STRENGTHENING BELONGING FOR REMOTE WORKERS IN A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD WITH 4 ACTIONS

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Organizations across the world, after adjusting to the work-from-home requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic, are struggling with a new challenge. How do we make remote or hybrid work feel inclusive? How do we ensure that employees who may be distributed across the globe and rarely see their coworkers’ faces feel connected, seen, and valued?

There are big challenges here, and no single answer will be right for every organization, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the question. Since the pandemic, there has been notable disengagement between employees and their workplaces, with around 16% of employees in the US being actively disengaged from their organizations in mid-2023. While that stat is for all US employees, not just those working remotely, it seems that while many in-person workers have increased their engagement since then, hybrid and remote workers remain disengaged.

The answer to this is not to take away remote/hybrid work, of course; it is clear that many employees prefer remote working, and offering remote or hybrid options is an effective way to attract workers. So, instead, employers need to look for other ways to enhance workers’ connection and sense of belonging when they’re at work. How can they do this?

Create space for pronouns

One of the most effective ways for organizations to create a culture of belonging in the digital space is to normalize pronoun declarations. It’s important for them to create systems that allow people to state their pronouns in unobtrusive ways - and equally to make sure that the systems have opt-out capabilities for those who don’t want to do this.

This might seem like a small step, but it sends important signals. It says, “We care about who you are and your comfort. We want to make sure people recognize the way you identify.” It can also avoid confusion and embarrassment over gender-neutral names and make it easier for those who have names from other cultures to express their identities without feeling singled out.

Email signatures, names on chats, and usernames within work programs can all be great places to add pronoun options. At a very basic level, this will help workers to feel like they know each other, and prevent the awkwardness of accidental misgendering in the online space.

It might seem like creating a focus on pronouns could be unhelpful, potentially labeling employees in ways that they would rather avoid. However, as long as the process is optional, this is actually an opportunity to foster inclusivity. It stops people from having to guess what their coworkers might prefer and thus eliminates the focus on gender!

Create social opportunities

People are more likely to feel as though they belong when they know their colleagues as people, not just as faceless components of work. Creating social relationships can be challenging in the virtual space, however. This might leave some employees feeling that the only thing their workplaces and colleagues care about is their productivity, not who they are as people. This isn’t a good way to build connections or create loyalty in your workers.

It can lead to minority groups in particular feeling isolated because they don’t have opportunities to bond with their coworkers. They may feel like they can’t bring their authentic selves to work safely if they don’t have any insight into who their coworkers are and what their beliefs are. It might seem like this approach removes labels, preventing assumptions about who is gay, white, Buddhist, or any other identity, but in reality, it can feel more like erasure. The things that make people unique and the characteristics that are important to their core selves are ignored and made irrelevant. It can be very demoralizing!

Organizations can start combating this by creating social opportunities for everyone. There are many ways to do this. Opting for a hybrid setup is a good start because it will encourage people to come into the office at times. It will also provide a physical space for people to meet in. This can be enhanced by creating opportunities for people to bond and enjoy themselves, such as happy hours, birthday celebrations, lunches out, team-building days, and more.

It’s crucial, though, to make sure that you dedicate work time to this, rather than requiring people to socialize with coworkers in their downtime! Eating into people’s free time can cause resentment and hardships, so it should be avoided. Any out-of-hours work events should be optional.

Organizations that can’t meet physically, such as those who have remote workers across the globe, will need to be more inventive about their approach. They might choose to do virtual lunches together, which can have a particularly positive impact on morale if the company pays to have food delivered. Other joint activities, such as virtual gift swaps and parties may work well too.

Celebrate achievements

In offices, achievements tend to get celebrated because everyone is around to hear about them... but in hybrid/remote setups, it’s very easy for big wins to go virtually unnoticed by all except for those directly working on them. However, humans need to recognize their successes in order to feel connected and reduce the risk of burnout. It’s particularly easy for minority groups to go unnoticed because they may be less likely to work on high-profile projects and they might feel less comfortable about celebrating their work. Many minority groups feel invisible at work, especially when operating remotely.

Creating opportunities to mark achievements, both large and small, is therefore crucial to creating a sense of belonging and making sure that everybody on the team feels recognized. Organizations should encourage managers to ensure everyone is getting recognition for their contributions. Weekly or biweekly meetings that focus on celebration can be a great way to do this, bumping up morale and allowing people to feel that their work is valued.

Prioritize communication

When we communicate online, we lose a lot of information and value. Humans say so much with body language and tone, and it can be enormously difficult to convey these things in written text, and sometimes even over audio and video. That means organizations have to bump up their communication efforts when it comes to remote work.

Managers should be encouraged to do face-to-face meetings with employees on a fairly frequent basis, and team members should be given opportunities to talk to each other. It’s even worth considering training employees on how to communicate clearly in writing so that messages aren’t misunderstood. Although some workplaces dislike emojis because they are informal, consider whether they could have a place in making communication better by creating a stand-in for body language.

Remote and hybrid work present a lot of challenges when it comes to establishing a sense of belonging and connection. Often, a remote setup increases labeling because we know so little about each other that we have no choice but to fall back on simplistic categorizations. However, with these techniques, we can start to overcome the problems and start to see each other as whole, complete human beings who are coming together to serve the organization’s mission.

Time to get hands-on!

Try virtual watercooler moments to connect on a personal level, beyond work-related tasks. These can take many forms, such as:

• Randomized coffee chats: Pair employees randomly for 15-minute virtual coffee breaks to chat about non-work topics.

• Themed discussion channels: Create Slack or Teams channels for shared interests (e.g., #holiday, #sport, #foodies).

• Virtual happy hours: Host casual video calls where team members can unwind and socialize.

• Gamified icebreakers: Use tools like Donut (a Slack integration) to automate fun, gamified interactions, such as trivia games or "two truths and a lie."