Creating A Remote-Inclusive Work Culture

How leaders can retain the best aspects of a remote workforce without leaving people behind

Many people view remote work as an equalizer. It allows employees to work from anywhere, enjoy the comfort and flexibility that comes with working out of their own homes, be closer to their families, and work for employers based in cities they otherwise couldn’t afford to live in or commute to. On the employer side, it makes it easier to hire candidates outside of their geographical office location, and, through the magic of multiple time zones, yields benefits like increased work efficiency or the ability to give customers round-the-clock service.

But for frontline workers and under-represented groups, remote work doesn’t always level the playing field. For most marginalized groups that already struggle with equity in the modern workplace, working remotely can put them even further out of sight and out of mind, leading to dismal implications on careers, dependent care, and mental well-being. 
 

And from a belonging standpoint, remote and hybrid work can actually isolate employees from their in-office peers and accentuate perceived inequalities between work locations. All this is why businesses need to be particularly mindful of how diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) – and most certainly belonging – factor into the remote, in-office, and hybrid employee experience. 

Here are a few ways remote work can actually be hurting DEIB within your organization, as well as some suggestions about how to combat these issues to ensure all your remote employees feel valued, seen, and heard at work, regardless of where they are working.

Remote Work and Unconscious Bias

While there are multiple forms of unconscious bias that can cloud our judgment, here are a few common ones that managers and leaders should be aware of:

1. Affinity Bias

Affinity bias causes us to get along better with people we perceive to be like us. Think about it this way: if you walk into an interview and learn the candidate grew up in your hometown, went to your high school, and had one of your favorite teachers, you might warm up to them quicker and even think more highly of them during the rest of your interview. Unfortunately, when it’s time to extend an offer, you might be more likely to vouch for your hometown hero candidate because you really enjoyed your conversation and end up passing up an even more qualified candidate you couldn’t relate to as easily.

2. Recency Bias

Recency bias makes you more likely to remember and judge events that recently happened than those further in the past. For example, say you have an employee who‘s had sub-par performance throughout the year but, in the last two weeks, she’s been speaking up in meetings, producing great work, and really stepping up as a leader on the team. Since today is your semi-annual performance review, instead of giving her a 1 for her poor performance over the last 6 months, you give her a 5 because you’ve seen her performance greatly improve in the last few weeks. In reality, this score does not convey the employee’s overall performance and hurts other teammates who have worked hard consistently throughout the year. 

3. Halo/Horns Effect Bias

The halo effect bias is when you already think positively (or negatively) of someone and anything they do reaffirms your beliefs. For example, if you think your employee Rachel is a driven, disciplined worker, you will see her stepping out of the office at lunch to go to the gym as the embodiment of her continued discipline and routine. On the other hand, if you find Rachel to be lazy and unmotivated at work, you’ll find the same gym routine to be an example of the fact that Rachel can never be found at her desk and always looks for an excuse to leave the office. Neither viewpoint allows us to objectively review an individual’s actions. Rather, they make us quick to jump to whatever assumptions we already have about a person.

How to Fix Unconscious Bias 

Most performance review cycles rely heavily on manager input, so your first step should be to make your managers aware of their own biases so they can be more objective in reviews and compensation review conversations. Before every review cycle, we recommend companies host trainings for both new and existing managers on overcoming unconscious bias -- as well as giving and receiving constructive 360 feedback -- so these topics are top of mind before managers sit down with their teams. At Hone, we value continuous learning throughout one’s career journey so just because your manager-level team completed performance feedback training a year or two ago, it’s easy to slump into old habits – plus, there are new leadership techniques being introduced or up-leveled all the time, so we highly recommend annual refresher courses to be given to your entire management team.

Also, from a data perspective, you can harvest information from your human resource information system (HRIS) to monitor professional advancement and gain a better understanding of who is getting promoted within your organization. Be sure to hone in on stats by gender, age, race, and office location to get a full picture of development and learn where certain areas of your business may lack representation or professional development opportunities. 

Lastly, consider investing in development programs specifically for under-represented groups at all levels within your organization so everyone has an opportunity to up-level their skills and aspire to professional growth areas. Training programs and mentorship initiatives can give them the opportunity to gain new skills, learn about different areas of the business, and reap the career-long benefit of receiving professional advice from more senior leaders. 

Work-From-Home Stigma

While the shift to remote work during the pandemic has helped alleviate the work-from-home stigma, many people still believe employees need to be in the office to be productive. Some people only trust what they can see, and with remote workers out of sight, these individuals assume remote employees are less productive and engaged than their in-office counterparts. 

That’s not all: being out of sight may mean that remote workers are also out of mind, meaning they often don’t get the recognition they deserve. In fact, regardless of remote work, one survey found that 82% of employees don’t feel recognized enough by their managers; when employees don’t feel their contributions are acknowledged or valued in the workplace, their loyalty, morale, and productivity can take a huge hit. The same survey found that 40% of respondents said they’d put more energy into their work if they were recognized more often.

How to Be Mindful of Work-From-Home Stigma 

Publicly and privately improve the visibility of remote workers’ efforts. Publicly, encourage managers to highlight and applaud their remote direct reports’ contributions in team, department, and company meetings to help more people hear about their work. You can also implement peer-to-peer recognition software to allow all employees to regularly praise or reward their colleagues for their great work. 

Reduced Visibility

When an employee works from home, they are — literally and figuratively — difficult to be seen. Because of proximity, in-office employees are able to come together more frequently, learn more about each other, and take the time to celebrate cultures or recognize differences with their colleagues. Unfortunately, it’s often harder to organically meet and develop relationships with colleagues when you are (in some cases) hundreds of miles apart. 

Additionally, communication gaps can develop between in-person and remote employees, which can strain relationships. In the office, employees can have casual conversations and check-ins at the water cooler, in the hallway, and at their desks. However, when an employee works from home, they might not even be in the same time zone as their teammates, making it more difficult to ask questions, share feedback, and even communicate asynchronously. Plus, it can be easier to miscommunicate or commit microaggressions when employees can’t pick up on body language or tone behind a screen or chat application.

The cumulative result of all of these factors: remote employees are often an afterthought. They might be the last to hear a project has pivoted and gone in a different direction, or less likely to be included in collaborative projects. Not only can this leave the remote employees feeling isolated, but it can also cause them to miss out on projects that would allow them to learn or improve specific skill sets, or give them crucial visibility with senior leaders. 

How to Fix Reduced Visibility

To help employees feel more connected to their employees and meet new colleagues, consider adopting remote-friendly automated programs like Donut, or having each one of your employees take part in welcoming, onboarding, or mentoring new employees, at least one time per quarter. 

Lastly, encourage your managers and employees to be proactive about inclusivity. This might take the form of proactively sharing your pronouns, reminding employees to use their floating holidays for religious holidays, or regularly reaching out to include remote employees in ERGs or new projects outside of their comfort zone

Building an organization that gives every employee an equal opportunity to succeed takes intention. In order to be proactive, you need to understand how remote work bias can hold your business back from achieving this goal. Being aware of this bias is the first step your company can take towards addressing it, but achieving true equality is an ongoing quest. 

Creating a remote-inclusive work culture means being intentional about company-wide learning and development goals. Whether by implementing hybrid training solutions or ensuring your remote teams have the same recognition and opportunities as your in-office employees, you need to find the best way to support your remote employees and ensure they have a long, successful career with your company.

Savina Perez is the Chief Customer Officer and Co-Founder at Hone, the all-in-one talent development platform for modern teams delivering live learning at scale to enable behavior change, human connection, and continuous development. Visit https://honehq.com/  Connect Savina Perez