How To Build A Company Culture Remotely

Over the past decade, it has become clear that "company culture" is more than a hot business buzz phrase. Developing and nurturing a distinct and strong workplace culture has become vital to a modern company's success. The best company cultures today focus on the business's purpose, vision, mission and values, using these elements to inspire employees to join forces and stay true to the brand and its commitment to serving its customers' needs.

Alternatively, without a powerful remote work culture, companies might experience poor communication, low employee morale, decreased productivity and high turnover rates.

It's clearly worth it to investing in developing a unique and upbeat company culture for remote, hybrid and on-site employees.

You might wonder how to build a company culture remotely. There are certainly some unique challenges to creating the cohesive culture that you and your employees want and need, but there are some great ways you can do it while allowing everyone to reap the benefits.

We have some ideas to help you develop a functional and friendly company culture that ultimately drives employee satisfaction and retention,as well as your business's ongoing productivity and profits.

1. Define and develop your company culture

Work with your company leadership and marketing professionals to define your unique company culture that aligns with your brand.

A few things your company culture should focus on include your:

• Mission, values, goals and brand story
• Communication protocols
• Definition of a good cultural fit

Once complete, your remote company culture manual should be documented and easily shareable through an openly accessible document such as an infographic or a slide deck. This way, you can easily refer to the manual any time you hire a new remote employee on your own or with the support of a staffing agency.

Keep in mind that your remote company culture shouldn't remain static. Monitor industry trends and the trends you note within your company to make adjustments that ensure your remote employees feel included as a distinct part of your team.

2. Promote active remote employee engagement

You will need to find the right balance for your remote workers to foster company culture. While it might seem challenging to find ways to promote active employee engagement remotely, businesses do it successfully each day.

Here are some of our favourite remote worker engagement strategies you might try:

• Use tools such as a video conferencing platform like Microsoft Teams or Zoom for regular sessions.
• Establish clear expectations.
• Assign accountability partners, whether on-site or among fellow remote workers.
• Celebrate employee and company victories.
• Encourage work-life balance.
• Create opportunities for in-person events.

In addition to these, consider giving personalised leaving gifts to recognise contributions and maintain a sense of connection, even when employees move on. These leaving gifts can be tokens of appreciation that can reinforce the lasting impact of an individual’s work, and enhance morale across the team.

3. Ask for remote employee feedback

You've probably noted a theme as far as communication, but it is the most pivotal component of a remote culture's success. Asking for remote employee feedback by sending effective employee surveys will provide you with crucial quantitative and qualitative data to continue improving your remote company culture. You might ask questions about how employees feel about the following:

• The quality of communication and collaboration
• How included they feel
• Whether they feel productive enough

Summing Up

The remote workplace has become a crucial part of the modern business landscape and offers you and your employees fantastic opportunities to enjoy the best of all worlds together. We hope these tips help you in your mission to build a company culture remotely, brimming with satisfaction and benefits for everyone.

Swoon is one of the fastest-growing talent and consulting firms in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Mexico with an expanding client roster of Fortune 1000 companies, Best-of Awards, and legions of talent in our network. We are a WBENC-certified company founded by industry leaders with 100+ years of combined experience in temporary and direct-hire placements. We are your expert partner in hiring swoon-worthy talent.