Closing the distance: Building a remote-working culture across 5 continents

At Kidd Aitken, we are building a remote-working culture that unites our 60-strong team. Our people work remotely across five different continents, and they have been doing so since we founded Kidd Aitken. We value the agility that remote and flexible working offers to our team: they can work alongside their other commitments, whether that is the school run, artistic pursuits, mountaineering, or anything else.

And we are not alone in this approach: according to Owl Labs’ 2022 State of Remote Work report, 92% of those surveyed think work location flexibility is ‘moderately’ to ‘very’ important. 86% said that working from home would make them happier, while 76% said that the opportunity to work from home would be a deciding factor in the choice for their next employer.

However, the sustained demand for hybrid, remote, or even ‘work from anywhere’ policies, brings fresh challenges to the development of a welcoming team culture – especially when said team is spread across all corners of the world, with differing desires for social interaction in the workplace. But every new challenge is a new opportunity. Emma Wainwright, Kidd Aitken’s Practice Director, provides insight into how we are helping to build connections between colleagues, regardless of physical distance.

The benefits and challenges of remote working

Remote and flexible working brings innumerable benefits to our team. It means that their lives do not need to be dominated by work, making it easier to build a work-life balance, reducing stress and the risk of burnout. According to the Harvard Business Review, the psychological and physical consequences of employee burnout cost an estimated $125 billion to $190 billion in US healthcare spending.

The advantages also extend to employers. A better work-life balance is shown to improve working output and employee retention, with a happier, more engaged team. But flexible, remote, and hybrid working demands a rethinking of how colleagues interact with each other – especially with the added complexity of different time zones. Bumping into people in the kitchen or at the water cooler is no longer an option!

Company culture and connections must be formed intentionally. At Kidd Aitken, we believe that our remote-working culture successfully allows our team to thrive – both within work and beyond. Here are my tips for creating an intentional culture and connections:

1) Build personal relationships – as well as working ones

There is more to life than work, which is part of the reason we have embraced remote and flexible working.

We actively encourage our team to share their passion projects and interests, so we can learn more about the people we might otherwise have been sharing an office with. We have mountaineers, artists, writers, and musicians, and we love learning what everyone does outside of work.

By encouraging our teams to share aspects of their lives that may not necessarily be discussed in a working context, we begin to understand each other better as individuals and people with broad, complex lives. This develops closer working relationships and a deeper empathy towards each other — this, in turn, increases our understanding of each other, which becomes the foundation of how we deliver to our clients. By knowing a person as a unique individual, both within and beyond the (virtual) office, we learn what drives that person to achieve.

2) Trust in your team‍

Trust is central to successful remote working. As business leaders, we must trust every one of our team members to carry out their responsibilities and raise any issues or queries of their own volition.

Similarly, they also need to trust in us, their management team, to lead the business and look after them – whether that’s allocating workload appropriately or navigating client relationships. Although this applies to all organisations, both working remotely and from an office, it’s even more important for remote-working teams. Not sharing the same physical space means that issues otherwise noticed through body language, for example, may be missed. So, it is important that our team feels comfortable in raising and discussing any problems.

Mutual trust is a core pillar of our ethos, and we are building it through understanding, empathy – and some fun. With virtual and in-person activities, from Christmas dinners to summertime drinks, we are working on deepening connections between our teams. ‍

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3) Flexibility and individual preferences is are key to culture ‍

At Kidd Aitken, we have a hugely diverse team. Based in five of the seven continents, many are multilingual and have spent – or are spending – a huge amount of time outside of their birth country. We value their varied experiences, interests, and are proud that we can help them to pursue the lives they want to lead.

Truly flexible working is more than working from home on one pre-arranged day a week. Instead, it gives people the opportunity to work wherever and whenever suits them – not just their employer.

Our working model – in place since we launched in 2016 – breaks new ground for the legal marketing industry. Our team can choose how and where they work from, whether that is different hours, condensed working, or the equivalent of five working day hours condensed into four, we want our people to choose the best option for them. You can even work on a digital nomad basis, as long as you have an internet connection — one of ourwe even  team had someones even workedworking from their boat!

This flexibility allows independence and a balance of interests, so our team know they are valued as people as well as colleagues.

Ultimately, the benefits of the remote-working culture we have built to accommodate these values extends to our clients. Our fulfilled, motivated team continue to deliver above and beyond, all while building relationships founded in trust and empathy, internally and externally.

At Kidd Aitken, we have a hugely diverse team. Based in five of the seven continents, many are multilingual and have spent – or are spending – a huge amount of time outside of their birth country. We value their varied experiences and interests, and are proud that we can help them to pursue the lives they want to lead.

It’s equally important to note that we are always seeking areas for improvement — with our team growing at its current pace, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows! People find value in different kinds of social interaction. While many actively choose to work remotely to reduce the amount of forced social interaction in their day, many others miss the social side of office life, even if happier as a remote worker. Maintaining a culture that recognises and embraces social interaction to a degree individuals are free to pick and choose from, while providing a foundation of a wider team, is the true goal and greatest challenge. In response, we constantly review what could be done better maintain a team ethos, keep an eye out for signs of disengagement, and never allow ourselves to assume that we have done enough.

Ultimately, the benefits of the remote-working culture we have built to accommodate these values extends to our clients. Our fulfilled, motivated team continue to deliver above and beyond, all while building relationships founded in trust and empathy, internally and externally.

If you would like to learn more about how our global team can support your legal directory submissions and legal marketing needs, get in touch with us today.