Companies all over the country have undergone intense disruption during the pandemic specifically impacting workplace culture and morale. From remote workplaces and workforce shortages, to return-to-office with hiring freezes and layoffs all in the span of a few years, some companies’ workplace culture may have been severely damaged – struggling to rebound.
What can be done to revive workplace culture to keep employees and managers alike satisfied? And how do companies, remote or in-office, restructure their culture and hang onto their best employees? Here are just a few tips to help maintain and improve workplace culture.
- Implement a company-wide message board
With workplaces still operating remotely or hybrid, it can be difficult to get in touch with a team member without a dedicated space to get in contact. Most people are familiar with video calling applications like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, however, providing a space for team members company-wide to message each other goes a long way! Companies can utilize existing features in Teams, free apps like Discord or pay for popular solutions like Slack.
Think of a message board as one way to make up for break room chats or water cooler talks. When employees have more access to each other to discuss projects or just catch up with each other in a low-pressure environment through messaging, they are more likely to build camaraderie amongst each other. Younger employees especially benefit from company messaging boards, as they are typically more comfortable with messaging than video calling.
- Remind people what they are working towards
It’s important that employees are reminded what their hard work can accomplish. As a manager, learn to be a storyteller. Find the narratives in your workplace that show how your team or company is helping others and highlight them for your employees. When people see success stories that come as a direct result of their work, it can inspire them to band together and build relationships.
At Sharp Decisions, we proudly find meaningful work for veterans and veteran spouses with tech backgrounds through our V.E.T.S.TM Program. Even during the toughest weeks, our employees can look at the lives we have changed and see the good their work has done.
- Schedule meaningful one-on-ones and team meetings.
Throughout the pandemic, it’s been more important than ever for employees to talk about how they feel about their performance and experience at work. However, with the lack of in-person teambuilding over the past several years, it is possible employees feel distant to their teams and managers. Managers must use team calls or one-on-ones as opportunities to build confidence and comfort within teams.
As companies continue to navigate combinations of remote, hybrid, or in-person workplaces, it’s important to listen to employees, as they ultimately will provide the best insight into what their needs are. For more workplace insights, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter, and find job opportunities on our careers page.