Remote employees are very different from traditional office employees, and their engagement needs can also differ. However, the very thing that can lead to a healthy work-life balance for the remote worker is also what becomes problematic when it comes to engagement. Not having physical interactions with your colleagues and bosses can make a prolonged disconnect from the office easy. Remote employees need to establish interaction routines outside office hours to stay engaged with their colleagues and employers. Here are ten tips that you should use to help improve your remote employee’s engagement.
1. Have Regular Meetings
Make sure you keep regular meetings on track, so employees can get a quick update on what needs attention while still honoring work and life balance. That way, they won’t feel disconnected and left out of the decision-making loop while away. It’s also essential to ensure that regular meetings don’t take too much off-site time and compromise the work-life balance.
2. Foster Social Interaction
You will see how important social interaction is when you watch remote employees interact with their colleagues and supervisors. It gives them human contact and a source of happiness they need when they are not in the office. Ensure your remote team members converse with their colleagues, even when busy. That way, they can stay connected to the office while still getting some time off to meet with friends or family. You can achieve this via video chats, social media, and other means that foster effective communication.
3. Establish Community
If you are working with a virtual team of independent contractors, it is always good to allow them to bond with each other. It’s also crucial for you as a manager or leader to encourage remote employees to use that time for business collaboration and share information about how they used their time out of the office.
Team building is essential for employee engagement in your remote team. Please make sure you have plenty of time outside the office, where they can bond and share experiences. You can also encourage this via regular team meetings or social gatherings. Those who spend time outside work together tend to form stronger bonds and become friends who support one another in times of need.
4. Show Your Support
It’s easy for remote workers to feel like they are forgotten, especially if you don’t see them in person regularly. You must show your support regularly so remote employees feel connected with their colleagues and supervisors, even when not in the office.
5. Employee Recognition
Giving rewards is essential to encouraging remote employees to work hard for you. You can consider award plaques, bonuses, or certificates. Regular employee recognition will enable them to stay engaged with their work.
6. Fun
Ensure you provide remote employees with opportunities to have fun outside work hours. These can be anything from mini-games on their platform to logout activities that help them unwind and relax after a long day’s work. You can also reward the most productive remote workers by scheduling fun social events during the week or weekend to allow teams to bond and have fun together.
7. Promote Wellness and Health
Ensure remote employees know how to keep their health and wellness levels high to work efficiently. Make sure you offer regular reminders and tips regarding maintaining healthy eating habits, physical exercise, and mental health.
8. Provide Meaningful Work
Even if it’s impossible to meet the remote employees in person, ensure you provide meaningful work via the virtual team communication platforms you use. The result should be challenging but achievable within a reasonable period. It should also be related to the remote employee’s long-term career growth and future development goals.
9. Provide the Require Tools
To ensure remote employees stay engaged and maintain quality work, you must provide them with the proper tools and infrastructure. Ensure that you have a robust communications platform for your team. This could include What Sapp, Facebook Messenger, or Twitter.
You should also provide your remote employees with the latest technology equipment so they can be productive from anywhere in the world. This will enhance their engagement levels since they will know about developments in their industry, which can play a vital role in their future careers.
10. Listen to Feedback
Another way to improve remote employee engagement is to listen to their feedback and suggestions. Make sure you keep up to date with their feelings so that you know how to handle any situation by taking their perspective.
Conclusion
Remote working can improve your team’s productivity and help you achieve your organization’s goals. But you should always be careful and monitor your remote employees to ensure that their work habits don’t change and their engagement levels remain high. These ten tips will help improve employee engagement for your virtual employees.
