06/19/2020

The Presence of CEOs In The Office

If your staff has returned, you should, too, according to experts

Executives at many organizations can perform the majority of their key job functions remotely, while many front-line workers must be at the workplace to accomplish their work.As companies design their strategy for reopening workplaces, many executives are considering whether they themselves should remain remote, even after many other employees return to the worksite. Should the CEO show solidarity by spending time at the workplace—or reduce exposures by remaining remote?

Executive presence is essential, as leaders motivate colleagues by their presence. Effective leaders are transparent, compassionate and create trust; their behaviors help calm, support and even energize employees so that they feel vested in a common mission and purpose, and are willing to embrace new ways of working. Presence—virtual or in the workplace—is essential to accomplishing this.

Even before the pandemic, leaders often had to convey their presence without being at a particular site. Most employees don’t often see the company’s top executives at a particular workplace; nonetheless, they feel their presence. In the pandemic, leaders can convey a powerful signal of their confidence in the safety of the workplace.As we wrote in our recent whitepaper with the World Economic Forum, Workforce Principles for the COVID-19 Pandemic, leaders need to see this crisis as the defining leadership moment that it is.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Chief Executive.