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How do you retain your company culture when you have a remote workforce?
Retaining who you are and what is important to the company is more challenging when you aren’t in the same physical space on a regular basis.
Yet, many companies with international teams and other remote situations have been successfully enjoying solid culture throughout their organizations for years.
How do they do it?
Intentionality.
The best companies know that culture is what makes or breaks them. Culture defines who you are as a company – your corporate identity. It sets the standard and tone for the way your workforce works together. It’s what gives people a shared identity – a team, a sense of belonging. And it’s the glue that holds people together when the going gets tough.
But when people aren’t in the same physical environment on a daily basis, adopting and sharing the same tone and standards in thoughts, behaviors and actions can be challenging.
A remote or hybrid environment calls for being more “on purpose.” And this is not a bad thing. Many companies have lost their culture because they have simply taken it for granted. Setting intentionality is what will revive this, whether there is a remote component to your workforce or not.
Here are some things to consider as you seek to reinforce culture with a remote workforce.
Add virtual ways to share the company story and tell it often.
As you revisit your values, norms, and priorities in light of considering a remote and hybrid workforce, realize that the way you do things may change, but it doesn’t change who you are and what you stand for.
At the same time, you will want to seek to make your company story memorable in creative ways more frequently and in different ways to emphasize identity.
Look for seminal touchpoints to share this, such as announcing company-wide changes, annual meetings, company marketing collateral, and key celebrations. Include virtual ways to strengthen this, such as online meetings, video interviews and story markers in communications and at the bottom of email messaging, shared drives, and chat mechanisms.
Define what it means to live company values.
Most companies outline their values, but they don’t take the time to define what these look like in action. For example, if one of your company core values is creativity, what should that look like in behaviors, actions, work, relationships, outcomes, etc.?
You and your executive team should be firm on what all of your core values look like in action. Further, take the time to discuss what these might mean and how they might show up in a virtual or remote setting.
Test these thoughts with your employees for feedback and buy-in – this is key. Then decide how you can weave this into your communications, your meetings and other touchpoints, and how to integrate this into your performance standards.
Communicate with greater intention.
This means not only increasing your communication, but heightening the way that you connect, such as using video when touching base virtually.
Be sure that you set expectations around your communication methods and protocols so …read more
Source:: Los Angeles Daily News
