Maintaining the corporate culture in the home office

Many companies are currently facing the challenge of developing a functioning home office model for their employees, especially in view of the home office obligation that may be introduced over Christmas. In addition to the technical hurdles, this also includes professional equipment and ensuring the corporate culture, which can be promoted and maintained through targeted measures. To ensure a strong corporate culture, open communication with regular feedback is essential. This also includes a common vision, which the entire team pursues and motivates. Of course, the well-being of each individual also plays a central role. It is therefore all the more important that there is a respectful interaction within the team. Experience shows that corporate culture has an active as well as positive effect on the behavior and productivity of employees.

Advantages of a Positive corporate culture

A positive corporate culture brings another plus point, because in conjunction with the right personnel marketing measures, you will find it much easier to find motivated and qualified talents for your team and retain them in the long term. With a positive corporate culture, you can stand out from other companies and strengthen your employer brand. This is especially important for the younger generation, who want to work flexibly and freely with modern structures. Another important point for employee satisfaction is the social integration of each individual in the team, as otherwise you can quickly become lonely in a home office. As you can see, a company benefits in many ways from a strong corporate culture.

As a company, you are faced with the task of building and maintaining a value-creating corporate culture, even when your employees are in the home office.

In doing so, you are surely asking yourself the following questions:

How can you ensure employee motivation when there is no daily interaction in the office? What if the work-live balance of employees in the home office is disturbed? How can new team members be introduced to the corporate culture and taught the company values?

Working in a home office is usually very positively received by employees, as it does offer some advantages, not least increased flexibility. However, if it becomes a permanent obligation, it can frustrate some employees in the long run. The reasons for this can be physical strain due to an unergonomic workplace, but also psychological strain due to a lack of separation between private and professional life. In addition, a weak Internet connection can become a real challenge and make communication much more difficult. This also applies to regular exchanges and the associated teamwork. It can lead to employees becoming increasingly less motivated and not feeling a sense of belonging in the company, due to the increasing lack of a lived corporate culture. 

So how can you ensure that the corporate culture works remotely?

The motivation of employees is shaped not least by the corporate culture, because this also expresses the company’s commitment to its employees. The challenge now is to transfer not only the work processes but also the corporate culture that is practiced on a daily basis into the digital age. This can be a technical as well as a cultural challenge for the company if the digitization process has not yet taken place. The solution is an innovative and profitable use of communication channels to ensure a digital exchange in the home office.

Diverse Internal formats

To this end, it can be useful to introduce diverse internal formats. This can be, for example, a weekly meeting where employees can exchange ideas on a specific topic or current tasks as well as goals. In addition, you can introduce digital breaks and events (e.g. team or onboarding events). As a manager, take the time at regular intervals to ask how your team members are doing in the home office. It’s a small appreciative sign that can go a long way, especially with new employees.

Onboarding

During onboarding, make sure that the company culture is also conveyed remotely and provide the new employee with a “buddy” that the person can turn to at any time. This will help you integrate the new employee into the team more quickly. Of course, you should also not forget the health of your employees. This can be promoted, for example, through small digital sports sessions, relaxation techniques and autogenic training.

Belonging

Strengthen the sense of belonging in your company and ensure that your employees can work digitally in the home office. Respond to your employees and their individual wishes, if this is feasible. Ask your employees and check the current situation in your company to clarify the exact need for appropriate measures and new formats. This will enable you to act in a targeted manner and make optimizations. Your employees will thank you for actively involving them in the process.

Would you also like to communicate your corporate culture digitally and thereby strengthen your employer brand?

We would be happy to put you in touch with a partner from our network who will work with you to develop an individual solution for your company. Please send us a message via the contact form.

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*Source: Oscar