Hi Hannah,

Leaders who are new to the organisation are looking to build influence and make an impact quickly. So it’s really important to provide them with clear expectations for their initial months within the organisation. We’d recommend considering a platform like Enboarder to help you personalise your remote onboarding and really ‘wow’ your new leader.

Here are a few suggestions you could include in your remote onboarding plan:

–        If you have recorded your key group meetings, provide them with the recordings pre-onboarding so they can skim through them to get a sense of topics being discussed and get a feel for the culture within the organisation.

–        Assign a virtual onboarding buddy who might typically be a peer for the new hire and has a ‘big picture’ understanding necessary to be of real help to the new leader.

–        Set them up with an executive coach who can be an objective sounding board.

–       For leaders it’s less about the ‘training’ and more about ‘relating’ so help them schedule time to have useful conversations with their key stakeholders especially in their first few weeks. Create formal and informal opportunities for contact, such as: “coffee hours” scheduled at a particular time and with open attendance; virtual visits to see different facilities and meet their teams; facilitated meetings via platforms that allow for plenary and “breakout” sessions; wellbeing and recreational initiatives; connection to the departmental or corporate WhatsApp or chat; attendance at “town halls” with updates from the CEO. They all add up to build connectivity, confidence, relationships and a window on what the culture of the organization is like.

–       Help them get to know the team they will be managing- set up some fun virtual ice breakers or do something that works with the culture of your organisation.

–        In the first week, share details of any core processes that you have documented and schedule key meetings while leaving enough time for some downtime.

Do let us know how it goes.

Good luck!

Disruptive HR Club Team