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Remote Employee Engagement

Many employers are continuing to face the challenges of managing remote employees. While some employees thrive in this new work environment, others may find it difficult and hard to adjust. Employers must find new ways to engage their employees. Communication is proving to be the most effective tool.

While all of these ideas may not necessarily work for your organization, we hope that you will find useful information that you can mold to meet your needs.

Communicate regularly

  • Keep employees up to date with company changes and let them know your vision for the company and current business climate.
  • Encourage open communication by asking employees what challenges they are facing with remote work and how you can assist them. Let your employees know they are appreciated and valued by listening to their suggestions and implementing them if possible.
  • Frequent meetings will help keep employees engaged with their team and focused on the priorities of the organization.
    • If technology allows, ask your employees to join meetings on video. Some employees can hide behind a photo or a blank screen during meetings. By encouraging face-to-face meetings, managers can ensure employees are engaged and actively participating.
    • Consider inviting guest speakers to team meetings. This keeps meetings fresh and provides employees exposure to other departments.
    • Share kudos from clients or other team members in your team meetings.
    • Encourage 10- or 15-minute face-to-face (virtual) meetings between employees to chat about subjects other than work. Employees could use this time to have a coffee together or even a lunch break. Employers can also utilize a portion of team meetings to discuss non work-related topics. This helps replace interactions that would normally occur in an office setting.
    • New employees may feel especially vulnerable since they have not had the chance to meet their new colleagues. Consider pairing them with a more experienced member of your team as a mentor. The mentor can make introductions to the team and other departments and remain a resource for the new employee until they are comfortable in their position.

Establish a work-from-home policy

    • Consistency is key and policies help set expectations and provide guidance, not only to your employees but to your managers as well. Do you have a policy? If so now is a good time to review it for any needed changes. If not, Resourcing Edge is here to help. Feel free to review the following sample documents to get started: Telework Policy, Work from Home Agreement, Work from Home Checklist. If you need further assistance, please contact your Client Account Manager.

Employers may also consider establishing a work-from-home dress code policy

    • A recent study of 1,000 remote workers by CouponFollow reported higher levels of productivity from business professional, business casual, and smart casual dressers. ”Roughly 80% of the more formal dressers said they felt productive throughout the day, compared to just 70% of those in gym clothes and 50% of those in pajamas.”
    • Set expectations for dress based on your company’s culture and the nature of your employees’ work. If employees interact with clients, this may be especially important.

Set goals and priorities

    • Help employees get organized and prioritize work by defining clears goals.
    • Schedule frequent meetings to check progress and ensure accountability.
    • Do not forget about employee development. Offer training programs and the time to complete them. Resourcing Edge offers re360 Learn, which is available to our clients.

Ensure employees are equipped for remote work

    • Make sure that employees have everything they need from the office to work remotely and provide IT backup where possible.
    • Identify any additional technology needs for continued remote work. As mentioned previously, seek out feedback from employees for challenges they are experiencing to see if there is a technology solution.

 

We hope these ideas will give you food for thought. Remember that the Resourcing Edge Team is here to partner with you and offer additional help and support as needed.

Roberta McKay

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