The hallmark of a modern organization is its ability to stay in step with societal trends. Some of the best examples are online alumni networks for the corporate sector and flexible work models for remote workers. But can you meet the needs of both these communities, at once? Yes, you can.
Remote and hybrid work models are still on the rise, becoming the new norm. They ensure a healthier work-life balance, which means happier, more engaged workers. Flexible corporate communities have an important part to play, offering both corporate alumni and remote workers significant benefits.
This is how flexible corporate communities are helping remote workers stay connected.
The challenges of remote work
When the pandemic hit in 2020, the world had to adapt to limited mobility and, in many places, enforced lockdowns. The business world quickly adapted, offering employees the option to work from home. When traditional work models returned, many employees chose to continue in a remote role.
This new way of working has both pros and cons.
It allows employees to work in their own surroundings and on their schedule. This is convenient and offers a better work-life balance. Unfortunately, this new way of working can make onboarding more difficult. Remote workers also often feel isolated from the company and their colleagues.
What are flexible corporate communities?
A corporate community is an initiative created specifically to connect with an organization’s current and former employees, clients, and partners. Flexible corporate communities are those that are designed to engage and support members in ways that fit diverse locations, time zones, lifestyles, and interests.
To achieve this, flexible corporate communities are digital and asynchronous — available online but don’t require all members to be online simultaneously. Key features of flexible corporate communities include:
- Remote and Hybrid Accessibility: Members can participate and engage regardless of their location or time zone through virtual platforms, webinars, or events.
- Personalized Engagement: Community activities and resources are tailored to individual interests, roles, or career stages, offering different levels of interaction.
- Diverse Communication Channels: Communication happens via platforms that suit members’ preferences, like emails, forums, apps, or social media groups.
- Dynamic Content and Events: Regularly updated content, such as articles, learning resources, or industry updates, and in-person/virtual events like networking meetups or Q&A sessions, keeps the community active and relevant.
- Focus on Connection and Belonging: Flexible corporate communities aim to create a sense of inclusion, whether someone is a new hire, a seasoned professional, or a retired alumnus.
The role of corporate communities in remote work connectivity
Flexible corporate communities have an important role to play in remote work connectivity. If your organization is a hybrid/remote work model, your employees are looking for ways to connect to your organization and their colleagues no matter where they are in the world.
The digital resource hubs, virtual events, asynchronous opportunities, and personalized engagement that corporate communities offer, mirror the needs of remote teams and digital nomads.
Flexible corporate communities leverage technology and creative strategies to connect members wherever they are. And this is what software for remote workers should do. Therefore, in an organization with both an alumni network and remote teams, all these needs can be met on one platform.
Benefits of flexible corporate communities for remote workers
Flexible corporate communities offer more than just employee engagement.
- Unlike employees in a shared office space, remote workers easily feel isolated from their peers and out of touch with the company culture. Flexible corporate communities offer your employees virtual social activities, for example, virtual coffee chats.
- Remote workers want tools that support both a healthier work-life balance and professional success. Flexible corporate communities provide your employees with online learning and mentorship opportunities for personal and professional growth.
- Remote workers need personalized content for higher engagement and work satisfaction. Flexible corporate communities give your employees this, with dynamic, customizable online content that keeps them engaged and motivated.
With the rise in remote work models, your staff need the flexibility of a platform that allows both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration and support, like Aluminate for Enterprise.
Best practices for designing flexible corporate communities
Do you want to create flexible corporate communities that serve the needs of your remote teams and your alumni, clients, and partners? These best practices will make it possible.
Choose the right platform/software
To build a flexible corporate community, you need flexible software. Choose a digital platform that stays up-to-date with new technologies and emerging trends. It should be highly dynamic and fully customizable, yet easy to implement and use with a low learning curve.
Aluminate for Enterprise is the perfect choice for modern, flexible corporate communities.
This highly versatile product can be used to create a corporate community, alumni network, enterprise social network, talent management system, and so much more. It’s the ultimate online community platform for the modern business environment.
Use the tools that guarantee engagement
Offer your online community members content that speaks to them, tailored to their needs and interests. With Aluminate for Enterprise, everyone immediately sees what is most relevant to them when they log in. They can easily access what they need from the digital dashboard, the core of the Aluminate platform.
Create opportunities for virtual networking, team bonding, and socializing. This will help remote workers, alumni, and stakeholders feel more connected to the company, the program, and one another. It will also mitigate issues like feelings of isolation, which are very common in remote teams.
Our Insights feature will help you to identify what your online community interacts with most. This will guide you in designing future engagement content.
Allow your community to build relationships
Flexible corporate communities let you build relationships with your remote workers and other members. But they also allow your community to build stronger relationships with one another. Aluminate’s Groups module makes this even easier.
It lets you segment your online community into groups of people with similar skills and interests. As members become more familiar with the platform and tools, they can create their own sub-communities, too.
This helps remote workers feel like a more cohesive team, despite their geographical distances.
Help members to help themselves and one another
By mentoring your current employees, including remote workers, alumni share their knowledge, expertise, and skills with your greater corporate community.
Online mentorship opportunities allow alumni to continue to offer value to your organization. And they give current employees like your remote workers the knowledge and confidence they need to succeed in the organization.
But for a mentorship program to be successful, the right mentors and mentees must find each other. Aluminate for Enterprise takes the hassle out of pairing them up, with our mentor-matching feature. This selects the ideal mentors for mentees, without the hours of admin.
Create the best flexible corporate community with Aluminate for Enterprise
When you incorporate flexible corporate communities into your organization, you can do so much more than just stay in touch.
Flexible corporate communities can be used to keep your current employees, your alumni, and your clients and partners connected and engaged. It is especially useful for remote teams, whose unique working conditions necessitate a more customizable, digital approach.
You can create the best flexible corporate community with Aluminate for Enterprise. Our software is highly customizable, so you can adapt it to fit the requirements of your organization.
Find out how by requesting your free demo today.
