Let's be real—in these unprecedented times, maintaining company culture can be a huge challenge. How do you maintain and nurture an effective remote work culture with everyone physically separated?
Awardco is here to help professionals like you tap into creativity and strategy to help identify how to improve and nurture company culture.
But first, let’s cover the basics of what company culture is.
What Is Company Culture?
Company culture is the attitudes, values, and behaviors of a company. It comprises various components such as:
- Work environment
- Company and team missions
- Leadership style
- Ethics
- Expectations
- Goals
Together, these elements define a collective purpose that inspires everyone to put their best foot forward.
Why Is Company Culture Important?
Having a strong company culture illustrates that employees understand:
- What is expected of them
- What outcomes they need to achieve
Eighty-eight percent of employees believe a distinct work culture is essential to organizational success. People are more likely to enjoy work when their values are aligned with their employer’s values. In addition, they’ll likely develop better relationships with colleagues and feel more motivated.
Here are just a couple of benefits your organization can enjoy with a solid company culture:
- Retention: Not only does a positive company culture attract top talent, but it also retains them. The more people feel authentically connected to their team and business, the more likely they’ll want to stick around for the long haul.
- Performance: Strong cultures drive happier employees, and happy workers are 12 percent more productive. When employees' values and beliefs align with those of the company, they feel comfortable and safe.
4 Tips on How to Build Company Culture in a Remote Team
So what does company culture mean for teams that are fully remote? Rest assured, no matter what type of work environment your business is in now and in the future, you can still build and improve your company culture.
With that said, here are four guiding tips on nurturing your remote company culture:
1. Create Supportive Leaders
MIT discovered supportive leaders are one of the top areas in work culture that matter most to employees.
Supportive leaders help team members receive the resources they need to put their best foot forward. Research indicates there is a link between supportive leadership and employees’ physical, social, and psychological well-being.
In your upcoming leadership meetings, make it a habit to emphasize support, which, from a leadership standpoint, can be manifested in various ways, such as:
- Accommodating individual needs (e.g., childcare needs, learning and development courses, etc.)
- Offering encouragement
- Showing support over employees’ decisions and goals
- Responding to requests promptly
- Reinforcing company culture and helping employees find ways to embody those values
Leaders may want to consider having frequent 1:1 discussions with their team members to achieve the action items above. As an HR leader, carve out more time for leadership development workshops to keep each other accountable in offering supportive leadership and upholding company culture.
2. Encourage Employees to Find Meaningful Work
Purpose matters. Nine out of 10 employees are willing to make less money if it means they’re doing meaningful work.
As a company, discuss what makes work meaningful. These conversations can further refine your company culture and keep employees connected on a deeper level despite the physical distance.
Here are some additional ways to help employees find meaningful work:
- Remind them of the mission of your organization. What aspects of the mission are they most passionate about? Are there opportunities for an employee to get involved more directly in these passions?
- Remind people how valuable their work is. Recognize them with specific compliments that express how they fulfill company culture and outcomes.
- Have managers lead by example. Encourage leaders to share the purpose they find in their roles. This can motivate employees to do the same.
3. Focus on Camaraderie
Loneliness is noted as the second-biggest struggle with remote work. Not to mention, many employees express they miss in-person meetings and socializing with coworkers face to face.
Boost your remote work culture by nurturing camaraderie. Here are a few viable tips to get you started:
- Recognize and reward. Without recognition and rewards, employees feel undervalued and invisible. Meaningful employee rewards and recognition programs can create a company culture where employees get recognized often. Not to mention, it can boost retention by 63 percent.
Awardco can help you automate your rewards and recognition program and offer meaningful remote employee gift ideas. Gain access to remote employee incentive software today.
- Arrange community- and team-building activities. Depending on where your remote employees are located, try discovering local organizations for which you can collectively volunteer. Or, you can opt to find remote activities.
Here are some ideas for remote activities:
- “Show-and-learn” sessions: These can be personal or professional. Personal show-and-learns might entail giving a tour of your home office or a personal project you’ve been working on (now is the perfect time to show off that 1000-piece puzzle you just finished!). Professional show-and-learns might involve sharing outcomes of one’s quarterly goals or a “lunch and learn” that involves a guest speaker discussing health and wellness topics.
- Virtual coffee or lunch meetups: Have coffee or lunch virtually. Consider mixing up teams by connecting individuals that don’t usually work together. This can encourage people to get to know new people and eliminate existing silos.
- Host remote workshops/classes: Team members might share similar personal or professional development goals. Group these individuals and find workshops or classes that appeal to them.
4. Leverage Digital Collaboration Tools
Spearhead all of the tips above and more with the help of reliable digital platforms. Roughly 80 percent of employees used digital collaboration tools in 2021.
Relying on digital tools can help you build a strong culture rooted in communication, collaboration, and problem-solving. Employees will have an easier time staying connected with their colleagues.
Here are some common digital tools companies are using:
- Slack for personal and professional communication
- Google Docs/Sheets for documentation and tutorials
- Asana for project management
- Zoom for meetings and company updates
- Recognize and Reward from Awardco for employee rewards and recognition programs
Whatever you decide to use, specify which tools are used for each purpose so everyone is on the same page and understands how to use them to their best advantage.
Bolster Your Remote Company Culture With Awardco
Reimagining your employee reward and recognition program at your organization begins here. In these unprecedented times, it’s essential to have reliable resources at your side to help you celebrate your employees’ career milestones.
We have access to reward and recognition platforms that can save you time, all while nurturing authentic relationships with your team. Reach out to the Awardco team and request your demo today.
An avid lover of fantasy books, a proud Hufflepuff, and a strong proponent of escapism, Jeff has a love of good storytelling. He relies on that for both his professional work and his writing hobby (don’t ask about the 10+ novel ideas collecting virtual dust on his computer).
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