The workplace watercooler was once the gathering point where people could take a breath and connect with another human being. Stories of children, pets, hobbies, and even love interests were shared loosely and with gusto.

Communities tend to happen naturally wherever people congregate, but what do we do when people are not physically gathering?

While people participated in the remote workforce long before the global pandemic, managing whole teams virtually has brought with it some challenges… but also some delightful perks. You don’t have to look far to see great examples of innovation and creativity bringing people together through a screen and microphone.

When it comes to building a truly inclusive remote working community, here are some of our best tips.

Set the Tone

Consider the fact that many people on your team are relatively new to remote work and may not understand the norms of virtual etiquette.

Simple things like changing your background to something silly, allowing your cat to sit on your lap, or starting off the meeting with a fun icebreaker is a great way to set the tone for what is acceptable, while also allowing people to feel comfortable in this virtual space.

Be clear on virtual expectations, write them down, and ensure that everyone understands them.

Do you start meetings with cameras on or off? Do you make use of the raise hand function? Do you encourage use of the platform’s chat function? Whatever your technical standards may be, ensure they are written down and communicated.

Aside from technical expectations, take a moment to acknowledge that people will be working in a number of physical spaces: a home office, the kitchen table, a local cafe, or a coworking space, just to name a few. Some people may even have tiny humans running around. Part of fostering an inclusive work environment is ensuring that people feel welcome and their contributions valued, however and wherever they contribute.

Hold Space for Vulnerability

We may all be in the same storm, but not everyone is in the same boat.

Understanding that people may be struggling with any number of things is the bare minimum. Follow up with this knowledge by creating a space where people feel comfortable being vulnerable and asking for help when they need it.

Leading by example is key, teams will be looking towards their higher ups for what is acceptable. When leadership authentically shares that they are struggling with something, it not only opens the doors for others to share, but also to offer help or guidance.

One creative way that companies are fostering these spaces is by designating certain chat channels to topics and support groups, like ones for parents or those who may be caring for elderly families. Informal water coolers or digital break rooms are also a helpful way to encourage less formal mingling.

It is difficult to be vulnerable with people you have yet to meet in person, but fostering a space where all are welcome and feel as though they are heard will go a long way.

Be Considerate of Others Time – Don’t Micromanage

Back in the day, you could walk by someone’s desk and note a pile of paperwork that needed to be dealt with or filed. You could see books open, full calendars on the wall, and meeting rooms occupied by busy bodies.

While there are still digital ways to see if someone is available like out of office automatic replies, blocked digital calendar slots, or even offline notifications, don’t make assumptions about other people’s time or how they are managing it. If work is being submitted on time, then you can trust that whatever system they have in place is sufficient. If the work isn’t being done on time, it may be appropriate to reevaluate expectations to ensure that they are reasonable.

Before the pandemic forced everyone online, it was a commonly held belief that people working from home worked less. Studies have found the very opposite to be true – people who work remotely tend to actually work more… it just may not be during traditional work hours or even in the same time zone.

If you want to be truly inclusive, you need to recognize that people have a variety of hours that they are most productive and mentally available. Whether someone works early in the morning or late at night, if a task is completed on time, there is no need to micromanage the details in between. Becoming outcome-oriented is beneficial to both leaders and their team and makes the best use of everyone’s time.

Offering a variety of ways that people can check in without having meetings is another considerate gesture. Even if your meetings are as short as 1 hour, if there are 10 people in attendance, you have pulled away 10 hours of potential productivity. Using collaborative technology, it is easy for your team to leave a note with the status of projects or pending to-dos.

You can offer a variety of ways to check in and submit reports without an hour long meeting.

Value Diversity and Inclusion

You don’t have to look very far to find piles of studies demonstrating the benefits of fostering a diverse work environment. A Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that diversity was directly correlated to innovation which inturn resulted in an average of 19% more revenue for the companies that embraced it. The study also found that it wasn’t enough to simply have a diverse team, diversity needed to be present at all levels of the organization for the most benefit.

Different experiences shape a variety of perspectives. These perspectives then determine how we look at problems and the solutions that we find to solve them. In essence, everyone wins when inclusion is a priority.

It is important to understand that many people were forced into remote work based on situations beyond their control and they may be struggling. Taking extra care to check in with parents and minorities and other more vulnerable or underserved populations will go a long way to show that you see them and value their input.

With a little intentionality and consideration, you can foster an inclusive remote working community that your team is proud to be a part of.

Creating an inclusive environment at work yields a wide array of benefits for both employees and organizations. There is now a body of research on the topic suggesting that companies with an inclusive culture and diverse teams have seen a substantial boost in revenue and value creation.

However, it’s safe to say that the COVID-19 pandemic and the remote-first work that came as a result have affected businesses’ efforts to create a more inclusive workspace.

During such trying times, ensuring that people work in an inclusive space is more important than ever, and addressing this need isn’t necessarily a straightforward task. In this article, we’ll discuss exactly how organizations can embrace their employees and help them feel cared for and included at work.

Let’s dive right in, shall we?

What does an inclusive workplace look like?

The end goal of creating an inclusive workspace is to make every employee feel appreciated while also taking their differences into account. Similarly, it’s crucial to understand how these differences contribute to the organization’s success. To achieve this, businesses must aim to negate any bias towards their least represented workers.

As a result of successfully implementing inclusion practices, all employees will feel that they can bring a valuable contribution to the company’s success. Plus, an inclusive workspace should foster a sense of mindfulness regarding the type of issues that different people might have to deal with, as well as how these issues impact their quality of life and performance at work.

Why inclusion matters more than ever

The global pandemic ushered in a new world of remote work, which has forced unprecedented changes in all of our lives. However, it’s important to mention that various groups of people have felt these effects more than others.

Now is the time when organizations should take care of all of their employees, especially the ones from underrepresented communities.

In an office setting, taking care of each other is more seamless than in remote environments. It’s much more effortless to speak to people, ask them about how they are, and observe their behavior for signs of stress or depression. Working remotely has made these interactions more challenging, which means that both individuals and organizations should take the necessary steps to express care and support.

Inclusion can’t be backed exclusively by systemic or individual efforts; it must always be a combination of both. This way, a company can rid itself of both conscious and unconscious biases in formal and informal processes.

Below, we’ll take a closer look at the steps you can take to contribute to establishing an inclusive environment at work, both from an individual and a systemic standpoint.

1. Create space for non-work chat

Creating an inclusive environment strongly depends on building meaningful relationships. To do this, it’s essential to build trust with the people who work with you, understand their struggles, and share more about your own weaknesses and vulnerabilities. This will enable your employees to express themselves freely and feel understood. While it does seem like a very broad task, there are quite a few things you can do to express care.

Embrace the opportunity to share

Speaking about your vulnerabilities as a leader, manager, or C-suite officer is meant to inform your colleagues that they should feel free to do the same.

People from underrepresented communities have most likely had to deal with indifference, misunderstanding, discrimination, and microaggressions, which often makes them reluctant to speak about their issues. It’s extremely important to let them know that you’re willing to learn about their experiences and take them seriously.

Doing so also provides you with the opportunity to learn more about them and get to know them on a personal level. People enjoy speaking about the things that drive them, they also love feeling heard when they can open up about their vulnerabilities.

It’s also essential to learn about the effects of the pandemic and self-isolation on their wellbeing, which brings us to PEI check-ins.

Physical, Emotional, Intellectual (PEI) check-ins

As we mentioned above, it’s much easier to interact with your colleagues in an office. A work-from-home setting strips us of a wide array of interactions with our coworkers, making it harder to learn about how a person is feeling—this is why it’s imperative to have regular PEI check-ins.

Asking people about how they feel in a casual way is an important tenet of an inclusive environment. As a leader, you should allot time every week to learn how people feel physically, emotionally, and intellectually. These check-ins should be less of a formality and more of an opportunity to remind people that it’s okay to feel unwell during such trying times.

PEI check-ins can be held during work-related one-on-ones or outside them. If you opt for the former, make sure to start your call with the PEI update rather than leaving it for the end of the meeting. Avoid talking about work altogether, place the person’s wellbeing at the center of your focus, and listen intently. Being genuine during these conversations is paramount. If these check-ins feel like a mere formality, they’ll defeat the purpose of building a connection with your coworkers.

Bear in mind that open-ended questions are much more efficient in understanding how a person feels compared to close-ended ones:

• Are you feeling okay?
• How are you feeling?

Notice how the first question can only be answered with “yes” or “no,” and it’s at the person’s discretion whether they’d like to elaborate on their answer. By asking an open-ended question, we express our willingness to learn about how a person is doing.

Give people what they need

Aside from learning how people feel, it’s important to understand how you can help improve their wellbeing both within work and outside it. It’s safe to say that as a leader, you can’t effectively create an inclusive environment if you don’t really understand the issues that your colleagues are dealing with.

Consider making some thoughtful changes to your workflow that will make everyone just a little happier collectively, but don’t hesitate to learn about every individual’s needs and make adjustments accordingly:

• Ask your colleagues about the things that distract them or about the challenges that prevent them from being present at work;
• Consider making your meetings a few minutes shorter. Many people find social interactions hard in general. A bit of extra time will help them decompress and allow them to prepare for the next call. While this doesn’t seem like much, it means a lot to the people that need it;
• There’s a chance that there are people among your employees or team members who are “onlys” (the only person from a particular community). Often, they may feel left out or demotivated to speak about their issues or challenges. Make sure to spend some time chatting with them to learn more about their experience and how you can help them feel included and safe at work;
• As a leader, it’s essential to be willing to have challenging conversations about the mistakes you’ve made when interacting with underrepresented communities at work if you’ve done so. State your desire to learn and invite people from these communities to share their perspective and teach their colleagues how they can improve in this regard;

2. Identify communities that are most vulnerable to remote work

While supporting employee mental wellbeing is central to an inclusive workspace, it’s important to identify other ways of improving your colleague’s quality of life. Both short-term and long-term improvements can contribute to this goal.

Financial support

There is a variety of reasons why particular employees might need financial assistance during the pandemic—it’s important to learn about every person’s struggles and understand how you can be of assistance. Take a moment to think about the people that don’t really need extra income, but rather need reassurance that they won’t unexpectedly lose their jobs.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Offer hazard pay for your most vulnerable employees;
• Make a commitment to protect your employees’ jobs and income for as long as possible via flexible hours or shorter work weeks;
• Offer additional paid time off for the employees that need it most, like seniors, for instance;
• Join forces with other businesses or industries to help your employees find additional income sources;

Adjusted workflows

For many people, working remotely means that there will be a significant overlap between their professional and domestic responsibilities, and dealing with both can be pretty challenging. There is a variety of things an employer can do to assist them:

• Allow children to participate in meetings to relieve the stress some parents experience;
• Allow employees to define their own work schedules, so they can juggle both domestic and work-related responsibilities more efficiently;
• Offer logistic assistance to provide the right software and hardware for employees with disabilities;
• Offer flexible hours or extended paid care for people with care responsibilities;

Mental wellbeing through tech

Never hesitate to provide your colleagues with psychological support through apps and online resources. While expressing care personally is an essential part of an inclusive workplace, people will benefit greatly from additional resources that will help them deal with anxiety, depression, and solitude.

• Offer a package of mental wellbeing products like meditation or psychological support apps. A great addition to this would be tools and webinars on dealing with anxiety and depression;
• Ensure that your colleague’s work schedules are respected at all times to avoid remote burnout;
• Focus on maintaining your team’s spirits up via virtual happy hours and similar activities;

Adjusting jobs to individuals

We can’t really predict how long the COVID-19 pandemic will continue affecting our lives. Therefore, it’s essential to think about longer-term strategies to protect the vulnerable communities in your workforce. Here are a few things you should consider:

• Stay committed to remote work. Working from home is gradually becoming the new standard for the vast majority of office workers. Committing to continued remote work will allow your company to reduce the gender pay gap, create a better environment for people in the LGBTQ+ community, and grow your representation of people with disabilities;
• Consider offering non-transferable paternity leave. Remote work has made substantial changes in family roles. As an employer, you can help support this shift in perspective by allowing both parents to take paternity leave so that children can have the support they need. This enables both men and women to take their caregiving responsibilities seriously, as well as stimulate men’s participation in care work;
• Continue investing in your employees’ mental and psychological wellbeing through PEI check-ins and technology;

Better HR processes

As your company invests more time and effort into creating an inclusive culture in a remote environment, it’s essential to make changes in a wide array of human resources processes:

• Reevaluate hiring, pay, promotion, and termination. Your employees’ quality of life has changed drastically since the beginning of the pandemic, so has yours. Approach any decision regarding their employment and pay with this in mind and make the necessary adjustments to evaluate their work with their mental and psychological wellbeing in mind;
• When reevaluating these facets, make sure to have a diverse crowd voice its opinion on these changes;

3. Lead by example

It’s essential to take into account that your efforts in building an inclusive culture won’t automatically translate onto the rest of the company. The results of your inclusion policies will rely heavily on your leaders and higher management. A study published by Gartner suggests that about seven out of 10 employees think that the companies they work in fail to inform them about the means of promoting inclusion.

It is essential that everyone in the company is encouraged to value every employee’s contribution by expressing care for one another, advocating for respect and equality, as well as playing an active part in their colleagues’ growth and success.

To ensure that the inclusion strategy is successful, it’s important also to visualize what success exactly means in this regard. HR leaders should invest quite a bit of time and effort into translating what inclusion means on both a theoretical and a practical level.

There is a wide array of things that an inclusive management can do to promote these values in the rest of the company:

• Make open commitments towards inclusion and ask your colleagues to hold you accountable. This will help promote the cause and motivate fellow workers to take part in such commitments;
• Motivate your colleagues to participate in various inclusive practices, which they will commit to on a weekly basis;
• Promote fairness within your team. Make sure to give credit to the people that came up with a solution to a problem and always return the conversation to the person that was interrupted. It’s also important to spot people that are typically passive during meetings and help them join the conversation to make their voice heard;
• Set an example by becoming a true ally of members of underrepresented communities at work. Consider calling out male-centric work culture and language, as well as instances of non-inclusive and unfair behavior;
• Be curious about other people’s experiences and seek to learn from them. While this may sound like a straightforward thing to do, it does demand a fair amount of mindfulness and intention. Listen carefully to what your colleagues have to say and prevent interruptions, especially when it comes to members of underrepresented communities. Actively seek out their opinions on work-related matters so that they can share their perspective on things;

4. Remain committed to the cause

The focus of our article revolves around building a long-lasting inclusive culture in your organization, and it’s important to underline that a mere one-shot diversity training simply won’t cut it. As a leader, it’s essential to opt for changing behavior rather than just informing your coworkers about inclusion. Your efforts should be organization-wide and conducted over a long period of time.

• Your company’s C-suite officers and board members must show their public support for inclusion policies, incorporate diversity and inclusion in the company’s purpose, and take responsibility for the success of these changes;
• Aside from showing its support for the cause, the higher management itself should become a diverse and inclusive space. Increasing the number of people from underrepresented communities that are part of the strategy process is instrumental in building and maintaining a diverse and inclusive culture;
• It’s essential to rethink and reform the hiring and selection processes since they can often increase bias. For instance, often, jobs are advertised exclusively to graduates of certain universities. Another common issue is that managers very rarely select people from minority groups for client-facing or revenue-generating positions;
• Set clear and measurable inclusion-related objectives for your managers. A few examples of such goals are employee engagement, equity, and psychological safety. To ensure that these objectives can be measured, consider setting KPIs for each of them;

The bottom line

The vast majority of businesses around the world have suffered from the uncertainty that was brought upon us by the global pandemic. However, there’s no doubt that employee experience should be at the very top of your organization’s priorities.

Investing time, money, and effort into keeping your employees happy and cared for is essential for talent retention, higher productivity, and overall business success.

Let’s do a quick recap of the steps higher management, leaders, and individuals should commit to in order to create a more inclusive environment at work:

• Make some space for non-work chat. Even providing people with the most basic emotional support can be extremely useful when done genuinely. Ask people about how they feel, and listen carefully. Learn more about the troubles they’re going through, understand how you can help, and don’t hesitate to normalize sharing by telling people about your own vulnerabilities;
• Identify the people that need extra support and provide them with the additional financial, emotional, and technological assistance to improve their quality of life;
• Call out exclusive behavior and lead by example. Inclusion is more than just company-wide memos and seminars. It relies on the dedication and mindfulness of individuals;
• Inclusion is not an end goal. It’s a continuous and long-lasting transformation process.

Gratitude is having a moment. Practicing it is a topic of conversation everywhere, and you wouldn’t be wrong to believe that the attention is deserved. A principle of self-care, practicing gratitude involves taking the time to notice and reflect upon the things you’re thankful for.

Appreciation can be for anything – as simple as a Youtube video that made you laugh or as significant as a promotion at work. Research shows that practicing gratefulness has positive effects on our minds, health, and wellbeing, so regularly taking a moment to count our blessings is becoming even more compelling.

At work, expressing gratitude is how we acknowledge our team’s efforts and celebrate their wins. Receiving appreciation at work makes us feel good about our performance and motivates us to keep it up. While some leaders believe that expressing gratitude may undermine their authority, this is far from the truth. There’s nothing worse than working for someone who thinks your paycheck is the only ‘thanks’ needed. A little TLC here and there goes a long way to your team and organization’s benefit.

Some of the ways that gratitude transforms an organization

1. Increases job satisfaction, decreases employee turnover

If a company would like employee satisfaction to grow, a culture of gratitude is an excellent way to accomplish this. Without consistent and authentic recognition, employees are more likely to quit. Employee turnover is a massive drainer on company resources, and it’s pricey, costing up to $160 billion per year in the US alone. Since lack of appreciation is one of the top reasons people are ditching their jobs, implementing a culture of gratitude can help keep your team satisfied and stick around for longer.

2. Encourages employees to feel motivated, engaged, and productive

Expressing gratitude and appreciation correlates to increased employee motivation, engagement, and productivity. Some research shows that gratitude can actually be a better motivator than pay. It also causes employees to be more concerned about social responsibility in the workplace, performing more organizational citizenship behaviors such as making new employees feel welcome and filling in for coworkers.

3. Drives greater organizational innovation and performance

As mentioned, when employees feel appreciated, their job satisfaction, motivation, engagement, and productivity improve. Meaning that they are more likely to be productive performers, ultimately driving more significant organizational innovation and performance.

4. Transcends beyond the workplace

Gratitude’s positive effects in the workplace spill over into other areas of employee lives. Examples include increased happiness, greater satisfaction with life, higher resilience to stress, and even fewer headaches and illnesses.

5. Gratitude can be a pathway to achieving bigger goals

Gratitude is important, but it isn’t the only emotional skill valuable to a modern business. Emotional intelligence and empathy encourage employees to practice compassion and forgiveness. Gratitude can act as an excellent gateway to these more challenging goals.

6. It’s beneficial to everyone involved

According to research conducted by Harvard Medical School, practicing gratefulness is just as beneficial as receiving it. Giving thanks boosts happiness and fosters hope for the future. It also reduces stress, burnout, symptoms of PTSD and increases resilience. All are benefits critical to the health of your employees.

Clearly, gratitude has an important place at work. But implementing a culture of gratitude is a little bit more complicated than just saying “thank you” here and there. A culture of gratitude ensures that appreciation is practiced, followed, and established in every space within the organization.

Characteristics of an effective gratitude culture

It’s prevalent

For gratitude to be part of an organization’s culture, it has to be consistent. A tokenistic event once a year (employee awards we’re looking at you) isn’t enough. A study on recognition in the workplace by Kyle Luthans found that employees value personalized, specific, and instant social awards such as attention, praise, and sincere appreciation. Luthans study infers the importance of consistent and authentic recognition at the time of action. It is making practicing gratitude front of mind so that when a team member does something worth applauding, it is second nature to give them that recognition immediately.

A culture of gratitude must also start from the top and trickle down. This can be explained by ‘upstream reciprocity’: the tendency of those who themselves have received help or support to be more likely to pay it forward or give assistance to someone else in need. Having your management team start a chain of gratitude will result in a ripple of positive effects throughout the organization. If the organization isn’t practicing it at every level, it’s pretty unlikely that it will be prevalent enough to become part of the integral culture of the organization.

Your familiar with your team’s appreciation language

You may have heard of the five love languages theory. They are words of affirmation, quality time, giving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. Each love language represents a different preference for an expression of affection. Well, it turns out that the love languages theorist, Gary Chapman, found a natural application for the theory in the workplace. Here are Chapman’s five languages of appreciation in the workplace:

• Words of affirmation – Team members who prefer words of affirmation feel most appreciated when receiving affirming words and praise.
• Acts of service – These team members are a fan of actions.
• Receiving gifts – Tokens of appreciation make these team members feel most appreciated.
• Quality time – Undivided attention is this team member’s bread and butter.
• Physical touch – appropriate physical contact, such as pats on the back, a high five, or a handshake, is most wanted here.

Gratitude isn’t one-size-fits-all, so knowing your team’s preferred way to receive appreciation in the workplace can help ensure that you’re meeting their needs. There are a few things that you can do to help determine someone’s preferred appreciation language. You can simply ask them, get everyone to take a personality quiz, or gauge how they respond to different appreciative acts. Keep in mind; the appreciation language may not tell the whole story. While a team member might love words of affirmation, some may prefer to receive in private, and others may prefer public acknowledgment.

Appreciation goes beyond meeting workplace goals.

While employees love acknowledgment for their contributions in meeting the organization’s strategic goals, it’s essential to go beyond that as well. There’s more to us than how we help meet the bottom line, and our personalities contribute to our achievements at work. An example of showing your employees you value them as a whole person could be thanking a team member for their sense of humor, acknowledging that they keep the team feeling light and cheerful despite challenges. Gratitude for the whole person also includes showing your team members that you care about their lives outside of work, appreciating them by caring about who they are and what’s going on in their world.

So now that we have a deeper understanding of why gratitude is essential at work and how we can embed it into workplace culture, how should you express your thankfulness?

Some fun ways that you can say thank you to your team:

1. Create an employee of the month award on LinkedIn

People who love public praise will appreciate this expression of gratitude. It’s something that employees can share with their public network, showing their communities what they’ve accomplished at work!

2. Use a recognition and rewards platform like Bonusly

Bonusly is a platform that empowers those closest to the work to recognize their peers—allowing team members to motivate and appreciate their employees through meaningful rewards such as gift cards, donations, and more. The platform makes recognition visible to everyone, encouraging appreciation, and building stronger relationships.

3. Celebratory email

Send a company or department-wide email that celebrates your employees for the fantastic job that they’re doing.

4. Handwritten note

Sometimes it’s nice to go a bit old school and send a heartfelt handwritten note that celebrates your team member’s wins.

5. Pull them aside

Take some time to speak to your teammate with the specific purpose of saying thank you. Keep it to appreciation only to reinforce the importance of gratitude!

6. Promotion

If your employee is consistently standing out, going above and beyond, and killing it at work, give them a promotion. Upgrade their job title to truly represent their role and make sure you increase the pay to match.

7. Tickets for an event

Who doesn’t like getting tickets to something special? Tickets to a movie premiere, sports game, or concert are all ways to show your team you think they’re doing an excellent job. Bonus points if you choose something that caters to an employee’s unique interests.

8. Take a task off their hands

Thank your teammate for a time when they’ve helped you out by lightening their load in return. You could offer to help them with admin tasks, grab them lunch when they’re slammed, or join in on a brainstorming session for their big project coming up.

9. Provide educational and career development opportunities

Show your team that you appreciate their hard work and believe in their abilities by helping them develop their skills and knowledge. This could look like purchasing a corporate membership to LinkedIn Learning, a conference ticket, or bringing in a guest speaker.

10. Give them a high five or handshake

This is a great way to show those who appreciate physical touch that you acknowledge their contributions. It’s something that you can initiate spontaneously and immediately after a team member does something worth celebrating to show them that you’re paying attention and care about them.

11. Add an appreciation element to your weekly stand-up meeting

Having each employee reflect and acknowledge a teammate in a regular meeting encourages awareness, appreciation, and thoughtfulness. It helps employees feel grateful for their team and recognized for their accomplishments.

12. Look after their wellness

Health is wealth, so what better way to appreciate your employees by helping them achieve greater wellbeing. You can do this by giving out yoga class passes, meditation app memberships, or mental health days off.

13. Team outings

Make your team feel appreciated and encourage team bonding all at once! Head out to a bowling game, corporate getaway, escape room, or cooking class. Telling your team that you care about who they are outside of work too.

14. Ask for their opinion or advice

Valuing your employee or teammate’s insights shows them that you appreciate their skill and expertise. Asking someone to do a favor for you has also been shown to make them like you more – so it’s a win-win!