In today’s environment, many work settings are a mix of hybrid and remote employees. Remote employees may not get the exact same in-office experience as their hybrid counterparts, but that doesn’t mean they should miss out on company culture. In mixed workplaces, it’s important for companies to create a culture that feels equal to all, no matter where they work from.
With virtual activities, all-hands meetings, ice breakers and virtual conferences, ensuring all employees have initiatives they can participate in and learn from can be as smooth as signing into a Zoom call.
These three companies are prime examples of employers creating engaging cultures across a variety of settings. We spoke with Leyton, LogRocket, and 3Play Media about how they make sure their hybrid workforces feel equally engaged and cared for.
Leyton is a fintech company that helps clients utilize and implement governments tax credits and incentives.
Describe an event, ritual or activity where you saw success in engagement from both your remote and in-office workforce.
We have biweekly all-hands meeting. Groups of employees gather in our Boston and San Francisco offices, along with our remote employees and international employees joining virtually.
We also have presenters in person at an office, along with guest speakers and presenters virtually. The entire team is involved and engaged and receiving the same information. We have a chat for employees to ask questions, and we send out the slides afterwards for everyone to review. This is a larger version of individual team events/meetings that happen more often on a smaller scale.
For example, our people team is spread out across the U.S. and in Canada. We meet in a hybrid capacity weekly to review what is happening in the department and hear feedback and create action items. One fun aspect of this is an ice breaker, which allows us to learn more about our team members. We nominate a new person each week to run the meeting and come up with the ice breaker.
What feedback did you receive from employees after these events?
We received positive feedback, employees like hearing updates and how the company is doing live by our leaders. They also like being able to participate on the call, whether it’s to highlight their employee achievements, welcome new employees or explain something new and exciting that’s happening on their team. The remote members feel engaged by ice breakers, feel more included in the meeting.
In your opinion, what should employers be doing to create an engaging hybrid culture?
This is a never-ending discussion on our team. Something you do today may need to be changed quickly or can last for a while. We always want to be sure our technology is up to date so employees can hear what is going on during the meeting.
When planning activities, be sure to include everyone. One example is our end of year party, we invite everyone to come to the same location. Another example would be a lunch at the end of busy season, which can be expensed by any remote employee. Remote employees especially want to feel included, and this takes planning and teamwork. Our remote employees are vital to our success, just as much as our hybrid employees. We want to be sure everyone is engaged and feels they are included.
LogRocket is a software company offering frontend monitoring solutions for engineering teams.
Describe an event, ritual or activity where you saw success in engagement from both your remote and in-office workforce.
Our company is committed to offering employee engagement activities several times per month. One event in particular — paint night — has been so well-attended that we offer it multiple times a year. Paint nights consistently see high attendance from both remote and in-person employees, as remote employees can easily tune in via Zoom.
What makes this event especially unique is that our director of product design leads our paint nights, bringing an even more homegrown feel to the event. Participants regularly share techniques and their progress along the way, promoting a supportive and encouraging space where everyone feels welcome regardless of skill level.
What feedback did you receive from the participants of this event?
Employees enjoy the relaxing and meditative nature of paint night, reporting that it's beneficial for decompression and creative expression. Many cherish the opportunity to participate in an activity they say they wouldn’t make time for otherwise.
Kits are shipped directly to remote employees complete with paper, paints, and a variety of brushes — making it effortless to participate in the event. Employees have also described the significance of being able to socialize informally with all members of the company; laying the groundwork for inter-departmental connections.
In your opinion, what should employers be doing to create an engaging hybrid culture?
The success of creating a hybrid culture includes thinking about inclusivity above all else and accepting everyone’s unique situations, interests, physical locations, etc. The planning mindset of executing successful activities both virtually and in person includes thinking about all the logistics including technology setup, the delivery and shipping considerations and the timing of the event.
To ensure high engagement, it's important to make the event as convenient as possible by removing barriers that could prevent an employee from participating in the first place. Furthermore, creating an engaging hybrid culture requires consistently thinking outside the box regarding new and unique events while also incorporating DEI initiatives throughout the year, with the ultimate goal of creating more cohesion among employees. This work is predicated on getting feedback constantly on what worked, and what didn’t work and using engagement surveys to provide insight to adapt effectively going forward.
3Play Media combines humans and AI technology to provide high-quality captioning, transcription and subtitling services.
Describe an event, ritual or activity where you saw success in engagement from both your remote and in-office workforce.
For Boston-area locals, 3Play Media holds a weekly in-office day, which we call 3PLACE. The remainder of the week is flexibly hybrid. 3PLACE is a chance for predictable, in-person collaboration and opportunities to strengthen connections.
But 3Players agree that one 3PLACE day in particular is the most highly anticipated of them all. Once a year, 3Play Media swaps 3PLACE for 3Plympics. This field day event brings together employees from all over, including those who work remotely and those who regularly report into the office. Wearing coordinated costumes, 3Players work together in teams to engage in some friendly competition. For example, teams might mix together red and blue Jell-O powder to be the first to match the right shade of purple, or they may flex their creative muscles through secret ingredient cooking challenges a la Iron Chef.
What feedback did you receive from the participants of this event?
After participating in 3Plympics, both remote and in-person employees reported feeling more relaxed around their fellow 3Players. Having the chance to get together and break the ice by participating in silly team-based challenges helped form bonds that might have otherwise been more difficult to forge.
Remote employees appreciated the opportunity to finally meet co-workers they’d maybe only previously met virtually, while in-person members relished the chance to goof around with co-workers on non-work-related tasks. As for 3PLACE as a whole, employees appreciate the focused intent of the in-person days, rather than simply working independently on individual work from the same location. The hybrid style gives employees the flexibility they need to maintain a healthy work-life balance, while also fostering relationships that contribute to an engaging culture.
In your opinion, what should employers be doing to create an engaging hybrid culture?
Employers should promote an inclusive environment where all employees feel valued and included, regardless of their location. We should ensure that remote employees have equal opportunities to participate, contribute, and grow within the company. It’s important to plan regular team-building activities that bring in-person and remote employees together, such as virtual social events, team lunches, off-site retreats and online games.
Employees feel more connected to one another when they’ve been given chances to have informal conversations and connect on a personal level. And of course, remember that the needs and preferences of employees may vary, so it's important to gather feedback and adapt strategies accordingly. The company should make it obvious that they act upon feedback and involve employees in decision-making processes, which helps foster a sense of ownership and engagement for all.
