
In the end, what most organizations would prefer today is that the leaders get up to speed quickly and create an impact as soon as possible. An effective onboarding system is not only critical for external hires but also for any leader who has been moved internally in the current times.
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