Virtual first: Redefining your company culture for a hybrid workforce
Now that remote working, at least in some capacity, is here to stay, it's time for employers to rethink their engagement strategies.
A year after many companies sent their employees to work from home, we’re finally starting to look forward to what our “new normal” will look like. And for many, that normal does not include the typical 9 to 5 at the office and accompanying commute–at least not every day.
There’s a growing consensus among employers that the future of work will be hybrid, with employees working from the office some days and from home on others. Not only does this coincide with workers’ desire for a better work/life balance, but it reduces the risk of future viral outbreaks.
Related: The hybrid workforce is coming: Here’s what you need to know
However, recognizing the new work model is one thing; its success will depend on the sweat equity employers and their HR teams put into rebuilding policies and processes. Ken Fine, CEO of Heap, recently shared some thoughts with BEnefitsPRO to discuss the “virtual-first” model being employed at Heap to set its company (and workers) up for success.
Because the pandemic has shown companies the benefits of having some (or all) of your workforce remote, the future of work is likely some version of a hybrid. How will this affect company culture?
While many companies had been considering moving towards remote-first options, the pandemic forced the issue. We discovered it wasn’t as disruptive as we had feared, and we’ve learned how to be effective in a remote environment.
Taking some inspiration from other tech companies, Heap has embraced a virtual-first model in which we support remote work moving forward, and will additionally support in-office collaboration via shared studio space and co-working stipends when it becomes safe to do so.
What challenges in regards to company culture do you foresee with a hybrid workforce? What about a fully remote workforce?
One of the challenges of a hybrid workforce is maintaining a unified culture. How do you avoid an insider versus outsider dynamic when some employees have more in-person connection with more coworkers than others? At Heap, we plan to address this challenge by hosting company-wide in-person meetups twice a year, and having individual teams host their own social meetups several times a year.
With a fully remote workforce, one of the biggest culture challenges is maintaining work/life boundaries. As Heap continues to work fully remotely during this pandemic, we have made a conscious effort to support physical and mental wellness, offering a wellness stipend that encourages regular exercise, weekly yoga, and meditation. Without a great WFH setup, it can be a lot harder to maintain work/life separation (we end up working where we usually eat, relax, and sleep). So we’ve also provided a $1K stipend to help fund a good WFH setup.
Finally, because people have been taking less vacation during the pandemic, we introduced monthly Mental Escape (ME) days, in which entire teams take the day off together. So far it’s been well received.
Collaboration is another challenge that fully remote companies face. However, the virtual tools available to us, when combined with best practices, make it much easier for companies to maintain transparency and inclusivity, while empowering teams to work more efficiently together. At Heap, we’re working on establishing company-wide practices for things like emails, Slack, asynchronous communication, etc.
How will this change processes from a recruitment or onboarding standpoint?
I believe that hiring is the most important decision a company can make. From this perspective, going Virtual First allows companies to tap into a much bigger talent pool. You can build a more diverse team, much more quickly, when you hire from a global workforce. A Virtual-First model also ensures that companies retain people through life changes, allowing you to keep your employees even when their life requires them (or their partner) to move. The flexibility of Virtual-First allows companies to have a much more agile workforce.
As far as onboarding is concerned, it’s even more important for companies to invest in their new-hire programs. With remote onboarding, we’ve made sure to schedule virtual face-to-face time for new hires with key leaders and team members in order to impart company values and invite new voices into our company and our culture. At Heap, we schedule a full week of Zoom sessions for new hires to meet with everyone from the CEO to product managers to customer education in order to share the full picture of what it means to work at Heap.
What advice do you have for leaders looking to build or rebuild company culture after a year plus of remote work?
The key thing is to listen and not be afraid to change things; low-ego and customer-informed is always the goal. Listen to your team members (through small feedback sessions, surveys, emotional check-ins during 1:1s) and allow your culture to change over time in response to their feedback. Lean into feedback and don’t be defensive: disruption, chaos, and stress create opportunities. Employee feedback is what turns good company culture into great company culture.
What are you and the team at Heap doing in this regard?
While some people will unambiguously tout remote as the future, we want to be mindful about its upsides, downsides, and what it will take to succeed at Heap. That’s why we’re approaching Virtual-First like we approach everything at Heap: we hypothesize, collect data, iterate, and improve. We won’t get all the details right, which is why we lean heavily on feedback from our employees.
From our employee culture committee, monthly engagement surveys, bi-weekly townhalls, and a running #AMA Slack channel, we regularly review feedback and build employee perspectives into every decision that will affect company culture. We are constantly iterating on our Virtual-First policies as we work to incorporate new ideas and accommodate the diversity of voices that makes up Heap.
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