How to Include Remote Employees in Your Company Culture

Rick Goodman — November 18, 2016 Follow @DrRickGoodman

It used to be that people who worked together were more or less always under the same roof, sharing office space for a good chunk of their days. Today, that’s less true. Thanks to advances in online communication and collaboration, it’s easier than ever for employers to hire remote workers, allowing them to get their tasks done from the comfort of their own home or apartment.

This can be mutually beneficial. Not only is working from home a great perk, and an effective way to attract top talents, but the right kind of employee can be far more productive and focused when working from home. Meanwhile, having a remote team can reduce overhead expenses. There is one downside, though, and it’s simply this: Having remote employees makes it much more difficult to build a coherent company culture.

This is truest of all when you have one team working together in the same space, but also a handful of employees who are working from home. Bringing them into the fold, and involving them in your company culture, is necessary to preserve your vision, your values, and the unity of your employee base.

Here are a few suggestions I’d make:

• Build face-time into your company’s routine. You may not see all your people every single day, but do make sure you see all of them at regular company get-togethers, holiday parties, and retreats. Consider conducting all your employee reviews face-to-face, as well.
  
• Remote team-building sessions can also bring people together, without asking them to leave their homes. Consider hosting a webinar “lunch and learn” event for your team members, allowing them to come together, albeit remotely, and apply their minds to a topic of shared interest.
  
• Have an understanding that some employees thrive in the remote environment, but others don’t—and you can usually tell pretty quickly when an employee needs the interaction of the workplace. If you have an employee who clearly feeds off the energy of others, encourage that team member not to work remotely, if at all possible.

Your team doesn’t have to share geography to be unified, and to feel together. These brief tips should help you accomplish just that.

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