Purpose & Delight: The Foundations of a Great Working From Home Experience.
While some companies already have the infrastructure in place for employees to work remotely many businesses and industries don’t have the same ability or flexibility. Not the breakthrough that many people were wanting in the pursuit of flexible working but forced progress is progress nonetheless. Pandemic aside, working remotely has multiple benefits for both employees and employers. But how does that look in practice?
It’s so much more than the right software and tools…
How to foster a performance-based culture, remotely
By focusing on the output rather than the monitoring of hours empowers employees to work towards the company’s vision. HROnboard CEO and founder Peter Forbes has built his business around a performance-based culture.
“We make sure rather than watching the clock, we are much more focused on the output that we give work. We want people to feel engaged with the work they do. We want them to be aligned with our vision and where we are going with the business. You need to enable a level of trust with your employees and give them a clear direction on what you’re trying to achieve and get rid of the impediments for them to achieve that.”
Having trust in your employees to deliver your business goals is more than just treating your employees like adults. It is supporting them in a way that works for them to excel at their job.
“We already have workplace flexibility built into our DNA. Our team (from sales to developers) is set up with hardware and software to work remotely. Our focus is to ensure we continue to support the HR teams that will be copping the brunt of the pressure to keep employees informed during this pandemic.”
Inspiring trust in your workforce supports capability development. But how do you nurture individuals to invest in wider business goals?
Incorporating each individual’s objectives and goals so that it directly impacts the larger business goal. Linking your BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) back to department goals and then linking through to individuals will show your employees how they directly contribute to the overall business success whether working in the office or remotely.
Delight your employees
Employees have attributed increased job satisfaction, greater ability to work (think disability, working parents and regional workers) and improved wellbeing. Business magazines are peppered with articles about how flexible working is not only a competitive advantage to recruitment but also the new normal for the future.
Take a growth hacking approach to culture
Creating and maintaining a team’s culture is challenging at the best of times. Add in a global pandemic, stress about job security and 100% working from home – you’ve got a powderkeg on your hands. So rather than looking at these as obstacles, see the opportunity to test and learn and recreate what your culture means in the digital world. There is nothing that tethers us to our office except our team and perhaps our musical disco ball – for celebrating our wins, of course!
Our working from home culture hacks
Here are our top hacks to maintain team culture and positive vibes with 100% of our team now working from home:
- Care gift pack deliveries – we surprised and delighted our employees by delivering a pot plant and poster to their door
- Weekly team leader 1:1s rather than fortnightly to make up the for the missed informal catch-ups
- Scheduled daily Zoom social activities
- Lunch and coffee virtual hangouts
- Friday arvo virtual drinks
- Wfh-hacks & healthzone Slack channels to share ideas and inspiration plus prompts to get up and stretch
Maintaining culture is more important than ever, we all need to remain resilient whilst preparing for rapid change. It’s essential for our employees’ personal and professional success.
Our role at HROnboard right now is to support our HR community through their journeys – from rapid and remote onboarding to redeployment of staff. To do that we must start with taking care of our own people.
“I think people behave differently when they aren’t being judged for the time they spend at their desk but what they are actually achieving. It allows them to be a bit more creative in how they get there as well. It allows them to experiment.”
We are moving to a new way of living and being adaptable to change will be one of the defining factors in navigating this uncertainty. And during times of uncertainty information becomes digital gold. Keep your staff informed about where you are at a business and what it means to them. Giving clarity to the work-life impact of your employees – existing and new – during this turbulent time is imperative to culture continuity.
For more information on creating an exceptional employee experience while working remotely, download our remote onboarding checklist.