- remote staff will be spending the majority of their time chasing approvals.
- A lack of these things in a remote team can be the cause of poor business outcomes.
Even as the world gradually returns to normal, with many employees and companies opting for extended work-from-home stints, it has become something of a necessity for modern HR leaders to learn new methods of enhancing the remote employee experience, reports Forbes.
5 ways to engage your remote employees
1)Ditch micromanagement
It is noticed that remote managers find it difficult to manage this new job transition, making them more likely to make their employees’ lives uncomfortable. In fact, research shows that managers who can’t “see” their direct reports have a harder time believing that their employees are actually working.
Sustainable methods of remote management:
- Change the way you measure performance. Instead of badgering remote employees to complete a task, set down a system where everyone is accountable for their own goals.
- The key to managing autonomous remote workers is through a well-defined structure of goal-setting.
- Set down expectations and discuss work hours, break times, and goals (both yours and theirs), among other things.
- Create a structure where none existed before. To compensate for the lack of a physical presence, you’ll need to implement very clear SOPs, regular meetings, check-ins, or plain old goal-setting.
- Shortening hierarchy levels may also be beneficial; otherwise, your remote staff will be spending the majority of their time chasing approvals.
2)Show transparency
Transparency is not limited to workflows. This is even more critical when dealing with a crisis, as people are more susceptible to hysteria, speculation, and panic.
To help ease any lingering tensions, leaders should clearly communicate where the company is headed and how employees will be affected in those scenarios.
- It is important to establish open and judgement-free communication channels so that it becomes easier to identify and understand the unique challenges your remote employees are facing.
- This instils greater trust and loyalty, and they are much more likely to experience a sense of belonging to the company.
3)Digitize your rewards and recognition program
According to one expert, employees’ desire to be recognized increases by about 30% during challenging times.
Most virtual rewards and recognition programs have a problem because they are mostly in-house and rarely adhere to a proper plan, structure, or implementation strategy.
As a result, the entire process of recognizing remote employees becomes incoherent.
How to make remote recognition actually meaningful:
- Make it public. It is critical that recognition occurs in public, even if virtual.
- This achieves two goals: To begin with, it ensures that recognition is not limited between a manager-employee and that the entire offsite team feels connected to one another.
- Secondly, it serves as a reminder to everyone that their efforts are being noticed and valued, despite them working remotely.
- Be timely and frequent. Try to ensure that their remote employees are immediately appreciated for the value they bring to the organisation.
4)Prioritize wellness
As per Gallup’s research, engagement and well-being are mutually influencing, i.e., each impacts the future state of the other.
According to Deloitte’s 2020 Global Human Capital Trends Report, while 80% of companies said employee well-being would be important or very important for their success over the next 12-18 months, only 12% said they were equipped to deal with this issue.
But, most often, workplace budgets for employee well-being concentrate on only providing basic aspects like health insurance. To build a culture that truly empowers employees to lead a life of optimal health and well-being, leaders should focus on certain workplace aspects such as:
- Make mindful breaks a priority. It not only gives employees a break from the long hours at work, but it also helps them to bond.
- Provide office setup assistance. Remote work can be extremely strenuous to the body. Ensure that your employees have access to high-quality chairs and sturdy furniture support. If not, arrange to have a WFH setup delivered to their homes.
- Offer health incentives. Remote work can exacerbate the physical health problems associated with sedentary jobs. A proven way to get employees up and moving is to conduct incentives-based health challenges.
- Begin conversations about mental health. It can be as simple as holding seminars on emotional well-being or providing counselors to talk to.
- Set clear limits on your employees’ availability. Consider advising your staff to not respond to business emails on weekends, or allow them to take a day off to relax and recharge.
5)More communication
A lack of these things in a remote team can be the cause of poor business outcomes.
Benefits of a well-planned communication strategy is a powerful tool for keeping workflows as smooth and seamless as possible.
- It promotes greater transparency, which aids in the removal of any impediments and distractions from a team member’s path to doing great work.Having an agile communication toolbox is perhaps one of the most important things.
- Remote check-ins typically are 1:1 meetings with a manager, which means that other team members may be unaware of what others are working on.
- As the duration of remote work increases, it is easy for team members to become alienated from one another. It is critical to develop team rituals tailored to your distributed team
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Source: Forbes
