With 26% of US workers now fully remote and 55% of US workers currently working in a hybrid model (1), modern enterprises must accept that remote work is here to stay. While the flexibility and autonomy of remote work offer undeniable benefits, a dispersed workforce creates unique challenges in maintaining cohesion and treating everyone fairly. Advice on supporting remote workers primairly focuses on how managers can help each individual, but what about the bigger picture? How can we ensure remote workers feel connected and remain an integral part of the company as a whole rather than as isolated units? In this blog post, we're exploring how HR and often Internal Comms teams can take actionable steps to build bridges, foster community, and ensure your remote teams feel truly connected to the heart of your organization.

Why Collective Support Matters

The shift to remote work has brought immense advantages for individual workers, but it's also created critical levels of isolation. As of 2024, 20% of employees experience loneliness daily, according to Gartner (2), and some studies have found this can be higher for employees under 35 working remotely.

While individual manager support is essential, neglecting the collective experience of remote workers can have significant repercussions. Research by Gallup also reveals remote workers often feel less connected to their organization's mission and purpose than their hybrid counterparts (3). Isolation directly impacts employee engagement. When individuals feel unseen and unheard, their motivation wanes, decreasing productivity. Furthermore, a lack of connection can fuel a sense of detachment, increasing the likelihood of turnover. Replacing valuable employees is costly and disruptive, making retention a paramount concern.

Conversely, fostering a strong sense of community and belonging among your remote workforce yields powerful benefits. When remote workers feel connected, they're more engaged, collaborative, and invested in the company's success. A unified remote workforce plays a crucial role in strengthening organizational culture. When remote workers feel integrated, they actively shape the company's values and identity. Consistent communication, shared experiences, and inclusive policies ensure that the company culture transcends physical location, creating a cohesive and vibrant workplace.

Equity is another vital consideration. It's essential to ensure all remote workers, regardless of location or circumstances, have equal opportunities for engagement. This means providing equitable access to technology, resources, and communication channels. It also means being mindful of time zone differences and ensuring that virtual events and meetings are accessible to everyone. By prioritizing equity, you create a level playing field where all remote workers feel valued and included.

Ultimately, supporting remote workers as a collective is not just a 'nice to have' – it's a strategic imperative. A unified and engaged remote workforce directly contributes to company goals and strategic objectives. Employees who feel connected and supported are more likely to be productive, innovative, and committed to the organization's success. By investing in collective support, you're investing in your company's long-term health and success.

Beyond One-Size-Fits-All: Building an Employee Experience That Works

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Addressing Common Remote Work Challenges

The first step in supporting remote worker communities is to tackle the common challenges most businesses and individuals face with remote working at scale. These include:

Scheduling Challenges: Remote workers can be based across different parts of the country or a variety of countries and time zones altogether, creating issues with scheduling. To help with this, ensure your business has clear referencable guidelines for how to schedule meetings, book town halls or announcement-style meetings with multiple time slot options, use asynchronous communication channels, record meetings, and make them available for those unable to attend
Isolation and Loneliness: Encourage virtual social interactions through dedicated communication channels and virtual events, promote peer-to-peer support, create mentorship programs, and facilitate virtual "water cooler" moments and informal check-ins.
Maintaining Work-Life Balance: It can be tempting to get employees to focus on physical and mental health, but "deeper organizational changes" in the form of flexible scheduling, management practices, staff resources, performance review, or job design have been found more likely to impact employee wellbeing than any meditation app or health program (4). Enable remote employees to regularly provide feedback on how they feel at work and issues that must be tackled to reduce frustrations and eventual burnout.
Equal Access to Information and Opportunities: Centralize all company information and resources in a cloud-based platform accessible to everyone, ensure that all virtual meetings and events are inclusive and accessible, and provide equal opportunities for professional development and advancement. Whenever information is shared in person, ensure you also share it digitally.
Maintaining Company Culture: Reinforce company values and mission through consistent communication and virtual events, encourage cross-functional collaboration between remote and in-office teams, celebrate company milestones and achievements in a way that includes everyone, and ensure that remote workers are included in all company-wide communications.
Technology Limitations: Technology issues can be a significant source of frustration for remote workers. To address this, you should clear guidelines for troubleshooting common issues should be provided, technical support should be offered through a help desk or online resources, and all remote workers should have access to reliable internet connection and the necessary hardware and software to do their jobs. A productive work environment looks different for everyone, but you should be helping employees assess and improve their home setups to necessitate productive working for health and safety compliance.

Actionable Strategies & Steps for Supporting Remote Workers

Communication & Transparency:

Establishing regular, company-wide virtual meetings or town halls (not just team meetings).
Utilizing internal communication platforms (e.g., Slack, Teams) for broader announcements and social interaction.
Creating dedicated channels for remote worker discussions and feedback.
Implementing a clear and consistent communication strategy.
Enabling asynchronous communication to maximize effectiveness.

Virtual Social Events & Activities:

Organizing virtual team-building events, workshops, or social gatherings (e.g., virtual coffee breaks, trivia nights, online game sessions).
Creating virtual interest groups or clubs based on shared hobbies or interests.
Celebrating company milestones and achievements virtually.
Creating a virtual onboarding process to ensure new remote workers feel included.

Technology & Resources:

Ensuring all remote workers have access to reliable technology and tools.
Providing training and support for using virtual collaboration platforms.
Creating a centralized resource hub for remote work information and best practices.
Ensure company information is secure from remote locations.

Feedback & Recognition:

Implementing regular feedback mechanisms to gauge remote worker sentiment and identify areas for improvement.
Establishing a virtual recognition program to celebrate individual and team achievements.
Conducting surveys to understand the needs of the remote workforce.
Analyzing survey results and implement meaningful change.

Policy & Culture:

Reviewing and updating company policies to ensure they are inclusive of remote workers.
Fostering a culture of trust and autonomy.
Creating clear guidelines for remote work expectations and communication.
Encouraging cross-departmental collaboration among remote teams.

Beyond One-Size-Fits-All: Building an Employee Experience That Works

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Measuring Success & Continuously Improving

Supporting remote workers as a cohesive group is an ongoing process, not a one-time initiative. To ensure your strategies are practical and impactful, you must establish clear metrics for success and embrace a culture of continuous improvement.

Identify specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track remote worker engagement and satisfaction. Consider metrics such as Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), participation rates in virtual events and activities, feedback survey scores related to communication, connection, and support, employee retention rates, and usage and engagement with internal communication platforms.

It's crucial to regularly collect data through various channels to monitor progress and identify areas for improvement. This can be achieved by conducting pulse surveys to gather quick feedback on specific initiatives, hosting virtual feedback sessions to allow for open dialogue and discussion, analyzing data from internal communication platforms to track engagement and sentiment, and utilizing HR analytics to identify trends in retention and productivity. Remote workforce management software may help you track and understand how productive remote employees are, but this is generally only useful for organizations. Many frontline or travelling workers need to be able to see their schedule and tasks to be done for the day at a glance.

Don't let your data sit idle. Schedule regular reviews of your remote worker support programs, analyze feedback and data to identify what's working well and needs improvement, and be prepared to adapt your approach based on changing needs and circumstances. The remote work landscape constantly evolves, so your strategies must be flexible and adaptable. Foster a culture of experimentation and learning, encourage feedback from remote workers, be open to new ideas, continuously seek out best practices and innovative solutions, and reinforce that the programs will evolve with the company and its employees. By taking a data-driven approach and prioritizing continuous improvement, you can ensure that your remote worker support programs remain practical and relevant, contributing to a thriving and connected remote workforce.

Conclusion

To foster a thriving remote workforce, prioritize clear and consistent communication, build virtual social spaces, ensure equitable access to technology and resources, implement robust feedback and recognition systems, and create inclusive policies that reflect the reality of remote work.

HR and Internal Communications professionals are the architects of this connected experience. They are crucial in building bridges and fostering a sense of belonging for everyone, no matter where they physically work. By prioritizing connection, collaboration, and a sense of community, you'll unlock the full potential of your dispersed teams, driving innovation, productivity, and overall organizational success.

If improving communication and your digital landscape is top of your list of ways to help your employees, Akumina can help. We believe the technology we use at work should be as simple and intuitive as at home. That's why we help our clients create exceptional digital experiences that drive engagement within their businesses. If you have a project in mind or need general digital workplace and employee experience expertise, book a demo or contact us to see how we can help you.