Research suggests that around 50% of employees who work from home no longer feel a sense of belonging to their company. This sadly highlights a negative light on the remote working systems which have been put into place over the last few years since the pandemic.
Whilst it can be a challenge, it is important that organisations help their staff to feel a sense of belonging to their business, even when they are working remotely full time. It is critical to find a balance between offering flexibility to employees, along with offering a strong company culture to help retain employees and help them feel fulfilled in their roles.
What tools can organisations implement?
Some useful tools to help staff feel a sense of belonging within organisations could be to implement a wellness programme. This might involve offering free or discounted exercise groups, yoga or meditation classes. Another tool to help create a sense of belonging for remote employees could be to offer weekly catch-up sessions via Zoom to bring the team together. No matter what route you decide to take, it is important to listen to your employee’s feedback and implement changes based upon this, as this will help to best retain your hard-working and high-performing employees.
The positive impact of remote working
Working from home has positively impacted work culture in many ways. Firstly, it has been found that over 50% of workers claimed that remote working has had a positive impact on their work-life balance. Meanwhile, nearly 30% of workers have said that working from home has positively impacted their job motivation. With this, over 40% of employees have said that they feel more trusted to complete their role without interference from management since working from home.
The negative impact of remote working
Despite all this, working from home has also had negative impacts on work culture as well. Nearly 50% of remote workers have stated that they feel isolated when working from home in comparison to office culture. In addition, career progression has been negatively impacted, with over 20% of workers saying they’ve been negatively impacted when it comes to promotion opportunities due to remote working.
Is home working affecting work culture for the better or for the worse? Whilst there are clear advantages and disadvantages for organisations offering remote working, it is clear that home working can negatively impact a company’s work culture. Lack of social interaction can cause employees to feel disconnected from the business. This is why it is useful to try and implement new strategies to bring your team closer together to create that sense of belonging your employees need, whether they realise it or not.
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