As businesses embrace remote work models, understanding the importance of remote work culture has never been more vital. A well-established remote work culture shapes how employees interact and collaborate. It also creates a sense of belonging and commitment to the organization, also known as employee engagement. According to a study by Gallup, organizations with strong employee engagement see a 17% increase in employee productivity, a 21% increase in profitability and a significant drop in turnover.
Explore five proven ways to improve your organization's remote culture, including what constitutes a remote work culture and its benefits.
What is remote work culture?
Remote work culture is the way a company defines, supports and encourages its employees to work remotely. Many people associate workplace culture with the organization’s values and how employees interact, which is an important aspect of remote work culture. However, organizations that excel at remote work culture make positive remote work conditions a priority through their policies, technology and practices.
What does it mean to create a strong remote work culture?
It’s not enough for an organization to give remote teams a laptop and tell them they can work from home. Companies must equip remote workers with clear policies, functional technology and ample support to thrive. While much of remote work culture arises organically, this intentional approach to remote work creates a strong culture that serves as a solid foundation for the entire organization.
For remote work to succeed, organizations must center remote work in every aspect of their operations. This includes a “digital-first” attitude, whether an organization is remote-first or remote-friendly. Supervisors, managers and leaders must embrace technologies that bring employees together and remove barriers to productivity and collaboration. Employees must have a clear understanding of what’s expected and how to complete their work. Human resources and management must have resources to support remote employees to keep problems from arising.
Benefits of a strong remote work culture
Companies that offer remote work should focus on building a strong remote culture because it offers several benefits for both the employees and the company.
1. Boosts collaboration
Good remote work culture helps employees stay connected even when not working in the office together, which can improve collaboration. Building trust and understanding each other is one of the biggest challenges employees face when working remotely. Companies that prioritize collaboration tools, communication technology and employee interactions empower remote employees to build relationships with each other so they work better together.
2. Increases productivity
Focusing on remote work culture enables employees to be more productive. Remote employees equipped with the right tools, policies and technology spend less time trying to find solutions to remote issues and more time working on their tasks.
3. Opens up creativity and innovation
When employees feel supported and capable of doing their work, they have more time and motivation to think of creative solutions to their daily tasks or organizational challenges. Engaged remote workers are more likely to come up with innovative ideas and know how to communicate them effectively to the right team members.
4. Improves job satisfaction
Happy employees are productive, creative and committed employees. According to Glassdoor, 65% of millennial employees think company culture beats a higher salary for creating job satisfaction while 52% of their colleagues over 45 feel the same way. Creating a strong remote work culture is a large part of keeping remote employees satisfied.
5. Enhances customer service and satisfaction
Remote workers who are fully equipped to do their jobs effectively and are happy to be there provide better customer service. They have more time to spend on customer issues, come up with more creative solutions and even speak to customers with more patience.
6. Reduces turnover and absenteeism
A supportive remote workplace reduces employee turnover and absenteeism by making employees feel valued and empowering them to do their best work. Engaged employees feel more committed to their work, their colleagues and their organization, even if they don’t see them in the office every day.
7. Widens applicant pool for new positions
Strong remote work culture means your organization has the infrastructure in place to hire from anywhere. This gives your company access to a larger applicant pool for new positions and allows teams to focus on hiring the best employees without having to consider how close they are to an office.
8. Increases ability to offer flexible work arrangements
When your organization has a strong remote cultural base, your leadership has more trust in employees to do their work. This allows the organization to offer flexible work arrangements with confidence to suit employee preferences and needs.
5 Strategies for enhancing remote work culture
Developing remote work culture takes intention and planning. Here are five steps to enhance your organization’s remote work culture.
1. Prioritize trust and transparency
In remote work environments, transparency breeds trust. Leadership must clearly communicate decisions, processes and changes to reduce uncertainty and build credibility among employees.A survey from Paychex showed 84.2% of employees said they were satisfied with their jobs when their employers were more transparent.
At the same time, managers must learn to trust their employees to do their jobs remotely and resist the urge to micromanage. Implementing productivity monitoring software like ActivTrak equips managers and supervisors with real-time data on employee work and performance to set their minds at ease. Employers should also provide clear communication channels for employees to give feedback and show employees they take their concerns seriously.
2. Create a clear remote work policy
Employees must understand what the organization expects from them when they’re working remotely, as well as what processes and procedures they must follow. Establish a clear remote work policy that outlines how the company supports remote work, including expectations and consequences.
It’s a good idea to use a remote policy template to build your policy while keeping in mind specifics of your industry and organization. Some important items to address include:
- Expected work hours
- Communication channels and chains of contact
- Approved technology and tools
- Role expectations
- Training and education resources
3. Implement remote-focused tools
It’s important to choose the right remote tools and technology for your remote workforce to sustain a healthy remote work culture. Workers need to communicate effectively, collaborate on projects and complete tasks seamlessly, regardless of where they’re logged in. Video calls, direct chat, email, file sharing and project management are all methods remote-first companies use to empower employees in a remote setting.
Your organization and workforce will have their own needs, but you can expect to need tools for productivity, time management, communication, collaboration, security and privacy. At the same time, employees need to know how to use these tools effectively, so consider training programs and ease-of-use when evaluating remote technology.
4. Build a remote-focused onboarding experience
Onboarding at any organization makes all the difference in employee success. The right remote onboarding program gives employees a clear idea of their roles and responsibilities, how they fit into the company culture and where to find answers to their questions. It’s important to establish clear documentation for employees to refer to later, lines of communication for questions and realistic timelines for new employees to get up to speed.
Because remote employees usually can’t meet in person, it’s important to provide employees with contacts they can trust from the start. Assigning buddies and HR representatives tasked with guiding the employee through their first steps at the company is a great way to enhance remote onboarding processes.
5. Establish regular check-ins and collect feedback
Regular check-ins provide a platform for managers and team members to discuss progress, challenges and any issues that arise. Open, consistent dialogues facilitate feedback and strengthen relationships. Research from McKinsey has shown connected teams are more productive by up to 25%.
Establishing routines for feedback ensures employees feel supported and motivated to perform their best, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. They also know when and how to communicate with their leadership or supervisors, which reduces stress in a remote environment. When employers address feedback effectively and recognize employee input, remote workers are more likely to feel as if their contributions matter.
Build a strong remote work culture with ActivTrak
Improving remote culture requires intention and planning, including prioritizing clear communication, employee engagement, trust and wellness initiatives. Businesses that address these areas cultivate a thriving remote work culture that enhances employee satisfaction, productivity and overall organizational success.
Take your company’s remote culture to the next level with ActivTrak’s workforce management solution. Leverage comprehensive insights and analytics to monitor and enhance employee productivity and well-being. Gain visibility into how work gets done, inform key decisions and optimize outcomes with our award-winning workforce analytics cloud. Join the 9,500+ customers who trust ActivTrak's solutions for managing hybrid & remote workforces, monitoring employee productivity and much more. Contact our sales team today to learn how we can help you build a thriving remote work culture that drives success.
