Ten minutes with Bronwynne Bester discussing remote onboarding and relocating to Cape Town

In July 2020, during lockdown, you joined the listed Oceana Group as the new Chief People Officer. This meant a move from Johannesburg to Cape Town during a pandemic. This must have been challenging, what made you decide to make a move during this time?

Moving my family to another city was going to be stressful and difficult, with or without the added complexity of the pandemic. The driver to accept the role, a great career opportunity for me, was fully supported by my husband and my children. It is their strength, resilience and support that made this possible.

How did you manage to make an impact and connect, with a team that you have never met in person?

I started on 1 July, from a space in my home in Johannesburg, whilst the team were working from their homes in Cape Town.

I had to rely on ensuring that in every meeting regardless of the topic, I used some of the time to connect on a personal level with the participants. Silly stuff, like comparing freezing Johannesburg temperatures with the rainy windy situation in Cape Town.

I made an effort to have many regular one-to-one sessions with my direct reports and my peers, again using some of that time for personal non-work-related engagement.

I had to find creative ways to invest a virtual 'coffee station/water cooler' which is where most workplace relationships are forged.

What advice would you have for candidates that take on a new role, how can they get noticed whilst working from home?

This advice is for any new candidate: listen and ask questions! The biggest risk for new people who are working at home is that they feel uncertain and disempowered by their lack of knowledge, and fear asking 'silly/stupid questions'.

No one expects you to know where to find stuff, or to have an intimate knowledge of the business. So, ask, learn and when you can add insightful comments from your previous experience, do so - that is why you were hired.

There are other obvious suggestions like keep your camera on and look presentable. More useful perhaps is to offer to minute sessions - it's a great way to learn and take on a bit of added accountability.

What were some of the challenges that you faced relocating your family to Cape Town during lockdown? Is there anything you would have done differently?

The biggest challenge was finding accommodation. We came to Cape Town for one day, saw 13 rentals, chose the best one and signed a lease, and moved in 30 days later.

Ordinarily, you would see a house more than once before making a decision, we didn't have that luxury due to travel restrictions.

If I could do it over, I may have opted for a furnished, less permanent arrangement until we knew more about the areas and the traffic etc.

We have been blessed that despite some teething problems, we are relatively settled and enjoying our rental home.

How have you and Oceana found adapting to remote working?

This is a strange question for me, it is unbelievable how quickly all workplaces adapted.

As a manufacturing and fishing company, we don't have the ability to allow the entire workforce to work remotely.

We must be careful not to create a perception of elitism of the head office staff that are 'safe and protected', while the majority endure public transport and working in close quarters.

This has meant that in our plants and on our vessels, we have regular testing and pre-trip quarantines as standard, and for head office, we have encouraged regular interaction with strict protocols, including testing. This has, for the last six months, seen small teams coming together with a degree of regularity, without too many instances of Covid positive situations.

Our stance is that balance is important, personal interaction is vital, as is safety, so finding a reasonable approach to a hybrid workplace for the knowledge workers seems to be the most appropriate approach.

How can companies improve their onboarding processes during this time?

Companies can create a process for quick, efficient PC set up in the home, ensure connectivity and access to the necessary portals, domains etc. are working, and then train people on processes and where to find and save work etc.

Information packs should be put together that explain the language and acronyms specific to the business. I stumbled along here and there, not knowing what loads of new terminology meant - I am not afraid to ask - many new starters, especially junior ones, may fear asking for this information.

More importantly for me here is what leaders do to onboard their team members.

It is important to create an 'immediacy' for the new person to feel part of the new team.

Set up real engagement sessions for the newbie and the team, prioritizing which people are most important for success in their role. Setting up a twenty-person Teams call for a newbie is overwhelming and won't add value.

Take the time as leaders to engage the person and get to know them on a personal level, as well as clearly setting expectations for their delivery.

Thank you, Bronwynne, for your time and your insights, and all the best in your new role down in the Cape.