Keeping a Healthy Company Culture Throughout Remote Working

Whether your company had already shifted to this way of working pre-COVID, or whether they were forced to adapt to this new way of life, there’s no doubt about it but remote working is here to stay. It is important not to forget that employees can easily feel disconnected if they are not looked after. Having a strong company culture plays a big role in maintaining a positive and healthy workforce. Below are a few tips which can help to manage or increase this

Focus and Emphasise on the Desired Culture You Wish to Develop

You can start by communicating the company values across all employee levels. Culture develops over a period of time and, maybe you already have a culture that you are happy with. In that case, you can take measures to strengthen it by suitably modifying it for remote working, such as organising virtual employee appreciation events using online platforms.

In addition, encouraging autonomy and trustworthiness within your company culture is vital. A recent Deloitte study found that 85% of Australian employees believe that managers should place their trust in employees when completing tasks remotely.

Be Transparent and Honest

Transparency and honesty are a must to uphold in company culture with regards to remote working. It is not only for the top-level but for employees at all levels. Being transparent and honest will help you to build trust among your employees. Once employees are well informed about any company news or announcements, the risks of fear spreading and rumours are minimal.

Encourage Communication

You may have noticed that the guessing is higher in remote working than in a traditional office space. Thus, it is vital to create effective communication channels throughout the company. For example, you can use chats in Skype for business or Teamwork to communicate progress, results or simple things such as having to duck out for an appointment.

Promote Flexible Working

Since the traditional ways of working can no longer be carried out, remote working has become a big part of our way of life. With this can come the expectation that people remain productive during their core work hours. The reality is that this can not always be done. Parents working from home with kids face this challenge on a regular basis. Promoting flexible working can relieve the unnecessary stress and burden, and thus increase happiness and productivity among employees.

There are obviously many more actions that organisations can take in order to maintain a strong and healthy company culture. Hopefully by implementing these changes can prove to make a difference moving forward. Everyone prefers to work at a place knowing they are looked after and where they know their employer has their best interest.