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When we sat down with Katrina Jones, Vice President of People and Operations at the Sheryl Sandberg and Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, for this episode of Reimagining Company Culture, the conversation took on the practical weight of a leader who has designed and executed strategies to attract, retain, and advance people from underrepresented and historically marginalized communities at large global companies and at startups. Katrina's framing was that the workplace has fundamentally changed and the People function either redesigns its operating model around the new reality or watches the experience erode.
Her advice was specific. Treat flexibility in distributed environments as a design problem, not a perk. Invest in communication systems that work asynchronously without losing connection. Create the spaces, both literal and figurative, where people from underrepresented backgrounds can do their best work. Each move requires the People team to think about the operating model rather than only about programs.
Why the Workplace Has Genuinely Changed
The shift to distributed work is not temporary. McKinsey research has consistently shown that flexibility is now one of the top three reasons employees stay or leave a company. The companies that treat flexibility as a benefit rather than an operating model are losing talent to companies that have redesigned the operating model around it.
Gallup data on engagement makes the case sharper. With global engagement at 21% and falling, the companies that handle the distributed transition badly accelerate the decline. The People functions winning this transition are the ones that asked which rituals depend on physical proximity and rebuilt them for a distributed reality. Onboarding that does not rely on a hallway tour. Recognition that happens in writing. Manager 1:1s that produce the connection a shared office used to produce by accident. Each redesign is small. The cumulative effect on engagement is what separates distributed teams that thrive from distributed teams that quietly disengage.
What Designing Effective Communication for Distributed Teams Looks Like
What is effective communication in distributed work?
Effective communication in distributed work means deliberate clarity. Written documentation that does the work hallway conversations would otherwise do. Decision logs that explain why choices were made. Manager check-ins that produce the situational awareness a shared office used to produce by accident. The discipline is to write down what would have been spoken aloud.
How do you keep distributed teams connected?
Connection in distributed teams comes from rituals that work asynchronously. Recognition shared in writing across time zones. Onboarding designed for video. Skip-level conversations on a regular cadence. The teams with the strongest connection treat ritual design as a core operational practice rather than as something that happens incidentally.
What Actually Works When You Build Flexibility Into the Operating Model
Principle 1: Publish the standards employees can expect anywhere
Distributed teams need clear standards or the experience drifts by manager. Strong programs publish the cadence of 1:1s, the response time expectations, and the meeting norms employees can expect regardless of which team they sit on. Within those standards, managers customize. Without them, employees experience inconsistency that erodes trust.
Principle 2: Resource managers as the primary operating unit
Distributed teams concentrate more responsibility on the manager because the company cannot rely on physical proximity to absorb gaps. Investment in management training on remote leadership skills, asynchronous feedback, and structured 1:1s pays back across retention and engagement.
Principle 3: Use listening systems that work asynchronously
Distributed work needs listening systems that do not depend on the organic conversations a shared office produces. Pulse surveys, structured stay interviews, and confidential channels become the primary signal source for the People team. Without those layers, leaders learn about issues at exit when it is already too late.
Where Employee Relations Fits Into Distributed Workplace Design
Distributed work creates new edge cases. Manager behavior across geographies. Inconsistencies in flexibility application. Issues that would have been caught in a shared office and now stay invisible. Employee relations is the function that catches those edge cases consistently across a distributed workforce.
How ER protects equity in distributed environments
The right ER function gives every employee the same access to confidential intake regardless of geography, the same investigation standards, and the same expectation of resolution. Anonymous reporting tools matter especially in distributed environments because the informal channels that catch issues in a shared office often do not exist remotely.
Creating Spaces for Underrepresented Employees to Thrive
What does creating a space mean operationally?
Creating space includes funded ERGs that operate as strategic teams, manager training on inclusive feedback, mentorship programs that match the access patterns underrepresented employees often lack, and recognition rituals that surface contributions equitably. Each piece is operational. Together they produce the conditions where people from historically marginalized backgrounds can do their best work.
The role of inclusion in distributed environments
Inclusion in distributed work requires more deliberate design than inclusion in a shared office. The informal moments that build belonging in person have to be reproduced asynchronously. Companies that ignore that work see inclusion erode quickly across a distributed workforce.
Frequently Asked Questions About Distributed Workplace Design
How does flexibility affect retention?
Flexibility is consistently among the top retention drivers in modern employee surveys. Employees who lose flexibility often leave for employers who offer it, and the cost of that turnover dwarfs the cost of designing flexibility into the operating model.
How do you onboard remote employees?
Effective remote onboarding includes structured peer pairings, scheduled video meetings with key stakeholders, written documentation that does the work hallway conversations would otherwise do, and a deliberate plan to build belonging without physical proximity. Employee onboarding is the highest-impact investment in distributed talent.
What does equity look like in flexible work?
Equitable flexibility means the standards apply consistently across teams and the customization respects the same boundaries. Inequity emerges when flexibility favors some teams over others. Strong programs publish the standards and use ER pattern data to spot inconsistency.
How does employee engagement work in distributed teams?
Engagement in distributed teams depends more heavily on manager behavior than engagement in shared offices. The teams with the strongest engagement have managers who are deliberate about feedback, recognition, and connection. The investment in manager development is directly proportional to the engagement outcomes.
What is the role of psychological safety in distributed work?
Psychological safety in distributed teams requires more deliberate design because the cues that build it in person are often missing remotely. Strong managers compensate by asking explicit questions, thanking people for raising concerns, and following up publicly so the team sees the loop close.
The Bottom Line for HR Leaders
Katrina Jones's emphasis on creating spaces to thrive is the right strategic lens for HR leaders trying to design for the workplace as it actually exists. Flexibility is not a perk. Distributed work is not temporary. Effective communication is not optional. Each shift requires the operating model to evolve, and the People teams that get this right are the ones treating it as a design problem.
HR leaders who want stronger engagement and retention in distributed environments should invest in three things. Publish the standards employees can expect anywhere and customize within them. Resource managers as the primary unit of distributed culture. Wire in listening and employee relations systems that catch issues across geographies before they become resignations. With those in place, distributed work becomes a feature of the operating model rather than a strain on it.
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