Secret to remote worker wellbeing is trust, say experts

Employee wellbeing in remote workplaces requires checks and balances along with a culture of trust and support, say non-profit leaders.

“Really, my main learning is that it’s all about the culture that we try to create … the structural pieces of the policies can only take us so far,” said Danya Pastuszek, co-CEO of the Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement.

Speaking to virtual attendees during the first annual Changemakers Wellbeing Summit, Pastuszek outlined measures the institute has implemented to centre mental health for its remote employees, including enshrining exercise breaks into the workday.

“They use that time to take walks, to stretch, to take power naps sometimes, make a healthy snack, go running … something to break that monotony that can come from sitting in front of our desks all day,” she said.

Tamarack has also done away with so-called sick time.

“We have care time,” Pastuszek said.

“The world is a very hard place right now. All of us are experiencing different types of trauma directly and indirectly. And we should be able to have time to be able to care for ourselves in the way that we need, and to define what care looks like.”

In addition to structural boundaries aimed at protecting remote workers, the co-CEO told participants it’s also crucial that staff understand an organization’s broader strategies, which can give work greater context and explain directional choices.

“We have to create time for reflection, for planning and for analysis that is separate from the time that we spend doing the work,” she said. 

“Culture starts at the top,” Pastuszek said. 

“So those of us who are in positions of authority really do need to model the setting of boundaries, even when that can be hard to understand.”

Amina Doherty, vice president of people, equity and culture at Equality Fund, leaned into building a healthy remote work culture by focusing on the importance of creating trust-based environments.

“We promote flexible working, and we trust staff to be able to get their work done,” she told summit participants. 

Equality Fund staff work a 35-hour week, Doherty said, but can structure their time to accommodate caregiving responsibilities, personal needs and family obligations.

“We trust that, at the end of the day, folks know what their responsibilities are, and they will get the work done,” she said. 

But because many people aren’t used to working in a trust-based environment, Doherty added that staff can tend to over-report their own activities.

“They feel like they have to tell the entire organization everything  … so as part of the people, equity and culture team, we are sort of trying to shift people away from that,” she said. 

“If you need to step away for 10 minutes to make lunch for your kid … the organization trusts you to get your work done. We don’t need to be informed of that.”

The fund also has what’s known as a “right to disconnect” policy that helps employees separate from work and improve mental wellbeing. Employees are not required to respond to emails or attend virtual meetings outside of work hours.

“Of course, it gets challenging when you have someone who’s working in a different timezone, and they’re sending an email that may come on your weekend,” Doherty said. 

“So it does require quite a lot of communication and just the clarity of boundaries.”

To give staff the time to do deep work, the fund has also implemented low-call, or no-call, Wednesdays, she said. 

Additionally, the organization works four-day weeks in July and August to give staff time to rest.

TakingITGlobal has also instituted a right-to-disconnect policy, said the organization’s founder and CEO, Jennifer Corriero.

“The tricky thing is we have people that work across five time zones. So there’s really only three hours of the day when you can have everyone in the same time zone if you want to have all-staff meetings, so we do find that sweet spot,” she said.

Having already worked remotely before the pandemic, Corriero said TakingITGlobal has finetuned several digital tools that allow staff to coordinate their workflow while providing flexibility.

Remote staff are also trusted to track their hours and have six additional personal days they can use for any reason without explanation.

“So flexibility, trust, and respect are really at the core,” she said.