Company culture is critical to any organization’s success. It instills uniform values and ethics, shapes employee behavior and customer relations, and aligns workers with a shared goal. With the rise of remote and hybrid work models, companies should consider embracing new approaches to ensure everyone is connected and involved.
“If you want remote workers to embrace your culture, you have to ensure every connection you have with them has a purpose and that managers at every level are constantly looking at ways to build connections with their teams.”
John King President, Solairus Aviation
“Employees learn about a company’s culture through engagement, and that principle doesn’t change whether they are in the office every day or working remotely,” said Solairus Aviation President John King. “What changes is how a company connects with its workers. Here, the typical slow-roll approach doesn’t resonate with remote workers. If you want remote workers to embrace your culture, you have to ensure every connection you have with them has a purpose and that managers at every level are constantly looking at ways to build connections with their teams.”
With many of his employees located far from Solairus’ corporate offices, King has found that nurturing common bonds specific to a particular job function has been productive. “This isn’t about replacing the water cooler culture – that just doesn’t work well in a remote environment,” King said. “You have to find connecting mechanisms that bring people together in a way that is constructive to their job. Once you provide that opportunity, you’ll find employees will continue a relationship beyond the scheduled calls. I look at it as us constantly facilitating these productive employee connections and then supporting a culture that values these relationships.”
Technology is important to connect remote workers, but human interaction is key, said Noah Yarborough, regional vice president for North America at Signum Aviation. “Remote or office-based, face-to-face time must be built in for employees,” Yarborough said. “What’s difficult for companies with office-based communities is the face-time for remote workers is no longer daily – it will be more sporadic, requiring extra effort.”
Managing this issue effectively can yield long-term benefits. “If you want to get the best, you have to incorporate remote and hybrid into your employment model,” Yarborough said. “It’s becoming an essential recruitment and retention tool.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.