By Sharon Ezzone
Once I became a caregiver, my work life perspective changed! I was required to re-evaluate my values and objectives around work and care to determine what would be my ideal situation.
A multiple year journey exploring this approach made me appreciate how a particular company, position and leader could play a role in helping me succeed in meeting my flexibility needs as well as my ability to set a firm, but flexible approach to boundary setting.
For the past ten years, as a human resource leader, I have also discovered I can shape the work environment by refining and developing programs and systems to make an integrated life possible for everyone. I’ve done this while also continuing to flex work around caring for my family and loved ones and performing at a high level.
Some of the lessons I’ve learned while following this approach can be organized around onboarding, developing employees, and maximizing communication.
As more organizations strive to become high performing hybrid and remote workplaces our collective success around these ideas is more important than ever.
Onboarding, Developing Employees and Building a Culture of Connection
First and foremost, organizations need to ensure new hires are a good match for the culture of flexibility that is unique to their workplace. Transparent job postings which allow a candidate to picture themselves in the organization and in the role long-term should be used along with a robust hiring process. From the first conversation with candidates, I stress work is a collaborative relationship – what works for the organization has to also work for the candidate. Like ThirdPath Institute, I have found every employees’ ability to work remotely increases an organization’s success in recruiting and advancing a diverse employee base.
Over the years I have also learned employees who are a good fit for hybrid and fully remote workplaces are often self-motivated, conscientious, organized, focused, and self-disciplined.
Once an employee is hired, the assimilation to your organization’s unique culture begins. An extensive virtual and in person onboarding program accelerates success. I have created extensive onboarding checklists by position, invested in the procurement of cloud-based software to build interactive training, implemented a cloud-based human capital management system to assign and monitor training module completion, and utilized an online meeting platform for technical training. Once a training module has been completed, the employee is provided the opportunity to begin working on the task they have been trained in. The training is a back and forth – teach, model, test, provide feedback, try again, provide feedback, and so forth.
Every new remote employee is also assigned a peer mentor; a go-to-person beyond their immediate manager. The mentor and mentee follow a systematic schedule and agenda for check-ins and feedback. Weekly check-ins are scheduled for the first two months, then they taper to every other week for month three through month five, and then to once a month until the employee reaches their first anniversary.
In addition, new employees meet with their manager to engage in a performance conversation, which includes discussing professional and personal goals. Performance conversations lead the way to goal setting and performance expectations and whenever possible are also accompanied by performance metrics. Personal development comes from the opportunity of learning from a wide variety of work tasks.
Transparent Communication is Key to Building On-Going Connection
Communication is key in any environment but specifically in a virtual environment. The foundation of authentic communication is trust. I have found that being direct and vulnerable leads to authentic, open candid conversations. Radical Candor by Kim Scott has been my go-to philosophy and the philosophy I encourage the leaders I coach to follow.
Here are some of the ways I solicit structured and unstructured feedback:
- Develop a forum for employees to ask questions and make suggestions
- Conduct stay interviews
- Host: all hands meetings, department meetings, one-to-one meetings
- Conduct performance previews looking ahead at the next quarter rather than looking back at performance
- Distribute pulse surveys, engagement surveys, exit surveys
- Use a cloud-based system to facilitate company communications, peer recognition, and information sharing
- Organize brainstorming sessions to seek the insight and opinion of the entire team on a variety of topics. People want to feel connected, involved, and enjoy being part of the discovery process.
When you build a work environment where people challenge and help each other grow, it allows for virtual workplaces where every team member can experience both flexibility and accountability.
My journey living an integrated life has helped me coach and mentor virtually across diverse geographic areas. It has also let me develop the skills and empathy to help teams manage a wide range of work-life flexibility options across the life cycle.
As we know, flexibility starts with the leaders, the values, and the culture of an organization. When these are aligned with successful onboarding and development of employees who are supported to flex around their work and life goal, this means you are also investing in the development of future leaders.
Thank you Sharon Ezzone
Sharon began her career as an Operations Manager at Evant, Inc., managing long-term care facilities. Sharon then transitioned into Human Resources, holding key roles at Swagelok Company, Education Solutions, LLC (dba Sylvan Learning Centers), Cleveland Clinic, and Giesecke & Devrient America, Inc. For the past 10 years, Sharon has led Human Resources and Operations at Excelas, LLC, earning accolades such as Northcoast 99, When Work Works, Best Employers in Ohio, and Best & Brightest in the Nation.
ThirdPath Institute’s Mission and Resources
At ThirdPath, we are dedicated to helping individuals, families, and organizations create a culture that supports work-life integration and gender equity. Our mission is to provide resources, support, and education to empower people to lead balanced and fulfilling lives. We offer a variety of programs, workshops, and tools designed to help you achieve your work-life integration goals.
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