Our latest guest blog by Sam McRyan explores how to keep engage remote employees and enhance the employee experience, especially during the second wave of Coronavirus:
In recent years we have seen a rise in remote workers across all industries. COVID-19 has also contributed to increased numbers of people who work from home. But, why do we have a huge number of people working from? Well, studies have shown that most professionals particularly in the field of statistics, customer service, data management as well as content creation can deliver the same service working from home as seen in the office. Despite many professions having such advantages, there are other benefits of working remotely that have been fostering this shift. For instance,
- Companies lower their expenses when they have people who are working remotely.
- A survey by Airtasker reported a higher productivity among remote workers.
- There is a high employee retention rate,
- Your employer brand will improve.
- Employees are more likely to be satisfied working from home.
- Research shows that remote working also reduces people’s carbon footprint which is good for the environment.
In case you are a professional that manages contractors, you may want to engage the services of contractor management services. Such organisations leverage technology to handle the risks that come up in contractor management. Additionally, they also function to strengthen relationships with your team, which can enhance employee loyalty and improve your employer brand amongst your internal team. With such great benefits provided by this service, how else can you engage these remote employees? Here are strategies to make your remote workers feel valued:
Connect with them using technology
In the last decade, we have seen an immense development in technology leading to the rise of tools such as GoToMeeting, Slack, Asana as well as Skype for Business. The advent of these tools has come to ease project management as well as communication among teams. When you are working with remote teams, you must make use of these innovations to communicate and track the progress of the projects being worked on.
You can also leverage video conferencing to keep tabs on how your staff is doing. The beauty of video conferencing is that you can see people’s faces making it possible for you to tell whether you all are on the same page. Importantly, you can use these conferencing sessions to find out how their engagements are doing. Such inquiry also makes your remote workers feel valued.
Acknowledge their contribution
According to research, when you recognise people for something good done no matter how little, it makes them excel in whatever they decide to do. Of all the employees that you may have, remote workers are the ones that bill a lot of hours to your organization. As a leader, you need to come up with an employees’ recognition system that recognizes these hardworking employees to boost your employer brand. You can make use of an online system that gives all your staff the liberty to comment and recognise colleagues in real-time. Employee recognition fosters engagement and makes people feel appreciated and connected.
Render support to recruits
Approximately 76% of newly hired employees often feel not well-equipped to perform their job despite being highly qualified. While you can move around the office and encourage new onsite hires, imagine how stressful it can be for new remote workers. Therefore, you need to show support to new employees through:
- Offering them additional training.
- Promoting communication.
- Providing them with login details and file access.
- Offering appropriate tools that will help them do their jobs efficiently.
Allow flexibility
When people begin to work remotely often it is because they yearn for flexibility. Therefore, when it comes to planning company activities such as meetings and other collaborative sessions, you need to give your remote workers a chance to choose the timelines for such events. Doing this enables them to adjust their other engagements that may hinder their performance when working remotely at specific times. You also need to trust that your staff will perform their duties diligently. You should know that trust is the cornerstone of employee engagement and your employer brand as it creates a healthy workplace culture. Allowing flexibility ensures that people can set timelines that work best for them enabling them to balance their work properly.
Have certain office days
While remote working is good, you can expect that some workers would want to come to the office a few times a week or a month. According to Gallup, optimal engagement is achieved when workers come to the office for a few days a week. You can make use of the time your remote workers come to your company headquarters to bond with them and have them collaborate with their colleagues.
Conclusion
Employee engagement activities need not be complex. With these strategies, you are assured that you will have your team engaged at all times thereby improving your employer brand and employee retention rates.
