The spread of the coronavirus exacerbated the growth of remote work in the United States and around the world. But prior to the pandemic, studies showed that remote work was already on the rise. In fact, surveys demonstrated that many Americans were willing to sacrifice a portion of their salary if it offered remote work benefits.
Remote work isn’t just beneficial to employees; it also helps business owners, too. Remote work helps companies save money, gain access to stellar content around the world, increase productivity, and offer better disaster preparedness. But with all its benefits, there are some drawbacks you have to consider. However, understanding them will help you make the most of them.
One of the biggest challenges businesses face when building a remote team is the ability to build uniformity and loyalty across the entire organization. An in-office environment offers the ability to build loyalty organically, but when it comes to remote work, you have to engineer and guide your employees in that direction. With that in mind, here’s how you can build employee loyalty in a remote work environment:
Host Virtual Team Building Events
Team building is an integral part of any successful remote work program. Virtual team building events are inherently and strategically designed to reinforce a shared team identity, rekindle their passion, grow relationships among employees, and more. There are plenty of different activities to choose from and many companies, including Confetti, Outback Team Building, The Off Site Co, and much more.
Each of these platforms offers dozens of activities, including virtual scavenger hunts, coworker game show feuds, lip-sync karaoke, and happy hours. Ask your employees to vote on the type of activities they’d like to participate in and put together a rotating group to help plan those activities on a consistent basis.
Add a Tangible Element
Remote work completely eliminates the tangible elements of company culture. But there are unique ways you can infuse it into your remote workforce. There are plenty of ways to achieve this. For example, why not send your entire team branded union hats, t-shirts, or tote bags. You can also send postcards to your teammates or encourage a monthly round-robin gift club to your team (offer a small monthly stipend to promote it). Or, send useful, customized gifts depending on the nature of your business. Lastly, you can also create event bags to correspond with the virtual events you host.
Consider Culture Fit
It’s important for you to consider culture fit when hiring for your company. Understanding whether someone is a good culture fit for your company can make it much easier to build loyalty among your employees and increase retention. If you pride yourself in cultivating a laid-back atmosphere that’s open and transparent, it might not make sense to hire someone with a corporate background that’s accustomed to a suit-and-tie infrastructure.
To ensure that you’re attracting that align with your culture, establish a set of business values and establish how they align with the role you’re hiring for. List your company values in your job advertisement and on your website and ask questions during your interview that relates to those values.
Plan a Company Retreat
Your business might be fully remote, but you can always plan an annual company retreat to bring the team together. Pick a venue and get started with logistics; perhaps rent a cabin and plan fun winter activities or opt for a summer beach house where your co-workers can spend their free time lounging and laughing in the sand. Whatever, the case, employee retreats are one of the most effective ways to build loyalty in your organization.
First and foremost, it gives employees the opportunity to get to know one another in a more intimate way. There’s a certain novelty to meeting team members that you’ve only talked to through video conferencing and messaging tools. But it also gives your team the time to reflect on the year that’s passed and talk candidly and professional about the business’s goals for the future.
On the same note, company retreats are a great way to reinforce your belief in your team and reduce stress. It offers a great opportunity to disconnect from the tools you so normally rely on to communicate and build more personal relationships.
