Remote working cuts across all company sizes and industries. Ultimately, it allows for increased autonomy and flexibility for workers. Remote employees tend to be more engaged, happier, and productive.
Plus, organizations that offer flexible and remote working options are more attractive to industry top talents, helping companies land and maintain a competitive workforce. Here are proven strategies you can implement to engage and support your remote team.
1. Recognizing Hard Work and Efforts
Recognizing and rewarding your employees for their efforts and hard work is vital in improving engagement in your remote workforce. Employee recognition takes different forms. However, the main objective is to incentivize continuous dedication and productivity from your employees.
Recognition doesn’t have to be formal or big to be effective. You can send a companywide or team-wide e-mail detailing what a remote employee did and why you find it exceptional. A personal thank-you message or e-mail can also go a long way in making your staff feel engaged and valued while working from home. If you would like to offer rewards for exceptional work, consider sending electronic gift cards to the employees.
2. Providing Relevant Tools and Training
Ensuring your remote employees feel empowered and confident to do their best is key to improving performance and engagement. Whether veteran or newly hired, your remote workforce needs the right training and tools to get the work done. Ensure your employees access the necessary resources and amenities, including hardware like company cell phones and laptops.
When remote employees get the proper training, they become more independent and can solve many problems when they arise without assistance. With the right training, you’ll foster a sense of teamwork and belonging to the team. An expert can help you create customized training solutions that are specific to your brand and industry. These solutions combine different elements to create a more effective and robust learning program to increase knowledge retention and learner engagement.
3. Setting Clear Goals, Performance Expectations, and KPIs
Remote employees enjoy the flexibility of working outside the office environment. For some, that means getting the job done when it fits into their daily schedule, such as late at night or early in the morning. Remote teams also entail having people working in various time zones. Having some members of your remote team working in different time zones may sometimes lead to limited synchronous communication.
As a result, that can lead to some workers being unsure of what’s expected of them or their performance level. Key performance indicators, performance expectations, and clear goals can eliminate guesswork and provide more flexible working schedules while keeping all projects on schedule.
4. Prioritizing Communication
Since remote employees work away from the company offices, sometimes they often feel like they are being left out of the loop. Therefore, it’s important for the managers or supervisors to prioritize communication. You can schedule a daily check-in to know how the employees are doing. Also, remember to communicate important company news as they come.
Since communication is two-way traffic, be sure to listen to your employees. Also, communicate with your workers when you take action on their previous feedback so they know you heard them and valued their opinion. When your remote team feels valued, they’ll be happier, more engaged, and more productive.
5. Hosting Casual Hangouts and Virtual Meetings
Remote teams frequently communicate through instant messaging, emails, web conferences, and video calls. You can use video or voice conferencing calls when remote employees are working to encourage teamwork. Collaboration and communication tools such as Slack, Trello, and Google Hangouts can also enhance team collaboration.
Planning virtual get-togethers or casual hangouts can help your remote team interact and relieve stress. If you are planning a virtual social event with a big group of employees, consider having a moderator for a smooth event and seamless experience. Making time for casual video calls or non-work-related outings will keep your employees engaged and happy to be part of the remote team.
Your organization can enjoy increased team spirit, low employee turnover, and productivity boosts if you support your remote staff. Train your workers, set clear goals, prioritize communication, recognize good work and host casual hangouts to enjoy the benefits of a well-engaged remote workforce.