Tell us a little about your personal journey at your current company.
I started about 8 years ago with a small 30 person company based in Chicago. Through multiple acquisitions, we’ve become an approximately 200 person company with team members throughout the U.S. and Canada. Our focus has changed dramatically from a strict in office policy and monthly on-site events to offering a plethora of virtual team building and recognition opportunities. We have team members across different time zones so allow flexibility with working hours. Our culture of feedback and transparency encourages frequent touch bases between managers and reports, as well as within teams so everyone knows how they’re performing and what their individual and team priorities are at any given time. We also prioritize mental health and checking in with team members not only about their work goals but also about how they can be better supported in their work and lives to discourage burnout and encourage engagement and professional development.
Can you share some of your best practices regarding instilling company culture in remote/global workforces?
With the help of technology like our internal social media channel, “Community,” video conferencing, group chat apps, and our weekly email newsletter, we’re creating a thriving hub for communication, connection, and community in a remote work environment. Our home internet and cell phone reimbursement was the first step in enhancing our remote experience.
Whether it’s our annual “Spirit Award” and “President’s Award,” our monthly “Wow Factor” programs featured in our monthly virtual town hall meetings, or our milestone service anniversary program, these are just a few ways we celebrate and reward outstanding performance in our remote workforce. Our team members can also thank each other on a day-to-day basis through our internal social media channel with a feature called “Impressions” and celebrate each other’s birthdays and service anniversaries on this platform.
Our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Council and PIVOT Culture Committee plan virtual experiences for employees, like our water cooler events, bimonthly book club, student internship program, and DEIB-focused lunch and learn speakers, with the goal of increasing fun, connection, and team building. And, through our partnership with Swoovy, an online platform, we have connected individuals and groups to hundreds of volunteer opportunities that can be done in person or online using their 2 paid volunteer days.
Our wellness program gives people the tools they need to do well at home, at work, and in their communities. It does this by helping them find and use resources that address their physical, social/emotional, financial, career, and community health as a whole. These resources can all be found in our Wellbeing and Benefits portal, which is a central place to access them. These resources include tools like CALM, the number one app for mental fitness, and our employee assistance programs, which offer self-care apps, online resources, interactive self-guided programs, and care referrals for children and adults, to name a few.
Check out the EnsembleIQ careers page here!
Tell us a little about your personal journey at your current company.
My journey at Everlight Solar began three months ago, in November of last year. I was hired as a remote worker on Everlight’s marketing team. From the interview to the onboarding process, Everlight Solar showcased their dedication to an inclusive and stimulating work environment in which all their staff members feel supported and challenged.
As I settled into my role, I was consistently provided with learning opportunities and exciting new projects. I have worked both individually and collaboratively, and I have seen how the entire Everlight workforce is an engine that drives itself and the company forward. I am eager to see where my journey at Everlight Solar takes me and how I will grow and develop alongside a cohort of individuals who are just as dedicated and committed as I am
Can you share some of your best practices regarding instilling company culture in remote/global workforces?
Everlight Solar offers several opportunities and practices to instill their company culture in their remote workforces. Remote teams meet daily to discuss their plans and current projects, and collaboration throughout each group is encouraged. As a result, remote workers communicate and work together across platforms to facilitate creativity and community. Outside of work, remote teams will often hold virtual hang outs or game nights, as well as join specialized Slack channels for shared interests. Ultimately, despite the physical distance, Everlight’s remote team is just as involved and connected to the company culture and values as their local colleagues.
Everlight Solar also fosters culture engagement by holding weekly company-wide meetings every Thursday led by the executive team. These meetings include announcements such as promotions, staff awards, and personal events such as birthdays and engagements. These virtual meetings are a vital way for remote workers to connect with their in-person colleagues and remain involved in a company culture that recognizes hard work, teamwork, and community.
Check out the Everlight Solar careers page here!
Tell us a little about your personal journey at your current company.
I started on a 6 month contract to support HR with the communications for a manager development program to build a coaching culture across Elsevier. This was a home working role as we were beginning to come out of the global pandemic – my boss was in the US, with those I worked most closely with across the UK, Europe, and Australia. I found it very easy to spread my wings and get involved in supporting many more communication needs, both across HR and more broadly. I was given a four-month contract extension during which time I was then supported into a permanent role in our global internal communications team – continuing with my focus on HR support, but now involved in company-wide global culture change programs too. I’ve now just celebrated my two-year anniversary at Elsevier.
Can you share some of your best practices regarding instilling company culture in remote/global workforces?
Firstly, having a single, global, identifier/brand/proposition to sit behind is important – we have our Elsevier Experience (which focuses on three simple areas: we do purposeful work, we grow every day, and we are colleagues who care). We have many cross-boarder reporting lines, so a successful global culture relies on line managers believing in it and understanding their role. As we’re a global company with this sort of structure, the shift to hybrid working was not actually too difficult given the remote nature of many colleague-manager relationships anyway. To embed our Elsevier Experience culture we align our day-to-day activities behind the three attributes, for example through: news stories; performance objectives; global townhall meetings and recognition programs. We measure success as an integral part of our annual Employee Opinion (engagement) Survey. We have practical resources to support our desired culture – be that a huge range of wellbeing support resources to show we care; dedicated development programs alongside an extensive collection of personal and professional learning resources to help everyone grow every day; and a dedicated communications campaign to help everyone understand more about the purposeful work we do, the part everyone plays in it, and the impact it has on our customers and communities we serve. We also recognize that culture starts even before a colleague joins, so we’re keen to both describe and demonstrate our culture through our hiring and onboarding process – regardless of whether the individual is going to be remote or co-located with others.
Check out the Elsevier careers page here!
Tell us a little about your personal journey at your current company.
I started at HashiCorp at the beginning of the pandemic. Our company was already largely remote and the Workplace plan we created, regardless of the pandemic, is that we’d bring an in-office experience to all employees through our various programs and by driving connections across the globe. With our offices closed, we were able to shift our resources and innovative thinking to execute our plan more quickly. With each global, virtual program, event, or communication we created, we put the lens of the employee as our perspective and were thoughtful and intentional in the resulting employee experience and in the keeping of our culture.
Can you share some of your best practices regarding instilling company culture in remote/global workforces?
We believe that instilling company culture across the globe and in a remote-centric environment is all about cultivating connections. Our number one best practice is that our work is never done here. We can always improve, do more, and must always keep the right (employee) perspective. Second, we take time to listen, reflect, adjust, and continually innovate. For example, we started a program called ‘virtual Town Hall’ during the pandemic which was a 24-hour zoom that the whole company could join. You could jump on and listen to music while you work amongst others or you could join a scheduled special interest club meet-up, such as crafting. We adjusted the concept multiple times based on this approach, and Town Hall looks entirely different now than when we launched. Finally, having a consistent company voice and an orchestrated cross-functional plan for driving connection is critical. Multiple teams work in this space and without synchronization, you only capture a portion of culture cultivation output for the effort input.
Check out the HashiCorp careers page here!
Tell us a little about your personal journey at your current company.
I joined DataArt seven years ago when the company was undergoing a global rebranding. We created a unified communications and brand language and developed global approaches to brand development. At that moment, DataArt has less than 1000 employees in 5 countries. Now as a part of the international communications team, I’ve been developing integrated brand communications for labor markets in more than 20 countries and for 6000 DataArt employees.
Can you share some of your best practices regarding instilling company culture in remote/global workforces?
DataArt is a values-based company. All our policies and our relations with clients and colleagues have clear principles as a core. First of all, these are Trust and People first. Since its foundation, DataArt has been a distributed company ready to trust its people. Such an attitude allows us to be flexible and avoid excessive control. That’s why our specialists can successfully balance work and life, choose career paths, and sustain friendly communication in distributed teams worldwide. That is why so many people stay at DataArt for 10+ years.
Our global visual communications and marketing team keeps the same design language and tone of voice throughout the DataArt universe. Our colleagues can come to any of the DataArt offices, and they will use the same Wi-Fi password and see familiar coffee machines or cup designs. We appreciated this during the outbreak of the war in Ukraine when many colleagues had to move to other European countries to work from various DataArt locations. Even in such circumstances, unified office designs helped to release constant tension and contribute to faster adaptation.
We support honest and transparent communications. We hold regular town halls and share company news with colleagues from all over the world. We highly appreciate participation in the company’s life; for example, our Instagram account is completely powered by DataArt specialists from different teams. Every year we conduct a satisfaction survey, which helps the company to adjust our services and improve employees’ journey.
Check out the DataArt careers page here!
Tell us a little about your personal journey at your current company.
Michael Tecca, a project manager at Cambium Family brand Lexia Learning, first got involved with the organization in 2018 as an intern while earning his Master’s in Education. In late 2021, Mike joined Lexia’s Community Committee meetings to discuss the idea of a virtual summit to connect remote employees across the company. It was at this event that he met Lynn Newton, a graphic designer for the instructional materials team. During this meeting, Lynn presented the concept of a virtual summer camp that would amplify Cambium’s remote-first model and create a sense of community among remote workers. After hearing Lynn’s ideas on how to unite colleagues through shared interests via a low-cost medium, Mike was inspired and joined her efforts to create Camp Lexia, a space for employees to share their interests and hobbies. Together, as “Camp Co-directors,” Lynn and Mike collaborated with approximately 40 volunteers “Camp Staff” and “Counselors” to offer Camp Lexia to over 270 “Campers” in August of 2022.
Can you share some of your best practices regarding instilling company culture in remote/global workforces?
As a part of our efforts to support a sense of community, belonging, inclusion and team-building in the new age of remote-first work, Mike and Lynn launched Camp Lexia, a space for Lexia employees to share their hobbies with their coworkers through 45-minute virtual sessions. The team was blown away by the 30 diverse activity ideas offered by our colleagues with titles such as Cookie Dough: The More you Know!, Body Movement: Vintage Vernacular Jazz, Spooky Story Hour, Mushroom Cultivation, and Stress-Reducing Coloring. By allocating a specific Teams channel for each activity, 30 mini-communities were created throughout camp.
By simply asking our colleagues if they would like to share their passions, we created a host of new outlets for our staff. All we had to do was provide the infrastructure, and employees were thrilled to connect and inspire others, regardless of their remote status.