Working from Home in 2021: A Culture Shift
There’s no questioning it—the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread work-from-home movement has created a massive culture shift that will leave permanent marks on corporate culture.
A company’s culture is the organization’s values, ideals, attitudes, and goals, so it’s really no surprise that it’s shifted due to recent events. Especially since many of us, as individuals, have re-evaluated our priorities and life goals in the last year.
Working from Home: The New Normal?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only seven percent of U.S. workers had access to a
“flexible workplace” benefit or were able to work remotely before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, all that changed last March. Now, according to Pew Research, 71 percent are working from home; and studies show that the days of physically reporting to an office five days per week is likely over.
How Working from Home is Changing Corporate Culture
More than likely, many companies will adopt a hybrid model where employees report to the office 2-3 days per week and work from home on the other days. However, this arrangement makes the organization of the work week, employee engagement, how work is completed, and how office space is utilized more complicated.
Executives will need to consider the specific job an employee performs, personality, experience, and timing when deciding who will work in the office and when. This will also pose challenges to corporate culture and leaves executives to figure out how they can continue to foster the culture they desire while employees are not physically together.
Maintaining or building a positive remote culture will require assertive leaders who can adapt their management style to engage different types of employees.
Why It Is Important to Preserve Your Company’s Culture
A strong company culture helps an organization to attract and retain top talent, unite coworkers, and increase employee engagement. Additionally, it tends to increase employee productivity, and benefit the company’s bottom line.
Tips for Maintaining Company Culture While Working from Home
According to Hinge Research Institute, 57 percent of job seekers consider culture just as important as pay when accepting a position, and 75 percent of recruiters said that culture fit is more important than a candidate’s work history and experience.
To preserve your company’s culture while your team works remotely, you need to foster a virtual environment in which employees still feel connected.
1. Focus on the culture you want.
A workplace culture exists, regardless of if you intentionally fostered one, or not. If you are happy with the one you have, continue to encourage it, and find ways to reinforce the atmosphere in a virtual environment. However, if you don’t like your current culture, it is important to discuss it with leaders on all levels, as well as employees, and brainstorm concrete actions everyone can take to build the desired culture.
2. Foster trust in your team.
Being a helicopter boss will stomp out your team’s motivation, productivity, and satisfaction. However, when you treat your employees with respect and demonstrate that you trust them, they will usually rise to the occasion.
Rather than constantly checking in with employees, utilize a project management tool like Microsoft Teams, Trello, Asana or Slack to track progress on projects and eliminate the need to reach out in order to get an update on how something is progressing.
3. Encourage work-life balance and offer flexibility.
During these uncertain times, work-life balance and flexibility is more important than ever. It is harder to draw a line between work life and your personal life when you are working at your kitchen table. Additionally, employees with kids may be struggling to homeschool and/or parent without their normal childcare arrangements.
To encourage your employees and make them feel heard and supported during this time, be sure to acknowledge their hard work, sacrifices, and flexibility. Additionally, offer them options to work at flexible times during the day (and maybe even during the weekend).
4. Support personal care.
The importance of mental health and self-care has come to the forefront in the last year as everyone’s lives have changed. Leaders can support their teams’ mental health by practicing empathy, consideration, and gratitude every day. Additionally, offering self-care days and other resources will prove beneficial.
5. Be transparent.
Transparency is important to a positive workplace culture during normal times, but during COVID, it is critical. Employees want to know how the company is doing and if they have job security—and subsequently, financial security. Leadership needs to be open and honest with their teams to develop trust and feelings of transparency and security. If they do not, employees will feel nervous, and culture will suffer—big time!
Transparency also includes the documentation of everything and making that documentation accessible to all employees on a cloud platform. Additionally, all meetings, conferences and trainings should be accessible to all employees and stored in a place that everyone has access to.
6. Go virtual. Just because your company is working virtually, doesn’t mean you can’t do everything you did in person. It is essential to a positive workplace culture to continue hosting learning and growth opportunities for your employees, which may include virtual workshops and conferences, and hiring a third-party coach to further their development. Additionally, managers at every level should still be hosting weekly team meetings and one-on-ones with everyone on their team.
Despite significant changes to the corporate world, it is possible to foster a positive company culture and help employees feel engaged and connected while working from home.