How can companies maintain their corporate culture in times of remote work?
(Photo: Salesforce)
Dusseldorf It’s a spectacular place where Salesforce employees are finally meeting in person as the pandemic unfolds. They call him “Ranch”. In the midst of the redwoods in California’s Scotts Valley, the IT group has set up a mixture of training center, hotel and adventure location. Employees from all over the world have been meeting here since February to forge strategies, consolidate team spirit and learn skills.
“We know from regular surveys that our employees want a hybrid working model for the future that also offers the opportunity for interaction. The ranch is a building block in this,” says Joachim Schreiner. In this country, the Salesforce Germany boss has hired several hundred employees since 2020.
Very few have met each other personally. “Of course, the question arises of how to create a corporate culture.”
Schreiner has been very successful in his efforts to create the most attractive workplace possible. At least that’s the conclusion reached by the most recent study by Great Place to Work. The research and consulting institute regularly awards companies for their outstanding workplace culture.
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The national subsidiary of Salesforce made it to first place in the Germany ranking in the category of companies with up to 2000 employees and is very much in line with the trend with its commitment to a better workplace culture.
Maintaining corporate culture has long since become widespread
A feel-good atmosphere like in sunny California is only the bonus, says Schreiner. “That’s why nobody comes. Specialists must have a good job and the opportunity for further development.” In the competition for the best employees, Schreiner Salesforce is a step ahead. “We are growing faster than the competition, and new employees want to grow at the same pace.”
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A few years ago, nurturing workplace culture was still the domain of a manageable number of innovative companies. Now the trend has spread. “The development of a positive and attractive corporate culture is now vital when recruiting skilled workers,” says Frank Hauser, Managing Director at Great Place to Work.
So it is no longer primarily IT companies that are traditionally among the best employers, because mobile working and flat hierarchies are typical for this industry anyway. With the Bewo Plus youth welfare service in Cologne and the St. Gereon senior services from Hückelhoven in North Rhine-Westphalia, two social institutions are also among the winners.
The building cleaning company Wasserle shows that companies from the low-wage sector can also offer excellent jobs. The Munich-based company takes second place in the ranking for companies with up to 500 employees. staff shortage? “In the industry, yes, but not with us,” says Managing Director Markus Wasserle. He lures with umpteen perks.
The palette ranges from German courses, company apartments or support with dealing with authorities to free use of our own car workshop. If necessary, the company also speaks to employees’ creditors. 90 percent of the 350 employees have a migration background. “Many send a large part of their salary to their home countries. When an unplanned expense such as the repair of the car is due, things often get tight,” explains Wasserle.
In addition, employees can participate in the company with annual installments of 50 to 1200 euros and thus participate in the growth. “In this way we ensure that the employees stay with us much longer than is usual in the industry,” says Wasserle. Executives in the building cleaning industry already know what other managers had to learn in the pandemic: how to deal with decentralized teams.
That changes the role. “Because of the distance, managers are more challenged in their relationships with employees,” says Hauser. “Leaders need to create the emotional space that many previously encountered in physical space.”
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