How Do You Build Culture In A Remote Work Environment?

Increasing employee engagement and improving your business outcomes are natural outgrowths of strong company culture.

You probably already have a sense of culture’s importance in the workplace. When the team gathered under one roof, things were easier if everybody got along and had a positive attitude. A friendly, collaborative environment cuts down on the inevitable squabbles and conflicts that happen whenever people are in close proximity.

But even though your remote workforce isn’t required to gather in a physical location, they do need to gather around a common team goal. For that reason, culture is just as important for remote teams as it is for in-office teams.

Great Culture Drives An Engaged Workforce

Gallup succinctly defines culture as “how we do things around here” and says engagement is the “performance aspect of culture.” In other words, employees are more engaged when “how we do things around here” has the added effect of supporting their success.

But why is a culture that encourages employee engagement important?

Gallup found that companies whose employees are engaged perform better on several metrics. Engaged workforces experience 81% less absenteeism. They encounter 41% fewer quality defects and enjoy a 10% boost in customer loyalty. Engagement drives up productivity and profitability by 18% and 23%, respectively.

Clearly, engaged employees contribute to your company’s success. But just as “culture” can seem elusive, pinning down the qualities of culture that improve engagement can be tricky. A survey from Gallup that asked engaged employees to describe their workplace may help. The most used words—friendly, family, caring, and supportive—suggest a culture that encourages engagement does so by making employees feel valued.

Feeling Valued Is Key To A Culture Of Engagement

An experiment at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania demonstrates just how much tying value to work boosts business outcomes. The study examined how the employees at the university’s call center could increase the amount of donations they were able to elicit. Turns out, demonstrating the value of their work increased engagement for a team beset with high turnover amid frequent rejection.

Employees met with the students whose scholarships were made possible by the call center’s fundraising activities. During the following month productivity—and donations—soared. Employees who met scholarship students spent twice as many minutes on the phone. The weekly average for donations more than doubled, from $185.94 to $503.22.

Engaging your employees and making them feel valued is key to creating a strong culture for your remote team. But as we’ve learned with other leadership strategies, the methods you use to increase engagement for your remote team will be different than those for your in-office team.

Characteristics Of Cultures That Boost Engagement

Gallup defines four key characteristics of workplace cultures that increase engagement. Using these characteristics, we’ll break down a list of strategies tailored for the remote workforce.

Warm Relationships: Connections are at the heart of an engaged workforce. But fostering these connections for your remote team can be tough.

• Create guidelines for managers that go beyond performance metrics. When remote employees experience a personal crisis, it’s more likely to go unnoticed. If managers engage with their team on a personal level, they can step in with appropriate support. Flowers from the company when a loved one passes or a call from HR to discuss FMLA options when a spouse is ill will make remote employees feel valued.

Honesty: Engaged workers describe honest interactions with both their co-workers and their leaders.

• Managers and other members of the leadership team need to be especially proactive to create an environment conducive to honest communication in remote teams. Honesty is sometimes difficult and a lack of face-to-face interactions can make indirectness or outright evasion tempting. Leaders must emphasize the importance of honesty, model it, and support it when situations arise. When leaders cultivate honesty through action, workers will internalize its value and feel safe to practice honesty themselves. 

Shared Accountability and Performance: Engaged workers report that their team members share accountability. Everyone wins together or loses together.

• Create a digital place where all employees and their teams, both remote and in-office, can enjoy recognition. Make this digital space your company’s primary banner for employee achievements. By adapting your recognition policy, your remote employees are more likely to feel valued.

Alignment on Shared Goals: Everyone works together toward common goals.

• Connect your remote employees’ contributions to the company’s mission and purpose. Just like with the university’s call center, find tangible ways to convey the importance of every employee’s contribution. For example, when a customer has a positive experience calling customer support, let the remote IT team know that their work “behind the scenes” helps representatives troubleshoot problems.

Whether you cultivate it or not, your company has a culture. From employee retention to product quality to profitability, having a positive company culture that increases employee engagement will improve your business outcomes. 

But like every other aspect of managing a remote team, you’ll need strategies adapted to the unique challenges of a workforce that doesn’t gather in a physical location. You can overcome these challenges by creating remote-friendly strategies to cultivate the four key characteristics of a culture that encourages engagement.

Find out how HCC can help and support your business by building a culture of engagement.