How can you create a sense of community among a global workforce?

Creating a sense of community among a global workforce is crucial for encouraging collaboration, engagement, and a positive company culture. To achieve this, we can establish regular communication channels, such as weekly newsletters or virtual town hall meetings to keep employees informed about company news and initiatives. Encourage cross-functional collaboration by assigning projects that require teams to work together across different regions and departments. Provide cultural awareness trainings to help employees understand and appreciate the diverse perspectives and backgrounds within the global workforce.

• Virtual team building activities • Regular communication via video conferences, messaging apps, and newsletters • Cross-cultural awareness initiatives • Employee resource groups or affinity networks • Social platforms or intranet forums for connection • Recognition and appreciation efforts • Mentorship and buddy programs • Virtual town hall meetings

We just recently acquired a competitor in the SaaS space that had operations in Canada and the UK. To add to that we have contractors now near shore in South America. Overnight we went form being a company that worked in the office M-F to now, mostly remote and international. We needed to align quickly if we were going to succeed. In my experience, building trust always starts with honesty and openness. If you couple that with celebrating each others natural talents, highlighting how they are integral to the team's mission, and showing care through encouraging an open communication line, with open feedback opportunities, magic can happen. Not easy, but if you're able to master these skillsets as a team it will pay MAJOR dividends.

I'm lucky enough to work for a company with a robust and effective Talent Development team. The extra benefit that gives Talent Acquisition, international or not, is IMMENSE. Not only can we leverage this outwardly while sourcing and recruiting talented candidates, but even more importantly we can utilize it on our own internal teams as well. We have courses that we can take together that include cultural sensitivity, conflict resolution, effective international collaboration, and many others as well. Hopefully you work at a company with a strong Learning and Development team, but if you don't, consider putting a business case together to spearhead the idea. It's imperative for a sharpened, effective, and forward thinking workforce.

There are certain "truths that we find self-evident" (thank you Declaration of Independence), when it comes to being a worker in the modern-world. Some have been around forever, some are more modern, either way, international or not, workers on teams want: To be respected. To be heard. To be valued. To have purpose. The nature of work changes everyday and that will never stop. But if you can tap in to implementing and protecting these "pillars", even if you need to find the way to do it in a modern way, workers will stay put and teams will flourish.