How Do Organizations Onboard Executives for Remote Work?

Onboarding Executives to Work Remotely

Remote work has been on the rise in recent years, particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic not only propelled remote work but also significantly changed the workforce landscape. Companies are increasingly hiring executives for remote work positions and also onboarding existing executives into work-from-home arrangements. 

The experience of moving from an office-based corporate job to a remote work arrangement can feel overwhelming for some executives. To ease the transition, the company must provide the necessary resources and support to help them become acclimated to their new work environment. An organized onboarding process, complete with routine check-ins, team feedback opportunities, and a 30-60-90 day plan enables executives to maximize their productivity and meet expectations when working remotely.

Stegmeier Consulting Group (SCG), is a consultancy firm that guides companies on best practices for adopting and adapting to different workplace settings and strategies. SCG brings significant experience in aligning corporate expectations and vision with the workday experience of executives and employees.  

Remote Work Challenges Faced by Executives

There are many benefits to working remotely, including the ability to work anywhere, flexible hours, and no commute. However, some challenges accompany this workstyle change, particularly if remote work is a new concept for executives who were previously working in a traditional office environment. 

Building a dynamic virtual work environment for their teams can be challenging for executives who are unfamiliar with remote work. Executives might find that they need to adjust their leadership style when they (and perhaps their teams) begin working remotely. 

It can take a great deal of effort to consciously create a solidified, cohesive virtual team. Executives must find a way to not only collaborate with their teams in a routine, meaningful way but also ensure the same type of collaboration is happening within the team structure. Remote work setups can sometimes introduce elements of isolation and disconnectedness from the team, and it is important that executives institute communication and collaboration processes to help alleviate the physical separation. 

Executives need to quickly adjust in order to thrive in a remote work setup, as the teams and business functions that report directly to the executive require a seamless transition to minimize disruptions. 

However, the expectation of a swift transition to remote work can be stressful to executives who might feel like they cannot misstep without serious repercussions to productivity or business functions. The numerous and extended virtual meetings and interactions that are often required to ensure this seamless transition can take a toll on an executive’s productivity and mental stamina.

In addition to ease of transition, there are other challenges to onboarding executives that need to be addressed including managing employee responses to the new environment and support for work-life balance. 

Executives need to be attuned not only to their own transition to remote work but also to their employees’ transition to this type of workplace strategy if employees are also included in the remote work transition. Further, ensuring that the executive and her team have a manageable work-life balance is crucial to the happiness, wellbeing, and productivity of everyone involved. 

How Executives Can Maximize Their Success as Remote Leaders

Onboarding executives for remote work is a complex process that involves more than just getting them comfortable with communication and collaboration tools. It is important to also consider their professional roles and duties, their personal goals, and professional motivations when remotely onboarding them, and integrating them into the company culture if they are new hires. 

For executives to be successful in leading teams remotely, companies need to ensure that the executives have a robust remote work onboarding experience. The transition from corporate life in a physical office to remote management is never easy but with preparation and planning,  disruptions to productivity can be minimized or eliminated. 

Below are some important steps executives can take to ease the transition to successful remote leadership:

• Communicate to the team the benefits of having a virtual workplace
• Set expectations on how teams should communicate, collaborate, report progress, and identify problems
• Understand the team and organizational structure to quickly identify process and function owners to be able to resolve and address issues with the right employee

Lessons Learned and Process Improvements When Virtually Onboarding Executives

To further improve the onboarding process it is best to ask executives their thoughts on the remote work transition process. Onboarding executives virtually is an opportunity to gain new insights on existing processes and identify areas for improvement.  

The feedback offered by executives often relies on a strategic vision or a methodical approach and is a significant reason why the executive onboarding process should differ somewhat from remote employee onboarding.

Of course, feedback from both parties is essential in continuously improving remote work processes, but feedback from executives who have undergone these processes from hiring to employment will have a different level of understanding – one that is likely business-oriented and viewed through the lens of senior leadership.

All parties that are involved with new executive deployment must also be open and ready to collaborate. That way, they are not only involved but also are being refreshed with their roles and responsibility as well.

How to Prepare your Business for Remote Onboarding New Leaders

Your new company leaders are at the core of your business. They must lead their teams towards a success-driven mindset, while also handling their own professional transition to remote work.

Proper onboarding should be provided to help executives transition to remote work and stay at their best level of work performance. SCG has more than 20 years of experience in helping businesses transition through workplace changes while enhancing work efficiency. 

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