{"id":8742,"date":"2020-10-07T10:14:06","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T14:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/?p=8742"},"modified":"2024-08-30T11:09:13","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T15:09:13","slug":"impact-of-social-distancing-on-company-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/impact-of-social-distancing-on-company-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Impact of Social Distancing on Company Culture?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8743\" src=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/impact-of-social-distancing-on-company-culture.jpg\" alt=\"impact of social distancing on company culture\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/impact-of-social-distancing-on-company-culture.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/impact-of-social-distancing-on-company-culture-980x654.jpg 980w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/impact-of-social-distancing-on-company-culture-480x320.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/>As the coronavirus pandemic continues to evolve, one guideline that is likely to last beyond this year is social distancing. Employers have a responsibility to keep employees healthy and safe, and that duty is informing their return-to-work strategies. For instance, some organizations are keeping employees at home to work remotely for the foreseeable future. Other organizations are reconfiguring office layouts to lower capacity and considering safety measures like temperature checks and staggered shifts. Regardless of the strategy, employers must consider the impact of social distancing on company culture.<\/p>\n<p>No matter what an organization decides, its initiatives should be true to the company\u2019s mission and values. As employers deliberate on new policies or procedures in response to the pandemic, it\u2019s important to consider how those efforts might impact company culture and vice versa.<\/p>\n<p>A strong workplace culture doesn\u2019t need an actual office to thrive. True culture is based on the values that unify the workplace and employees, regardless of physical location. The pandemic continues to prove this true for many organizations that have moved the workday online.<\/p>\n<h2>Staying Socially Connected<\/h2>\n<p>Social connectivity encourages camaraderie. Humans are social creatures who crave interaction. According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwc.com\/us\/en\/library\/covid-19\/us-remote-work-survey.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PricewaterhouseCoopers survey<\/a>, the number one reason employees go into the office is to collaborate with other team members.<\/p>\n<p>Given this, it\u2019s not likely for employees to immediately feel included in the workplace culture when they\u2019re virtually working miles apart or forced to physically avoid co-workers.<\/p>\n<p>So, how can employers support and cultivate collaboration in today\u2019s socially distant workplace? Regardless of whether employees are working in the office or working from home, here are some ways to enhance workplace culture and connectivity amid social distancing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Embrace flexibility<\/strong> and ensure employees know their health and safety are top priorities. Continue to adapt, support employees, and keep the lines of communication open.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Facilitate collaboration<\/strong> by investing in resources such as video conferencing technology, project management tools, and collaborative workspaces. The goal is to make it as easy to communicate as it was prior to the pandemic, ultimately improving employee productivity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Encourage video calls<\/strong> for teams or departments to regularly check in with each other. Start with once a week and increase if needed or desired by the group. Video will help employees feel connected by seeing their co-workers on a screen. The discussion doesn\u2019t need to be project-related but can be more of a check-in to see how people are doing \u2014 especially if they are working remotely and balancing other responsibilities<\/li>\n<li><strong>Schedule virtual social gatherings <\/strong>for employees to enjoy a cup of coffee, their lunch, or a happy hour together. Keep these informal to preserve an organization\u2019s sense of fun.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Consider altering annual company events<\/strong> so they can still happen. Employees often look forward to companywide events, so it\u2019s important to consider how to host them in a safe and engaging way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Other Considerations<\/h2>\n<p>Organizations can design a workplace that encourages social distancing, but it must be paired with consistent policy enforcement. It\u2019s impossible to control the actions of every employee who walks through the door or to expect desk layouts to fundamentally change people\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n<p>As the pandemic continues, some Americans are reporting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hopkinsmedicine.org\/health\/conditions-and-diseases\/coronavirus\/how-to-deal-with-coronavirus-burnout-and-pandemic-fatigue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pandemic fatigue<\/a>. That may lead to employees\u2014consciously or unconsciously\u2014disregarding workplace policies and acting less cautiously than they were at the pandemic\u2019s onset. As a result, morale could be impacted if employees feel uncomfortable with co-workers\u2019 behaviors in the workplace.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s workplace will continue to evolve just as the pandemic does. But GTM has a solution to energize your company culture, even when so many employees are working remotely. The <a href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/iSolved-Network_iSolved-with-Mojo-Features-Brochure_GTM.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mojo employee engagement platform<\/a>, part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/what-we-offer\/human-capital-management\/\">isolved payroll and HR management system<\/a>, helps employees stay connected, share ideas, seek help, and collaborate. Mojo provides a personalized dashboard, lively feed wall, and tools for idea and knowledge sharing. <a href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/get-a-quote\/\">Request a free quote<\/a> to see how it can help your business.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a9 2020 Zywave, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Return-to-work strategies must make employees feel safe, but must also recognize the impact of social distancing on company culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[194,49,154,167],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-8742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consulting-services","tag-covid-19","tag-culture","tag-employee-engagement","tag-remote-employees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8742"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8746,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8742\/revisions\/8746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8742"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=8742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}