Employees have traditionally valued a positive work environment: According to a 2019 Glassdoor survey, 56% of workers believe that company culture is more crucial to job happiness than money.
But businesses are also concerned about culture because they know that happy employees are more productive and engaged. A 2019 Gallup study found that engaged teams saw a 14% boost in productivity and an 81% drop in absenteeism.
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So, what is the most effective strategy to create a positive workplace culture in a remote setting?
Here are some measures that businesses can implement to support the work culture in a remote workplace.
1. Have a transparent remote work policy
Employees have the legal right to seek remote work in several nations (such the Netherlands and Ireland). Many companies have included a similar right in their HR policies, even in cases where it is not required by law. Employees will inevitably be upset if remote work is arbitrarily or unfairly denied, even though the freedom to request remote work does not obligate the employer to grant it. This increases employee turnover and adversely affects productivity.
To promote a healthy culture of remote work, there must be clear, concise, and fairly implemented rules about who can work remotely.
2. Turn the right to disconnect into an obligation to disconnect
A “right to disconnect,” which has its origins in France, allows employees the freedom to decline job requests made outside of regular business hours.
This is a reflection of an increasing trend over the years when workers feel forced to stay “connected” and online outside of their regular working hours. This rule applies to both 9 to 5 employees and those who work during paid time off.
Because of the rise in remote work, employers must exercise extra caution over this matter because there is a greater likelihood that workers may put in extra time because it is harder to track their hours.
3. Enable async work, where appropriate
Async work is when employees operate primarily autonomously and without frequently “synchronizing” their work with coworkers in real time. The main benefit of async work is its ability to increase productivity since workers who benefit from intense focus have fewer workflow disruptions.
Of course, async work is not ideal in every situation; for instance, customer service representatives must unavoidably reply to inquiries from clients immediately. But where it makes sense, async and remote work models function well together. Many of the office-based distractions that hinder async work are eliminated while working remotely.