Diversity, equity, and inclusion. Chances are you’ve encountered quite a bit of discussion around these terms across various articles, conferences, and company mission statements. And for good reason - we've made meaningful strides toward greater representation and awareness, and that's something to celebrate.
But creating a true sense of belonging in your workforce requires moving beyond one-off training initiatives and box-checking exercises. Employees want to feel genuinely connected, valued, and able to thrive as their authentic selves day-to-day.
So how can organisations facilitate this? What if one approach could transform not just policy, but culture itself? The answer lies in embracing workplace flexibility through a remote-first model.
By embracing remote and hybrid working arrangements, companies can make their workforce fundamentally more accessible. Suddenly someone living far from HQ, seeking better work-life balance through flexible hours, or facing mobility constraints can make just as strong a contribution as someone down the hall.
And these benefits are not just enjoyed by the employee. In fact, companies that adopt a "work from anywhere" model outperform their less flexible counterparts by 16% (in terms of revenue growth).
In this blog, we will dive a bit deeper into the specific ways a remote-first strategy can transform inclusivity in your company. We'll also have a transparent discussion around hurdles companies may face, along with some practical tips on how to address them based on our first-hand experience of living the remote-first model at Boundless.
Here’s how remote-first companies pave the way for a more inclusive workplace:
Remote-first models open up access to an expansive, global pool of gifted professionals previously out of reach. This allows you to attract top talent scattered across countries and continents, blending expert insights from a variety of cultures into one workforce.
The upsides to embracing such a broadly inclusive approach? For starters, it sends a loud message that opportunities at your company are open to anyone and everyone with the skills to succeed, regardless of their location or background. It also delivers an instant injection of rich perspective and cognitive diversity, with some studies showing significant boosts to innovation, not to mention an 87% improvement in decision making.
Fresh sets of eyes notice untapped needs. New personal connections open doors to new consumer segments. Having team members dispersed worldwide essentially embeds eyes and ears in multiple global locations.
Between transportation costs, work wardrobe budgets, and exorbitant childcare fees, the burden to just show up at the office every day can be substantial. This may filter out talented individuals from lower income brackets who can’t foot the bill.
Location-flexible work also opens up economic opportunities for people from less affluent regions and brings professional jobs to them. In a remote workplace, someone can build a career in roles traditionally clustered in expensive metro areas without uprooting their life or taking a financial hit.
There’s another segment of skilled professionals who have faced barriers to participating equally, if at all, in office-centric roles - those managing disabilities or mobility restrictions. Even with compliance standards in place, navigating daily commutes and in-person work spaces poses very real challenges. However, empowering people to work from home levels the playing field dramatically.
Freed from the limitations of physical work environments, individuals with impairments can plug in and contribute at the highest levels, right alongside colleagues. Their talent and ideas can be judged strictly on merit rather than unfairly hampered by circumstances they can’t control. It’s well past time to extend access and enable this group to fully leverage their capabilities.
Rigid office routines simply don't fit many of life's realities. Parents darting between school drop-offs and pickups. Caregivers tending to elderly relatives or family members in need. People managing health appointments that are almost impossible to fit around the typical 9-5.
Across all walks of life, people have individual needs, talents, and responsibilities. True inclusivity at work often requires that these are catered to in one way or another, and remote-first models provide a great means to welcome those unique situations rather than shut them out.
It’s not just about life circumstances either. Creative types might prefer to work late into the evening when inspiration strikes. Productive early risers can capitalise on their bright-eyed morning momentum. Recognising these unique work rhythms, rather than fighting them, stands to unlock higher performance.
Of course, going remote is not a silver bullet that will transform your company overnight. There are very real challenges that deserve thoughtful consideration if you are to attain these benefits, especially when it comes to inclusivity.
1: Inclusivity is one thing, but managing it on a global scale is a challenge. When your team spans multiple time zones and cultures, ensuring everyone feels included and valued requires intention. Even with the best intentions, the practical challenges of equitable communication, balanced recognition, and collaborative decision-making can feel daunting.
2: Deciding how to compensate workers in different countries presents another conundrum. Imagine you have a software developer in North America performing the exact same duties as a peer in southeast Asia. They both deliver excellent work. Should compensation be equalised when their local costs of living are so drastically different? This is a balancing act leaders are grappling with, and there is no right or wrong answer. We wrote a full report on fairness and equity in remote compensation that dives into this topic in much more detail.
3: Keeping everybody on the same page and maintaining collaboration. Without a shared physical space, remote teams risk developing silos, feeling disconnected, and having meetings talk past one another. That’s why it’s important for leaders to implement tools and policies to facilitate seamless (and asynchronous) collaboration. From shared knowledge banks to regular virtual touchpoints, the goal is to reproduce the feel of shoulder-to-shoulder brainstorming.
4: Ensuring all voices are heard, regardless of personality type. Virtual conversations can easily be dominated by the loudest, most forceful personalities. While that’s not necessarily a negative outcome, conscientious managers structure discussions to include text-based collaboration, anonymous surveys, and asynchronous commenting to capture unspoken ideas. This draws out deeper insights from every team member, beyond the bold personalities.
5: Avoiding the “always on mentality.” A lot of remote employees would probably agree that when there’s no commute separating work and personal life, the days can bleed together quickly. The always-on mentality where people feel pressured to respond after dinner or on weekends can lead to exhaustion and impaired performance. The onus is both on the individual and the employer to ensure that work hours are reasonable and that there is a period where people can disconnect from their professional responsibilities.
6: Building and maintaining company culture across borders. Efficiency may improve thanks to focused remote work, but what about morale and momentum? Many people still crave human connection and that sense of belonging with their place of employment. Yet spontaneous conversations vanish without bumping into colleagues in hallways or cafes. New hires struggle to plant roots. Over time, reduced personal connections could drain away the lifeblood of creative culture.
As we have explored, going remote has its fair share of pros and cons that need to be weighed up. While there are plenty of attractive benefits, such as improved diversity, inclusivity, and productivity, these are only achievable if you go about it the right way.
From our experience, doing remote-first successfully takes structure, intentionality, and a deliberate commitment to fostering genuine connections. Here are some tips on how to do just that:
Without clear guidelines, it’s impossible to create a truly inclusive workplace. Well-defined, equitable policies form the very foundation from which diversity and belonging can grow. When expectations around everything from remote work to parental leave are spelled out transparently, it helps ensure all employees are empowered to bring their best selves to work every day.
The key to that is a good employee handbook. This digital document should cover everything that an employee would need to know, from rules around paid time off and parental leave, all the way to payroll and recommendations for workspace ergonomics. At Boundless, we find this to be essential for employees, regardless if they have just joined or have been with the company for years.
Make this handbook easily accessible to all team members through your intranet and HR platforms. Everyone should understand the standards, opportunities, and expectations for working at your company. And most importantly, keep it updated to align with the needs of an evolving workforce.
Creating truly fair policies means looking beyond regional norms to focus on universal employee needs. For example, if your company hires talent distributed across five different countries, is it truly fair for one employee to receive significantly more paid time off or other advantages simply because that is standard in their region?
At Boundless, we recognised this imbalance and made the choice to benchmark all employees to have the same level of holidays, work hours, and other benefits no matter where they are based. Essentially "levelling up" everyone to the most generous standard rather than the lowest common denominator.
In terms of PTO, that means aligning policies to what is typical in France, which offers some of the most progressive allowance. This guarantees that no employee feels a lack of equity in work-life balance or other assistance compared to their peers in another nation.
We believe normalising these types of supportive, inclusive policies sets the tone for valuing all team members equally, no matter their role or location. It's a departure from the status quo but one that pays dividends in terms of living out equitable principles day-to-day.
Organisations thrive when employees feel comfortable sharing ideas, opinions, and constructive feedback freely. However, we each have our own preferred communication styles and levels of outspokenness. As we mentioned earlier, quieter personalities may often get drowned out by more dominant voices if a culture doesn’t purposefully make space for them.
This is why it’s important to take proactive steps to recognise these differing personality types and create ways where everyone feels comfortable enough to contribute.
At Boundless, one way we do this is by doing “3-2-1-Oh” sessions, which helps us create regular opportunities for safe, open dialogue between employees and managers.
This works by both manager and their direct report, writing down (in advance) three things that were done well, two skill areas or responsibilities that can be further developed, one piece of constructive feedback on what the manager can do better, and a thought on career development.
The manager and the direct report also take turns talking through what they have highlighted in 1-2-1 sessions run twice a year. The key is setting expectations upfront that this is a judgement-free zone focused on mutual growth and understanding.
As much as we thrive in our remote environment, nothing replaces good old fashioned human bonding. Even the best Zoom calls lack that heart-to-heart spark that comes from in-person interactions.
That's why we hold three company offsites each year for the entire team to connect face-to-face. It's rejuvenating to catch up in real life, meet new hires we've only seen on screen, or toss around creative ideas over workshop sessions. We leave every time with fresh energy and deeper ties across our distributed teams.
After each offsite, we send out anonymous surveys to get candid feedback on what worked and where we can fine-tune them to better support our employees. The feedback helps us tweak each future get-together to ensure everyone leaves feeling positive, recharged, and more connected.
While this may not be possible or practical for all companies, especially larger organisations, the benefits of meeting in person (even if it’s just once per year) should not be underestimated.
Without the organic visibility of an office, efforts can feel thankless in isolation if not intentionally highlighted. We actively combat this with a peer recognition system called Kudos Corner. Anyone can share a quick public message to spotlight a teammate who went above and beyond, solved a tricky problem, or simply produced exceptional work that deserves applause.
We also have regular feedback sessions, 1-2-1s, and check-ins, each of which gives opportunity for colleagues and management to recognise hard work. The purpose is creating a broader company culture of appreciation for all types of effort. It's a simple yet powerful way to reinforce our values of inclusion and teamwork even when we aren't in the same physical space.
Building and managing a globally inclusive remote workplace takes time, effort, and expertise. But it doesn't have to be overwhelming. At Boundless, we handle the complexities of global employment, so you can focus on what matters most: your people. From compliant onboarding to equitable compensation and benefits, we're here to support you every step of the way.
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