Building Company Culture Through Virtual Events

How Virtual Events Build Company Culture and Community:

1. Build and Strengthen Brand Identity 
2. Exposure to Organization Leaders
3. Building Out an Event Calendar
4. Strengthening Weak Ties

According to Harvard Business Review, “If a company can transition from simply delivering a product to building a community, it can unlock extraordinary competitive advantages to both create and support a superior business model. You need to create an environment that incentivizes the behavior you want to see, exposes the value generated, and highlights and rewards great participation.”

Leaders are increasingly starting to see the value of building community within their organization. There are higher levels of employee recruitment and retention (link to millennial blog), employee satisfaction and productivity between branches. 

But how do you build company culture, especially if you are a remote company? 

By building a foundation of shared values and experiences that unify all of your employees. 

There are ways to utilize virtual services to your advantage. Virtual Events are a great way to connect and unify the people in your organization. 

How Virtual Events build company culture and community:

1. Builds and Strengthens Brand Identity 

There are the visible parts of brand identity, like colors, design and logo that help consumers easily distinguish your brand amongst others. But there are also the intangible parts of your brand’s personality, like brand voice, messaging, history and values. 

Conducting Virtual Events are a great way for your organization’s teams to get on the same page about the intangible aspects of your brand’s overall personality:

• Your organization’s leaders can reinforce your brand’s values as they speak directly to employees and convey general attitudes towards the organization - Making progress toward a shared mission is the most motivating force a professional can feel

• Your marketing teams can explain the brand voice and messaging expectations when communicating with customers

• Sales team members can provide context for the customer journey and how your organization is perceived by leads

• Company stories can be told to increase general understanding of your organization’s history and past experiences

For your brand identity to be effective, you want everyone in the community to be on the same page about how you speak and act internally and externally. You want your brand identity to be prevalent in every aspect of your organization and every step of the customer’s journey.

The shared experience of a Virtual Event can unify members and build community. You want your employees to build connections and bond over experiences that they can then bring into the workplace.

Connecting employees through Virtual Events can be a great way to unify your employees, build overall brand identity and increase a positive and productive company culture. 

Free Guide: How to Develop a Unique Brand Identity in 2021

2. Exposure to Organization Leaders

Leaders within a company are more than just managers and decision-makers. They set the example for their subordinates and their actions have a trickle-down effect on the entire organization. 

Although company culture exists on all levels, having leaders that participate in building community and setting a positive example can be vital to the overall health and happiness of your organization. 

You can have your leaders demonstrate company culture through: 

• Conducting breakout sessions 

• Leading specialized workshops

• Giving a keynote speech

• Being active participants in group discussions

• Telling their personal career journey within the company 

• Being active on social media

• Encouraging employees in discussions and Q&A 

• Celebrating their subordinates’ accomplishments 

• Designing team-specific activities for group bonding

• Asking employees for feedback 

• Encouraging honest conversations

Virtual Events can connect employees to leaders that they otherwise might not have a reason to connect with. Your leaders should be able to display a positive and conducive company culture through their time connecting and bonding with their employees. 

3. Building Out an Events Calendar

Having Virtual Events, Celebrations, and All-Hands meetings booked up on an Events Calendar can help your remote and in-person employees power through feelings of loneliness and isolation. 

Having scheduled events on a company calendar can provide your employees with something to look forward to and talk about amongst each other. 

Having a scheduled events calendar shows your employees that you care about their overall experience with your organization. Build loyalty and excitement by planning Virtual Events that interest them. 

4. Strengthening Weak Ties

Strengthening weak ties, or acquaintances, can be extremely beneficial for your employees productivity and overall happiness. As BBC wrote, “research shows that building networks of casual acquaintances can boost happiness, knowledge and a sense of belonging.”

There are several reasons why strengthening weak ties is valuable in the workplace:

• Can provide valuable cross-departmental information

• Lend support on a project

• Be called upon for testing or review

• Give impartial feedback about a person or situation

• Make an introduction

• Cross-departmental collaboration

Hosting Virtual Events can be a great way for employees to connect with others that work outside of the circles they normally interact with. Virtual Events can create a more casual setting for your employees to meet and get to know each other better. 

During your Virtual Events, you can host breakout sessions, icebreaker games, happy hour receptions (link to happy hour blog), fireside chats … the list goes on!

You want your employees to feel comfortable and confident reaching out to others within your organization for help, advice, feedback and more. Help build up a network that is conducive to strengthening weak ties by hosting Virtual Events that engage and connect your employees. 

“Strong work cultures give people an unshakeable sense of belonging” Human beings are fundamentally social animals. Spark engagement, excitement and belonging by providing them with opportunities to build relationships and connect with each other. 

If you are looking for a Full Service Virtual Events platform for your organization that will help you engage your employees and build community, contact BeaconLive.