Many friends and family, upon hearing about my remote work habits, may not understand how I can be so productive. There’s often music playing in the background, or, sometimes, like this week, television simulcasts of popular sports radio shows. The truth is this: background noise isn’t just noise but serves a sometimes-interesting link between our business world and other arenas. Today’s article, in fact, was sparked by overhearing a sports radio show that was, up until that point, serving as a mere backdrop to pouring over new research data.
Last week, sports radio icon Colin Cowherd, on his daily “The Herd” show (simulcast on Fox Sports One), brought in legendary NFL wide receiver Greg Jennings (former standout wideout for the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings) to talk about the cultural fit between high-paid free agent players and their respective new franchises.
Cowherd brought up several examples of unique team culture, such as Green Bay’s “lunch pail” mindset of “show up everyday and work hard” to my hometown New England Patriots’ mantra of “do your job.” Jennings, a Super Bowl-winning wide receiver when he was with the Packers in 2010, signed a big money deal with division rivals (Minnesota Vikings) in early 2013. Cowherd pressed him on the balance between being a big-name, highly-paid free agent star and adapting to a new team’s overall culture.
Jennings’ response echoed the same sentiments as many of us in the business world feel when it comes to talent and culture: it doesn’t matter the depth of a player’s skillset nor their pedigree or experience; if the culture isn’t a proper fit, the player will not be productive. No, we need not traverse through the very, very long lists of sports free agents who were hailed as franchise saviors and ended up hurting their teams more than helping.
It is quite true that workplace culture plays a pivotal role in the ultimate success of a new worker or candidate. In-person onboarding, frequent chats with cubicle mates, and proximity collaboration around the water cooler or in the office kitchen are all very valuable elements in indoctrinating a candidate to an organization’s workplace environment and culture. Even though an anticipated “fourth wave” of COVID-19 cases is predicted for the spring, there seems to be a heavy balance between businesses that are slowly welcoming workers back to the office and those that continue to offer a fully-remote workplace structure.
If there’s one thing that we’ve learned over the course of the past year, it’s that workplace culture permeates within even those organizations that maintain a work-from-home environment. In fact, we could even argue that culture is more important than ever given the unique circumstances of today’s work setups, the majority of which are following a remote-lead environment:
- Businesses that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion are more apt to drive true innovation…even remotely. DE&I initiatives aren’t just limited to supplier diversity, but rather a larger movement that pushes for equity across the entirety of the talent supply chain. Businesses must spark innovation across all functions and roles, and the only way to do that is by instituting boundaryless structures that are inclusive and open to voices of all genders, cultures, and backgrounds. The deepest talent pool is a diverse talent pool…and because we are (mostly) working remotely today, that shouldn’t change a bit.
- The “moments” that we relied on in-person, even transferred to video- and conferencing-led collaboration, are still critically important. Imagine being a new worker (FTE or contractor) at a new organization during pre-pandemic times. You’d wander the halls, the kitchen, the break rooms, the conference rooms, etc. and run into a variety of voices, with each positive interaction, be it a smile or some words of encouragement, helping you feel more comfortable with your role in the organization. It is critically important that businesses push a culture of openness regardless of it is in-person or via a remote infrastructure. Even the best and brightest workers can feel their productivity drain if they don’t feel like they’re a valued player on the team. Fostering a culture of connection, communication, and collaboration is the key.
- Culture permeates along the lines of every facet of management, so, leaders take note. As I noted much earlier in this article, culture in sports boils down to a teamwide “feeling” that is experienced across the board. Some teams have their own unique spirit that players either buy into…or not. This is why it is so crucial for business leaders, no matter their functional role, to promote a positive “talent experience” for all of their workers (both FTEs and non-employees). The further on down the line that culture and positivity is experienced, the better off the business will be. And, that shouldn’t be paused because of a remote work environment. An enterprise’s workers are essentially its brand ambassadors. Just like a major sports team doesn’t want a current or ex-player complaining about a toxic environment, not does a business when it pertains to the overall level of employee experience and engagement of its workforce.
- The adoption of work models that promote productivity, growth, and balance will be the ones that are ideal in a remote environment. Business leaders must be flexible in how they push their workers to be productive; work/life balance has never been more complicated than it was over the past year. It is important for executives to create an environment, even in a remote setting, in which their workers feel like they are enabled to take the personal time they need while also having the space, equipment, and communication necessary to get work done. Similarly, there must be opportunities for growth. Just because traditional performance reviews have been on pause does not mean that hardworking individuals shouldn’t have a clear path to the next steps ahead. Self-directed learning, reskilling, and upskilling should all be critical elements of the remote workplace handbook.
