How DRW Keeps the Employee Engagement Alive in a Remote Setting

Our facilities team is known for many things, one of which is employee engagement; for example, coordinating wine and whisky tastings, trivia nights, cooking classes and more. Challenges around COVID-19 have created an opportunity for our teams to get creative and think outside the box on how to keep our culture alive in a remote setting. Learn how our facilities team has kept our teams united and engaged from home and established some new safety protocols in our offices.

How have you facilitated the company culture while a majority of DRW's teams work from home?

Video call activities have helped replace our in-person events. It’s been great to see how employees are able to engage with co-workers they don’t directly work with, which doesn’t always replicate in a physical in-person setting. Interactive cooking and cocktail classes, trivia nights, wine tastings, fitness challenges, guided meditation, and book clubs are just a few examples of events we have continued to host virtually throughout the year that we try to hold at least a few times each month. Specifically, the cocktail and cooking classes are crowd favorites because you can enjoy your creations with your family while also getting together with your teammates outside of a work meeting. These activities have gone a long way, helping everyone feel connected.

Has the current remote environment presented any new opportunities for employees?

The new virtual environment has presented a lot of opportunities to try new things and help employees get to know people from around the world who they might have not otherwise interacted with. We have used this at-home environment as an opportunity to do more global events, which has proved to be an effective way to further unite the firm, and as such, we plan to continue this effort when team members begin returning to the offices.

How do you continue to come up with new ideas?

Our main focus is employee connection and learning. When thinking about new events, we make sure employees have a good time, but also feel like they’re part of a larger group who have joined to do something interesting, new and thought provoking. We’ve been fortunate to have the ability to support local vendors through these trying times and help out our local communities along the way, providing much needed opportunities for employee connection and camaraderie.

What are some of the new safety protocols that have been put in place in the offices?

As a result of COVID-19, we have implemented new protocols across our offices around the world. For example, we actively monitor the few employees who come into the office to ensure their safety and well-being. Additionally, we require all employees, staff and personnel to wear masks and we have installed several hand sanitizing and hand washing stations throughout our office spaces. To further ensure the cleanliness of our space, high-touch areas are cleaned and sanitized multiple times every day. Once team members are able to come back to the office more regularly, we will continue to follow guidelines outlined by the CDC to ensure we are keeping our employees and the public safe and healthy. We plan to implement new methods as soon as they are proven effective in the marketplace.