Maintaining a strong company culture is more important than ever. As remote and hybrid work become standard business practices, building a remote work culture presents new challenges. How do you keep your team connected, engaged, and motivated when they’re spread across different locations?

Awardco is here to help HR professionals like you leverage creativity and strategy to create a remote work culture that works for your teams.

But first, let’s revisit the fundamentals of what company culture truly means.

What is company culture? 

Company culture is all about the shared attitudes, values, practices, and behaviors that shape how work gets done within an organization. Building a remote work culture involves taking these elements and figuring out how to communicate, maintain, and strengthen them across digital platforms and scattered teams.

A strong company culture in remote work encompasses various components, including:

• Work environment: The digital tools, communication platforms, and virtual spaces where collaboration happens
• Company and team missions: The overarching purpose and vision that guide both individual and collective efforts, even from a distance
• Leadership style: The approach leaders take to motivate, guide, and connect with remote teams
• Ethics: The shared standards of integrity, inclusivity, and accountability that are upheld across all locations
• Expectations: Clearly defined standards for productivity, communication, and collaboration tailored to the remote environment
• Goals: The measurable outcomes and achievements teams strive for, aligned with the company's broader mission

Together, these elements define a collective purpose that inspires everyone to put their best foot forward—regardless of physical work location. 

What is the impact of company culture on remote employees? 

Creating a strong remote work culture ensures that employees, no matter where they are, have a clear understanding of:

• What is expected of them 
• The outcomes they need to achieve

The impact of remote working on company culture is significant, and a cohesive culture really pays off. In fact, Gallup reports that a person’s understanding of their work culture is directly tied to business health. 

When remote workers feel their values and beliefs align with the company’s, they feel supported, motivated, and empowered to do their best work. Happy employees are 12% more productive. 

A positive remote culture doesn’t just attract top talent—it keeps them. When employees feel authentically connected to their team and organization, they’re far more likely to stay for the long haul.

4 remote work culture ideas to build stronger and happier teams

Rest assured, you can still build and improve your culture, no matter what type of work environment your business is in now and in the future.

With that said, here are four guiding ideas for creating a remote work culture that benefits your teams.

1. Create supportive leaders

MIT discovered supportive leaders are one of the top areas in work culture that matter most to employees. 

Supportive leaders help team members obtain the resources they need to put their best foot forward. Research indicates there is a link between supportive leadership and one’s physical, social, and psychological well-being. 

In your upcoming leadership meetings, make it a habit to emphasize support, which, from a leadership standpoint, can be manifested in various ways, such as: 

• Accommodating individual needs (e.g., childcare needs, learning and development courses, etc.)
• Offering encouragement to help remote individuals feel seen and supported 
• Responding to requests promptly
• Showing support for employees’ decisions and goals 
• Reinforcing company culture and helping employees find ways to embody those values

Regular virtual one-on-one meetings can facilitate these practices, allowing leaders to connect personally with team members. Additionally, investing in leadership development workshops can promote supportive leadership and uphold company culture.​

2. Empower employees to find meaningful work

Nine out of 10 employees are willing to make less money if it means they’re doing meaningful work—purpose matters.  

As a company, discuss what makes work meaningful. These conversations can further refine your company culture and keep employees connected on a deeper level despite the physical distance.

Here are some additional ways to help employees find purpose:

• Reiterate the organizational mission: Regularly communicate the company's mission and identify aspects that resonate with employees' passions.
• Acknowledge contributions: Provide specific recognition highlighting how individual efforts contribute to company objectives.​ Begin incentivizing these behaviors to encourage more team members to follow suit. Read about remote employee incentives.
• Lead by example: Encourage leaders to share their sense of purpose, inspiring others to reflect on their roles. Initiate a discussion on purpose in your next virtual team meeting.

3. Focus on camaraderie

Loneliness is noted as the second-biggest struggle with remote work. Many employees (especially younger ones) often miss out on meeting people face-to-face, which can impact their social lives. 

Boost your remote work culture by nurturing camaraderie. Here are a few viable tips to get you started: 

• Recognize and reward. Without recognition and rewards, employees feel undervalued and invisible. Meaningful employee rewards and recognition programs can create a company culture where employees are recognized often, and they can boost retention by 63%. 

• Arrange community- and team-building activities. Depending on where your remote employees are located, try discovering local organizations for which you can collectively volunteer. Or, you can opt to find remote activities. 

Here are some ideas for remote activities:

• “Show-and-learn” sessions: These can be personal or professional. Personal show-and-learns might entail giving a tour of your home office or a personal project you’ve been working on (like showing off that 1000-piece puzzle you just finished!). Professional show-and-learns might involve sharing outcomes of one’s quarterly goals or a “lunch and learn” with a guest speaker discussing health and wellness topics. 
• Virtual coffee or lunch meetups: Have coffee or lunch virtually. Consider mixing up teams by connecting individuals who don’t usually work together. This helps break silos and build new connections.
• Host remote workshops/classes: Team members might share similar personal or professional development goals. Group these individuals and find workshops or classes that appeal to them. 

4. Leverage digital collaboration tools

To effectively build and nurture your remote work culture, you need reliable digital platforms to enhance collaboration and morale. Research reports that 99% of remote workers use roughly 4.8 applications for communication and teamwork.

Here are some common digital tools companies are using: 

• Slack for personal and professional communication
• Google Docs/Sheets for documentation and tutorials 
• Asana for project management
• Zoom for meetings and company updates
• Recognize and Reward from Awardco for facilitating a work culture rooted in employee appreciation

For more guidance, read 4 Solutions for Managing Remote Teams.

Customer spotlight: CloudFit Software enhances remote work culture 

CloudFit Software faced the challenge of engaging a workforce where nearly 60% of employees operated remotely. While the company had implemented a recognition platform, only 20% of the workforce actually used it. 

To bridge the gap and foster a cohesive culture, they implemented Awardco's recognition platform. The company specifically leveraged the peer-to-peer recognition and nomination program for end-of-the-year awards.  

This strategic move led to a 350% increase in employee engagement, 5–8 hours a week saved through automation, and, most importantly, a more connected remote team. 

Read more customer stories>>

Create a powerful remote work culture with Awardco

Reimagining your remote work culture begins here. In today’s shifting work landscape, stay equipped with reliable resources at your side. 

Gain access to reward and recognition platforms that celebrate your employees’ milestones without breaking the budget. We encourage all HR professionals and company stakeholders to learn more about our platform.