What is a Chief Remote Officer? Job responsibility

Before the pandemic we were displaced from our homes for the better part of two years; ago Zooming Meetings and “pleased to see you soon” have become parts of everyday corporate life; before the hemming and hawing of returning to the office, the idea of ​​working remotely was, for most people, a fantasy.

What a difference a once-in-a-generation event has made in the world.

Remote work has become a reality for millions, and companies are forced to consider new roles in an attempt to figure out how to manage the new world order. Introduction: the chief remote officer.

If your eyes rolled upon hearing what could be described as the c-suite’s latest crazy role, you’re not entirely wrong. Dan Kaplan, senior client partner at a global consulting and headhunting firm Korn Ferrysays that this is a short-term trend that pops up mostly in technology, where the possibility of remote work is strong even before the pandemic.

While the job title—new as far as Kaplan can tell—leaves much to be desired, the description includes programs and responsibilities that could be worth implementing for any company that suddenly finds that those Its workforce is hybrid or completely remote. This person is in charge of changing and improving company culture, making employees feel like they are more than just a number on the balance sheet, and supporting operations to help hybrid and remote workers become productive and engaged.

When A lot of white-collar jobs have been lost during the pandemic, there are a lot of things that have fallen by the wayside, says Kaplan (even though productivity has increased massively), such as teaching and ensuring that new employees feel integrated when they start. Companies will have to rethink everything from employee onboarding to basic administrative tasks when everyone is working from home.

During the pandemic, more than a third of private sector employers have expanded their remote work options, and nearly 60% of those expect to continue those policies, according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a benefit for remote work carried changes in the workforce not seen since post-WWII America.

“There’s a ton to do, and it’s easy to forget about your people,” Kaplan said.

Data suggests that remote and hybrid workers—despite the desire to maintain flexibility—will felt more alone and disconnected from their companies. More than 30% reported feeling lonely, according to a September report from Airspeed and research firm Workplace Intelligence.

The loss of culture that everyone is talking about, not easy to fix. Companies need to think in new ways if they are going to solve the problem and not just try to recapture the old times. Some argue that the chief remote officer could be the first step.

The paper hasn’t caught on in big numbers yet, Kaplan said. There are several reasons for that. The chief remote officer is a role that functions within a human resource department—and is likely to occur as it evolves. But, Kaplan said, “It’s not something HR departments can do as usual.”

This is not intended to be an idea paper. Most traditional HR departments might have five to 10 ideas to better serve a remote and hybrid workforce, but implementation, iteration, and adaptation are something Kaplan says are more important. you are difficult.

That brings us to the second reason that adaptation of the chief remote officer has been slow: There are still no real experts in the field. The prevalence of remote and hybrid work has largely caught the corporate world off guard. Companies are adapting to the lockdown and the pandemic surprisingly well, but what’s next is harder to identify and combat. According to Kaplan, while some organizations that already operate in a hybrid work environment have such roles in their ranks, for the most part there is still no specific skill set required for a chief remote officer. It is more difficult for recruiters to go out and compile a list of top candidates for such a role.

There are at least a few Silicon Valley companies that are early in the game and have a head start on figuring out what best serves the role, and vice versa. The likes of GitLab, an open-source DevOps platform; air cargo booking app, Cargo.one; identity recognition software company, Okta; and Doist, maker of the productivity app Todoist, all have a chief remote officer on their payrolls.

Perhaps the most unsurprising reason is that companies still maintain vestiges of the past, predicting that an unstable economic landscape in 2023 will give the chief remote officer, and the hand holding on the future of work, nothing to do with it.

“There’s a pretty broad view that we’ve done the hybrid thing, and it’s working, but that we’re heading into a recession, and people will be forced to go back to the office because they have no other choice. ,” Kaplan said.

“Maybe there are companies that do this kind of paper but think that things will just come back. Here’s the thing, people don’t come back. Companies have to think that this is a part of their business going forward.”

Sign up for Fortune Features email list so you don’t miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews, and investigations.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *