In today’s modern workforce, company culture is vital. Your company’s culture is the heartbeat of your organization built on your businesses’ values, mission, and goals. Company culture has an impact on almost every part of your business including everything from turnover, employee engagement and productivity, to ultimately your bottom line.

According to recent research from Deloitte, 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct workplace culture is important to the success of a business. However due to the large increase of employees working from home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, building and sustaining good company culture has become a new challenge for many organizations.  

If leadership fails to build and sustain the right culture within the organization and for prospective new hires, an accidental culture creeps in, one that can be toxic and works against what you have worked hard to create.

So, what are some ways you can cultivate an environment of productivity and belonging that brings your team together no matter where they may be working from?

Here are some best practices we have put together for maintaining company culture remotely:

Define your company culture & the values that support it: Your company’s values are a big part of what makes your company’s culture. Having company values allows employees to understand the behaviors, mindsets, and practices that support your culture for a positive work environment.

Try these strategies to better communicate your company values to a remote workforce:

• Incorporate values from day one: Add your company values to your website and ask value-centric questions during the interview process.
• Take inventory of the communication & collaboration channels: Evaluate how and how often your leadership team is communicating to employees your company’s mission, vision and what the path to success looks like. An internal newsletter or email can be a great way to share success stories easily and continuously on employees integrating company values within their workflow.
• Establish real-time recognition & a performance alignment process: Reinforce and reward those who are living out the company’s culture and values. Give employees the opportunity to nominate co-workers they feel epitomize the company values and reward those individuals with positive feedback.

Develop better communication: One of the biggest obstacles to remote culture is lack of communication. With employees working from many different locations, it can be easy for things to slip through the cracks. Employers should establish communication standards, including chat best practices, email etiquette, and response time frames. Setting such standards will prevent people from getting bombarded with messages, reduce interruptions, and make communication clearer.

Consider the following strategies to improve communication for building and developing remote culture:

• Invest in technology: Equip your team with the proper hardware, project management software, and live chat applications to make internal communication simple and easy.
• Create feedback surveys: Send digital surveys to your employees remotely to measure engagement regularly. Ask your employees to describe the culture themselves and host periodic virtual meetings to get organic feedback on employee experience.
• Utilize a company-wide newsletter: Employees want to stay informed and want a sense of connection. Use a newsletter to reiterate a sense of meaning and purpose. Include content that lets your team know the work they are doing makes an impact and show your appreciation for their hard work and effort.

Avoid isolation and build camaraderie: Part of the traditional culture is built on the in-office experience. Working in an office allows for coworkers to communicate and connect more freely, typically through office spaces including open floor plans, break rooms, and maybe even foosball tables.

Remote workers are often working from a home office, kitchen table, or living room couch. Employees working from home can easily become isolated without in-office interaction.

To avoid isolation and help build camaraderie among your remote workforce, here are some ideas:

• After-work virtual socials: Plan a time for a virtual social hour for your team to relax and unwind.Consider other virtual events such as personal development courses, cooking classes, or even painting classes.
• Virtual wellness programs: Offering your employees virtual fitness classes is a great way to keep your team not only healthy, but also engaged. Consider offering virtual yoga, Pilates, meditation, or even Peloton classes to encourage healthy habits.
• Chat groups: Start in-office chat groups through Chatter or Microsoft Teams focused on people’s interests, such as pets, outdoor activities, or even food.

Developing a strong company culture across your organization whether it be in the office or remotely creates a happier, healthier, more productive workforce. At SourcePointe, we help you make culture a strategic priority. If you are interested in learning more ways to develop your company’s culture contact us today!

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