The heightened and consistent growth of remote workers –partly fueled by the global pandemic—shows that remote work benefits employers and employees alike. As an employer, you get access to an international talent pool, and your workers are free to work from any convenient location.
Nevertheless, remote work isn’t entirely a lap of luxury. It comes with unique challenges, such as dealing with disengaged employees. Here are a few tips to consider to help you ensure that your employees are fully committed and emotionally devoted to your organization.
Promote Virtual Water Cooler Conversation
Conversations in the break room and opportunities for idle chit-chat play are terrific approaches to foster a strong sense of teamwork and allow employees to get to know one another better within your business. However, this cannot be easy to replicate in a virtual work environment.
Creating a virtual place for water cooler chats can give team members a space to blow off steam, relax, and individually connect to their coworkers. Be sure to participate in this chat to make it obvious that you expect your staff to use it frequently.
Clarify Expectations
If productivity and employee engagement are of the utmost importance in a given workplace, it is imperative to clarify expectations.
Examples of best practices may include being explicit about when you want individuals to begin work each day and the activities you want to be done. In addition, be sure to emphasize the value of meeting attendance while establishing boundaries for remote workers. Doing so will ensure that individuals attend and receive vital information directly.
Reward Positive Conduct
It is common for things to slide between the cracks while managing a decentralized staff. However, make an earnest effort not to disregard people’s achievements and positive behaviors.
If you have a worker who goes above and beyond, ensure they know how much you appreciate their efforts. Something as basic as praising them in the chatroom can significantly impact and inspire other employees to improve their performance.
Communicate Regularly
Clear contact with your teammates creates a good rapport. In turn, this can make them more focused and boost their engagement. Employees who feel connected to company leaders will have a strong sense of responsibility.
Consider doing a quarterly or annual employee engagement survey to determine whether your initiatives are working.
Conduct Individual Check-Ins
It’s also a fine decision to have a regular one-on-one review with team members and interact via email or the company’s virtual channel.
Most people prefer to connect in this manner rather than through group communications; therefore, combining the two allows you to touch all your bases and avoid leaving anyone out. It enables you to listen to the team’s more reticent members and discover the best strategy to turn them into highly engaged and productive employees.
Virtual Team-Building Activities
When you’re in control of a virtual team, it’s easy to overlook possibilities for team building. However, numerous methods exist to have fun and create rapport as a company remotely. You could, for instance, create a digital game night or virtual brunch to allow everyone to relax and interact on a deeper level.
Modern-day corporate party entertainment has evolved to fit your organization’s unique needs. For example, are you looking to wow your employees? Consider a professional mentalist or magician to do the trick.
Offer Simple Access to Information
If you want your staff to follow the rules and guidelines, make them easily accessible. For instance, ensure everyone has a copy of your organization’s style book.
In addition to keeping crucial papers up-to-date, send out alerts when you make revisions—this aids in keeping every employee on the same page and reduces the likelihood of confusion.
Use the Appropriate Tech Tools
Combining the appropriate people with the proper tools could make it much simpler to maintain employee engagement and communication. Invest in a production management system that allows you to maintain contact with your staff and provide regular feedback. Consider a system that interfaces with other applications to facilitate communication and file sharing.
While these tips are pretty helpful, the list is not conclusive. Besides, not all may apply to your organization. Nonetheless, by implementing one or two, you’ll set your company on a path to success—your remote workers will dedicate their time and resources to ensure your overall business success.