Creating a Strong, Supportive Company Culture from Anywhere
The modern workforce is global and remote. That’s great for offering employees increased flexibility and autonomy during the workday. However, left unchecked, virtual organizations can suffer damaging blows to their company culture.
But what if you could offer the best of both: a supportive, connected workplace with the ability to work from anywhere?
These company culture creation tips make that goal a reality, while supercharging your overall productivity.
Why Remote Work?
Study after study demonstrates remote work’s ability to drive value for companies and positively impact employee wellbeing and performance.
According to Global Workplace Analytics, telecommuting has helped nearly six out of ten employers identify cost savings on everything from healthcare to real estate. On the staff side, 80% of employees consider telework a job perk, a feature that has resulted in over two-thirds of employers seeing increases in productivity.
In addition, companies who offer virtual options report:
- Decreased expenses
- Reduced employee work-life conflict
- Higher levels of employee engagement
- More employee loyalty and less turnover
- Better talent acquisition
- Reduced absenteeism
- Maximized output
- Fewer healthcare claims
So you know which aspects of remote work are working well. Great! Time to add a dash of secret sauce: a great company culture.
Nurturing a Positive Company Culture, Virtually
Whether you’ve noticed that communication has suffered since going remote or simply value the warmth and support that comes from strong professional relationships, there are simple solutions for promoting a positive workplace culture.
1) Lead with your company values.
Team-building activities should align with different facets of your company values. These aren’t just nice words you use on your marketing materials though. They’re the guideposts for and foundation of all you do. Live them everyday and honor them as the pillars of culture they are.
2) Keep your culture evolving and document it.
Create a living document that is always accessible and continuously updated every time you add a new element or update your company culture. Make sure it’s aspirational, detailing where you’re headed and how you’ll get there. Discuss elements like your criteria for being a culture fit, how you will recognize or reward positive contributions, or the company’s internal support structure.
3) Give new employees a warm, company-wide welcome.
In office, new employees usually have multiple rounds of introductions among different departments. Without a physical guide to facilitate these full-scale meet and greets, your leadership team will need to create an interactive welcome experience. The more folks your new team member is able to make connections with, the clearer your company culture will be.
4) Stay open to feedback.
Top down isn’t a great way to approach company culture. Instead, take a community-minded mentality. Regularly take the pulse of your entire team and show you value their insights. The more active their participation in creating your company culture, the more likely they are to uphold it.
5) Get clear how everyone will communicate.
Be it regular video chats for quarterly reporting tasks or a real-time messaging platform for weekly check-ins, make sure every single employee understands how to fully interact with your company at large. That includes specifics on which platforms and channels will facilitate particular topics. Set expectations for where and how long teams should stay logged in, as well as how to handle after-hours communications.
6) Express employee appreciation.
When in doubt, acknowledge, acknowledge, acknowledge. Making sure employees are seen can do wonders for your company culture.
7) Create opportunities to bond on a personal level.
You know what all work and no play does. Encourage connections that go beyond the call of duty by organizing team happy hours, emailing out employee spotlights, or setting up communication channels for certain popular topics (e.g.: food lovers, mental health support, travel pictures, fur family, etc.)
8) Encourage collaboration.
Few employees can effectively do their jobs in a vacuum. And even some knowledge workers that do tend to work solo can still benefit from having supportive colleagues to bounce ideas off. Especially if the rest of the team operates in different timezones, create SOPs that detail where staff can go for help.
9) Engage your remote, freelance, and contract staff.
Even if they’re not a salaried employee, they still contribute to your company culture. Put in the effort to make them feel included. With a better understanding of your company, they can deliver more quality results.
10) Did we mention communication?
Be it weekly all-hands, monthly virtual team lunch, or an annual retreat, make sure at least some of that constant communication includes a bit of facetime.
Cultivating a sense of belonging through culture can really help your company thrive. It’s more than a business strategy. It’s a basic human need.
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