The Remote Workplace Culture that Prioritises Employee Wellbeing Andrea Amato in conversation with
Laila Raway and Gilbert Galea
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As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, today’s workers are situated at home, adopting the remote lifestyle. Initially a convenient measure that avoids commuting time to and from the office, the new workplace culture has brought about its own norms and challenges.
With this in mind, employers and employees have shifted workplace priorities concerning building a supportive remote workplace culture, and more than ever, considering the mental health of their employees.
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Laila Raway
Laila is a Learning & Development Specialist with a strong background in mental health. Originally focused in providing emotional support to individuals with chronic mental health conditions, her role now consists of providing training sessions on various mental health topics, including wellbeing in the workplace. Laila’s experience and current position makes for a great inclusion to this conversation in providing mental health workplace guidance.
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On addressing work-life imbalance and boundaries between work and home life
Blurred boundaries are at risk now more than ever for employees working remotely because when they're at work, they're also at home.
One of the most important ways organisations can encourage employees to separate work and personal life is to help set up a dedicated workspace—where individuals would only venture to during working hours.
If this cannot be done because of environment or space limitations, I would encourage employees to mimic their previous working routine in the office. Changing into work attire, perhaps organising a virtual lunch break with colleagues, and owning a designated work mug (yes, this helps!). These are simple, yet effective ways in establishing work/life boundaries, with the aim of separating work and home rituals.
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On how employers can provide regular check-ins with employees to maintain social interactions Something we practice with my team is meeting for 15-20 minutes at the start and end of the working day. These meetings serve as opportunities to see each other (like we would in the office) and make room for small talk.
The idea is to maintain regular contact with each other that is not restricted to regular, work-related meetings. We cannot forget the importance of catching up between team leaders/managers and employees on a one-to-one basis. It’s good practice for leaders to consider regularly scheduling time to touch base on an individual level with their employees to check in with them and ask where they could benefit from further support.
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On social opportunities organisations can offer to employees to help combat social isolation Many employers are opting for virtual team-building sessions as a means to provide social events other than work-related responsibilities. Employers could encourage casual meet ups over Zoom (or whatever video conferencing medium your workplace uses).
In working remotely for over a year, services have adapted the way they used to work with educational and awareness sessions being held online. These can be delivered interactively.
There is something every organisation can apply, and employers would benefit from checking out what’s trending in this space and what would work for their employees.
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On how leaders can provide emotional support to employees during Covid-19 and remote work
As cliché as it sounds, I believe social distance only means physical distance. You can connect with employees through a customised approach, focusing on the individual, as not everyone’s home life is supportive of remote working.
One silver lining of the pandemic is more conversation surrounding the impact of mental health on employees.
Being honest about your experience and struggles as a leader can encourage others to share their own.
It will also signify value in open communication toward these discussions, as part of your workplace culture. Ultimately, whatever goes on in our personal lives impacts our work and vice versa. Expect your employee’s needs to change over time, and support them accordingly, that will allow them to work productively and purposefully.
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Final words of advice Remember that we are all in the same boat—leaders, employers, and employees. We’re all trying to find the best way forward given the circumstances. Building virtual connections had to replace face-to-face interactions that we all miss. Nevertheless, these virtual connections are vital in maintaining communication —now more than ever.
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Gilbert Galea
Gilbert is Castille’s Chief Operations Officer, and specialises in prioritising remote talent with Castille Labs. With a dedicated team, he builds a robust global network of remote software talent, alongside the provision of helpful resources applicable to a global context. For this publication, Gilbert offers his words of expertise on practical recommendations to employers in creating and maintaining a supportive remote workplace culture.
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On improving communication
between employees with
online mediums
More than ever organisations need to invest quality-time
in effectively delineating and communicating the strategy
of the company, key achievements to date, and new
updates as they come along to their direct remote
employees and the extended remote organisation.
On-the-job communication has also become critically important as we aim to replace the face-to-face interaction with instant communication via collaborative tools like Slack and Teams.
Moreover, workflow tools that can support stakeholder
management and escalation of contention points have
become the bread and butter of online teams as they strive
for continued alignment and effective collaboration.
The extended organisation needs to be trained in the
proper use of these tools to ensure adherence to guidelines
issued by HR functions as they support this inevitable
change towards always-online teams.
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On how employers can provide regular check-ins with employees to maintain social interactions
I believe the importance of social interaction despite the distance needs to be championed by the senior management team within the organisation. Through regular team meetings and collaborative tools, and cross-functional assignments that promote communication across the organisation.
Organisations will be surprised to learn that with the right people on the team, distance does not necessarily translate in weaker team interactions.
The one challenge every remote organisation will face will be the onboarding of new people on the team. With the right mindset and proper coaching this can be achieved, but special attention needs to be given to the nurturing of people onboarding the team during the phase where they align to the organisation’s work culture. Onus lies on the senior people with the team and management to ensure enough airtime to achieve successful onboarding here.
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On how organisations can build a remote community focusing on social opportunity alongside workplace assignments
Organisations can have a dedicated team that focuses on events management and coordination.
At Castille, we’ve a remote Events Committee passionate about this. Online games which encourages involvement, competition, and teamwork are highly recommended for interaction outside the working environment. In a fully-fledged remote organisation doing this properly can actually leverage on the remote connectivity to ensure all people joining such an event are in a position to contribute equally, without giving priority and bias towards people who are on-site.
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On how employers can offer support to employees throughout the duration of Covid-19
I would classify inclusion as the topmost initiative to minimise distress. Feeling part of the team, being informed what’s going on despite the distance, continue to be the most important elements with an accentuated level of importance in the remote organisation. Following very closely in terms of importance, is the element of recognition. Never has recognition been so important in our lives as today. My suggestion to employers is that we continue to celebrate the big, but also small; collective, but also individual, achievements of the teams, as the feel-good factor that follows is like no other.
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Final words of advice I believe remote working and the extended organisation is the present and future of work globally. Organisations that harness the power of remote and extended organisations will spiral upwards in terms of reach, performance, and sustainability.
Of course, face-to-face will always be the stronger channel but people who share the same passion and drive to achieve a common goal will deliver despite the distance that separates them. So one final word of recommendation to management teams out there is to know and understand when you have the right people onboard and remain flexible when it comes to allowing them to choose the location of their workplace.
The Remote Workplace Culture that Prioritises Employee Wellbeing May 2021 © COPYRIGHT 2021 CASTILLE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
