Defining your brand values can be difficult. Putting them into practice in a meaningful way that doesn't seem lame, forced, or otherwise ham-fisted (read: handing out bobbleheads that represent your five top values at every all-staff meeting to those who best embodied each quality) can be even harder. But implementing them in a remote work culture can be even more challenging.
As the owner of a fully remote strategic communications agency, I can tell you it doesn't have to be that hard. The main thing to get right first is your intention.
I'll explain that more in a minute, but let's first look at why defining your brand values and implementing them — especially if you have a remote workforce — is so important.
Remote work is here to stay. It decreases company overhead costs, and employees — especially those under 50 — prefer at least some level of access to the work-from-home lifestyle. According to Stanford, 27% of paid full-time days were completed remotely as of early 2023. And it's time well spent. Remote employees report being 40% more productive. The majority — 80%, according to one study — also said remote work has improved their well-being and work-life balance overall.
As companies grapple with the "WFH" question, it's unlikely their employees (or the broader public) will overlook a long-term rejection of the remote work revolution. And if those companies want to convey values that align with ideals of productivity and employee wellness, remote work fits right in.
But can company culture actually thrive in a virtual setting? Definitely.
And as I've written about before, company culture is the foundation of any powerful brand. So fully remote companies should not overlook defining and implementing their brand values either, mistakenly thinking they get a virtual hall pass for ditching their brick-and-mortar home base. In fact, I would argue that it's even more important for a company to clearly define and implement what matters most to it if the team is fully remote.
Against that backdrop, here are my top three tips for implementing your brand values in remote work culture.
Find Virtual, On-Brand Ways to Reinforce the Company's Values
The good news is that when you're in a virtual work setting, there's no temptation to slap a few words or quotes up on the wall or plaque and hope it's enough to remind everyone of the company's mission. The bad news is you don't have a physical location you can decorate with the company's overarching "vibe" and values.
We have chosen to link all kudos and bonuses to the agency value or values that the recipients embodied and call those out each time we sing their praises company-wide. This way we can reinforce the values in a meaningful way rather than letting them simply exist on the website or in our internal documents — and without overdoing it.
For example, some companies require employees to make a case for themselves during their annual review process by documenting how well they think they embodied each of the brand values during the past year and giving examples for each. While this might work for some cultures, it felt too heavy-handed for ours.
Make All Hiring/Firing and Business Decisions Using the Values as a Guide
Many successful companies use their brand values as a compass when it comes to making important decisions about hiring, firing, partnerships with vendors, etc. Some even have separate interview processes that determine whether a candidate is a culture fit, in addition to having the necessary skills and experience required for the job.
There is no reason why operating remotely should impede a company's ability to do exactly the same. Adding in an extra process or step to evaluate job candidates' cultural fit can be as robust or simple as you want it to be — and it should always be an important factor when hiring full-time employees, as they become the expansion and foundation of any brand, its growth and what it will attract in the future.
Firing employees who aren't a culture fit is equally important, as plucking out anyone who might be polluting the water with off-brand attitudes and/or approaches should be done as swiftly as possible without compromising the company's overall stability.
The next step is to hire and fire vendors based on whether they align with your values, wherever possible. Do they embody the same qualities you want your employees to express? If so, they can bolster your brand's armor. If not, they will inevitably weaken it.
Continually Evaluate (Honestly) How Well the Company Embodies Its Own Values
It's easy to want to be known for something.Being known for it is much harder. This is true whether you're a person or a brand because it's much easier to say you are something than to actually be it.
When a company can't back up its claims with actions, it loses credibility. This is why it's so important to continuously evaluate, with a skeptical eye, whether your company is actually embodying the values it stands for in an active, perceptible way.
I recommend scheduling a quarterly audit with the executive team to carefully consider each brand value and where the company could do a better job of demonstrating them. You will likely find a few inconsistencies between what you want to be and what you are—and that's fine! It's much better for you to find and fix any issues than for employees or end users to point them out. You may even discover it's time to change or add brand values as you continue to scale, pivot or evolve.
Wrapping Up
Whether you have a virtual, IRL, or hybrid work culture, defining and aligning with your brand values is critical. These values set the stage (or should) for everything the company does, paving the way for where it will go in the future. While it can sound like a soft science or hocus pocus, like attracts like. And whatever you build your company on — whether it's well-defined or not — can attract more of the same. So it's best you take the wheel and drive.
