Practicing What You Preach Part Two: Culture

When it comes to the world of work, practicing what you preach is becoming an increasingly valued trait. In the same breath, getting caught red-handed virtue signaling or making empty promises as a way to allude that you’re doing more than you actually are, is getting cracked down on in a BIG way. 

In part one of this newsletter, we discussed the issue of greenwashing. In this week’s, we’re focusing on corporate culture. 

Jokes about employers offering tick-box alternatives to real-world issues have found their way into public consciousness. You won’t have to look far to find a meme about in-office yoga sessions used to combat mental health problems, rather than dealing with the core issue of overwork or toxic management. 

In short: employers are being called out for their lacklustre efforts to foster a good workplace culture, even - and perhaps most especially - when they’re acting as though they already have it nailed. 

So, what makes a good corporate culture if not the yoga sessions? 

The thing is, employee benefits like yoga, free snacks and bring-your-pet-to-work-day are all great—but only when combined with basic benefits like job security, routes to promotion and decent pay. At the end of the day, mindfulness sessions won’t pay the bills. 

Similarly, corporate culture tends to be a reflection of a company’s leadership team. You can try to create a culture that oozes positivity and allows employees to thrive, but if your company leaders push for unrealistic targets, long hours and aggressive or demeaning communication styles, it won’t take long for people to see through the façade.   

These sorts of issues can be exacerbated when you’re building a culture remotely, so it’s even more important to make sure you’re focusing on the basics before offering any shiny add-ons. For example, do your remote employees have proper payroll management services to ensure they are paid right and on time, all the time? Are they covered by HR benefits like labor laws? Do they have a dedicated point person to voice their issues to? 

Remote leaders similarly have to work that bit harder to make sure corporate culture is practicing what it preaches, but it can be done! Ensuring constant, open and - above all - friendly communication is key here. You’d be surprised how often candor, kindness, and friendliness is overlooked—and how much of a difference it can make. 

You can also work with a third party (ahem…like us!) to share the burden of creating a culture to be genuinely proud of. After all, it’s no easy task and sometimes help from an expert can transform your whole business for the better.  

Want to find out how we can work with you to build an amazing company culture remotely? Get in touch with a member of our friendly team today!