The pandemic creates distinct challenges for businesses when a significant portion of their employees are working remotely. For some businesses, company culture is becoming non-existent, but this problem is avoidable.
Why Company Culture Matters More Than Ever
Many businesses invest years of time and money developing the culture they believe will give them a strategic edge in their marketplace. Employees are a significant part of that investment.that can commit to a company’s goals and methods is critical for weathering the long-term ups and downs most industries face.
As the pandemic progresses into the new year, working from home is becoming a norm. Although some personalities thrive in a remote environment, any number of disengaged employees can disrupt a company’s culture and potentially impact its bottom line.
New Approaches To Maintaining Company Culture
Keeping teams invested in a company’s mission can seem daunting when staff members communicate with each other remotely. Managers have a unique opportunity to show their teams how their companies’ goals and standards are adaptable to changing circumstances.
Marketing leader Eyal Gutentag encourages virtual brainstorming sessions that allow employees to decide how to apply their company values outside of their business’s realm. Mr. Gutentag, whose career as a performance marketing expert makes him an insightful strategist during difficult times, also recommends that companies revaluate their hiring processes. For example, companies can avoid investing valuable resources in individuals who are not the right fit by strictly adhering to trial periods with stringent, carefully defined benchmarks.
Rethinking Employee Training Methods
As employees spend their workdays in front of their computers without physical interaction with team members, new hires may experience a particularly challenging learning curve. Managers can help new staff absorb a company’s culture by providing digital copies of employee handbooks, scheduling virtual staff introductions, creating virtual training sessions and office tours, checking in daily and regularly eliciting feedback.
Communication Is Critical
During a pandemic, transparent communication is more critical than ever before. Data from reveal that employees give the highest marks to companies whose leadership communicates openly, frequently and proactively with their team members. Whereas communication is typically not a factor for rating company culture, it is a principal determinant for defining it during the pandemic.
The pandemic may mean a permanent change to how companies manage their workforces and daily operations, but this does not mean that they must sacrifice their culture.