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Employee Benefits
10 best practices to keep remote employees engaged
August 3, 2021
"Engagement is an abstract term that can apply to a variety of situations, but it's usually about how happy and committed people are with their work."
The sentence above perfectly sums up the focus of this blog post.
We will talk about how to keep remote employees engaged and why they are not engaged in their work.
We'll also share 10 best practices to keep remote employees engaged as well as 3 companies who have excelled in engaging remote employees.
3 real reasons why remote employees are not engaged
1: They're not in the same room as everyone else
Which can lead to an array of issues such as the lack of communication, trust, sense of belonging, and camaraderie in the team and toward the company.
When this happens, it's difficult to collaborate effectively, put their best foot forward and deliver high-quality work.
This is particularly true for new employees who have never seen their colleagues and managers in person before.
But, it's not impossible to build trust and camaraderie between colleagues who have never seen each other in the office before. It just takes a longer time.
2: Technology takes away the joy of communication and socialisation
Partying in a restaurant is not the same as partying on Zoom. The vibe, the excitement, the sense of belonging can't be replicated by technology (yet).
Worse, if there are connectivity issues, the remote employee is going to feel even more left out.
As of today's technology advancement, nothing can replace the moments of your employees having fun physically together.
That is why companies are organising company retreats for all employees, on-site and remote, to spend offline moments together.
3: It's difficult to stay motivated when you're working alone
Because your remote employees can't feel the vibe and excitement (reason #2), it's difficult for them to stay motivated. Subsequently, their mental health will also be affected
.If your remote employees gain motivation from other people, you need to go the extra mile to keep their motivation high.
Related reads: 5 ways to support mental health at work
3 companies that are crushing remote employee engagement
Buffer
Buffer is a social media management company with over 85 employees spread across 10 different time zones. Some of the great initiatives they've implemented are:
- They communicate asynchronously when possible (including meetings and training). This removes the pressure to be "present" all the time.
- They establish do's and don'ts about communication.
- They have a set of tools for specific functions, and everyone knows how and when to use them.
Zappos
Zappos is an American online shoe and clothing retailer, based in Las Vegas. The company has 27 full-time remote employees, and the CEO is very community-driven. How does the CEO ensure his remote employees are culturally connected? Here are some of the things he did:
- All employees celebrate personal milestones together, whether it's work anniversaries, birthdays or new babies. Zapponians are encouraged to send silly, thoughtful or congratulatory cards. Some even ordered special deliveries to their colleague's homes.
- The company gamifies the ordinary. They use internal points called Zollars, which can be earned for simple things, like being the first to send the team a good morning. Zollars can be exchanged for company swag.
- Zapponians do regular shout-outs to employees (include remote) on group emails or Slack messages. They give recognition when it's due.
Magellan Health
Magellan Health is a healthcare company with over 40% of its 10,000 employees working remotely. And it was a pioneer in remote work back in the 1990s. This is what they did right:
- Magellan provides resources for virtual collaboration and makes sure each team has a clear vision and purpose.
- Most teams meet face-to-face a few times a year.
- The company focuses on goals and results instead of hours worked.
- It connects with its remote employees through VERN, a virtual employee resource centre and RITA, a technology contact centre.
10 things you can do tomorrow to increase remote employee engagement
As mentioned above, building engagement with remote employees whom you've never met physically is not an impossible task. The 3 companies above have proven a fully remote or hybrid work model can achieve a high employee engagement rate.
Here are 10 simple ways to keep your remote employees engaged and happy.
- Create a forum (as simple as a Facebook group) for employees to share personal and professional updates.
- Set up a weekly routine for one-on-one chats between managers and employees to keep communication open and clear.
- Replicate the 'water cooler’ chat in online sessions. Organise Zoom meetings that talk about anything except work. So, they can have a breather and build connections.
- Implement an employee benefits platform to shift your employee benefits from manual to online.
- Go out of your way once in a while (as long as you're able) by sending quick notes saying, "I hope you're doing well." This shows that they matter.
- Set meaningful goals. Set clear deliverables and specific metrics that will enable you to track outcomes and measure results effectively.
- Establish a digital reward and recognition platform. Managers can praise their employees on the go, not just in person or by phone. Remember Zollars?
- Invest in e-learning platforms to enable employees to learn new skills and upskilling their existing ones. Allow them to learn even personal hobbies such as baking or painting.
- Personalise your employee benefits according to your remote employee needs. Learn how to find out the most important employee benefits specific to your company.
- Plan seasonal retreats where all of your employees can meet each other a few times a year.
Final Words
Remote employees are not engaged because they do not have enough one-on-one meetings, face time with their managers and feel a sense of belonging to the company.
There are many ways on how you can keep remote workers engaged, such as:
- setting up weekly routines for one-on-ones
- replicating 'water cooler chats in online sessions
- giving them autonomy over how tasks are done
- establishing digital reward and recognise platforms where managers can praise remotely working employees
In short: keep your remote workforce highly engaged by making them feel inclusive, informed, and invested.
Related reads: The complete employee experience guide for HR
About Mednefits:
Mednefits helps businesses take care of their employees with its automated, affordable, and accessible employee benefits platform.
Request to join Mednefits for free to help process and track claims in real-time, while controlling costs.
