Companies that inspire loyalty are those that cultivate creative expression, communication, and a feeling of purpose among workers.
In a podcast episode called “Why Workers Can’t Get Enough Hours, Even in a Jobs Boom ,” The Wall Street Journal examined the challenges of the current job market. The dominant narrative is that companies have plenty of openings and not enough workers or that workers are too picky or fickle. While the latter is debatable, the former is explainable. The job market is in a cycle and the simplified version of that cycle is that some companies over-hire to combat high turnover rates and then workers can’t get enough hours to make ends meet and quit. While there are financial benefits to companies that keep worker hours low, it does encourage turnover. That business model may work for some environments, but if you want to have a culture that workers will sacrifice pay increases to stay in, you’ll need to take a different approach.
You don’t need something like Pixar’s cereal bar, but that feeling? That’s worth emulating. After all, the experience your workers have working with and for your company affects not just their quality of lives but your business overall, too. It’s worth noting that good people practices make for good business, too.
Don’t misunderstand: A positive company culture is more than ping pong in the break room or free bagel Fridays. In fact, you don’t need a break room, or even a central workspace at all, to have a constructive company culture. Fostering culture within a physical space is one thing, but more and more, we need to be able to nurture culture for a remote workforce.
Here Are Some Ways to Establish And Nurture a Culture That Inspires Loyalty
Integrate Culture Into Interviews And On-boarding
One way to maintain and strengthen your company’s culture is to start from day one. Provide a culture orientation that introduces new team members to what they can expect from their experience. Whatever form the message takes, it should include your mission statement and core values and examples of the culture in action.
Share this information with prospective hires and new team members as part of the on-boarding process. Put your values in writing and train your hiring managers and staffing or crewing agency to make sure potential workers are a good fit for both the role and the culture. Just like an older sibling can sometimes be more effective than a parent, peer mentoring can be more effective than relying on the manager. Consider instituting a program where teammates on-board each other and train new members on the brand. By integrating your culture from the very first touchpoint, you can set it up for success — no matter how many miles separate teammates.
Foster Communication
In co-located offices, important information often gets exchanged in break rooms, hallways, impromptu meetings, and during after-work drinks. With a remote team, you have to go out of your way to overcome the “water cooler gap.” Digital spaces such as Slack encourage teammates to connect and collaborate. There’s no doubt it’s a completely different environment than an email chain.
Tools such as video conferencing, instant messaging, and online collaboration methods like Zoom and Google Hangouts can help shrink the miles. Detailed meeting notes and recorded discussions can help make sure the right people are in the loop, even if they’re in different time zones. On the flip side, eliminate unnecessary meetings which can cause disengagement and drain people’s energy.
Use Tools That Reflect And Support Your Culture
Just like connections, the personality and culture of co-located offices develop through the interactions in any environment. It evolves through the proverbial water cooler talks, whiteboard sessions, inside jokes, and shared experiences. Your remote team (or team of short-term contractors) can develop something similar through the tools you use every day. Adopt tools and processes that will foster communication and serve as an extension and vehicle of the culture.
Engage Workers
Another way you can help maintain company culture across your remote workforce is by creating opportunities for social interaction and employee engagement. While a weekly happy hour wouldn’t be realistic, something like a virtual book club could be. Or if you’re aiming to build camaraderie or foster teamwork, you could host a monthly game night where workers team up for an online video game tournament.
It doesn’t have to be all fun and games. You could host monthly lunch-and-learns over Zoom or Google Hangouts, or you could create a Slack channel for workers to celebrate each other’s accomplishments. You might also consider implementing weekly video updates where you share company-wide news, birthday announcements, or whatever’s culturally relevant to your organization. There are countless ways you can engage remote workers. Find what works for your team and make it a habit.
The Bottom Line
It’s worth investing your remote workforce’s culture. Companies with strong cultures tend to see higher rates of productivity, be more profitable, and retain top talent. Thankfully, you don’t need a headquarters to reap the benefits of positive company culture. Learn how partnering with PayReel to manage your contingent workforce can free up your resources to focus on strengthening your culture and bottom line.
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