Organizations are mere vacant buildings and areas without employees in them. Employees are a company’s beating heart, and management is its brain. Collaboration between employees and management is what an organization requires. Therefore, employee engagement is much needed. In this blog, we are explicitly talking about distant or remote workers. This blog will benefit you if you are a manager or in the HR team.
Management must adopt ways to engage remote workers so that their work efficiency increases and they consider themselves a part of the company.
What Is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement is fundamental for organizations as it describes the relationship between management and employees so that they better understand each other. There are two types of employees working for many companies now, i.e., Remote employees and in-house employees. Both of them are equally important. A post-pandemic scenario demands remote workers for a specific type of computer-based work.
Why is Employee Engagement Crucial?
Employees give life to a company and are the source of success for the company, so their engagement at the workplace is mandatory. Moreover, experienced and old employees of your company think of the company as a family, so they do not take a step that will sabotage the company. Remote workers are not excluded because if they work with a company for many years and the company obliges them, it will save them from harm.
Who Is Responsible for Engaging Employees?
Three people influence workforce engagement, either remote or in-house workers; HR, the manager, and the team leader. All these people have different responsibilities in engaging employees. For more detail, read below.
- Step one is HR and the team: keeping track of remote worker engagement and making the whole team implement certain things that will help engage workers. HR must hold team leaders accountable for initiating meetings.
- Managers: managers should help make good relationships with employees, so they feel free to discuss their problems. They create a trustworthy environment and support employees by rewarding them.
- Team or department leader: leaders are of prime importance because they develop enthusiasm and passion in employees. Moreover, they support HR’s engagement strategies.
Follow The 13 Best Ways to Engage Remote Workers
Ensure a sense of belonging in your remote workers
Remote workers are mostly not considered part of the company because they are away and treated as vendors. It is where a company lacks, causing remote employees’ morale to go down.
It is human nature that when a person is not safe and loved at a place, he becomes disheartened and tends to move to other sites to find love. Similarly, management must show consideration to their remote workers so they will feel a sense of ownership and see themselves as an integral part of the business.
However, the question is, how can you do that? You can communicate with your remote personnel daily; that is the first step to making video calls when required. Keep your remote people from feeling included because it will lower their morale. And morale is essential for high performance. Tell them their virtual presence means a lot, even if they are not physically present at the office.
You will find more ways to enhance remote employee engagement in the other sections.
2. Appreciate every little effort
Encouragement, motivation, and appreciation are different words serving the same purpose. It would help if you appreciated your employees because every effort matters, and it will encourage them to make more progress, which will benefit the company.
People make an effort, and their efforts and work get recognition. So, you must recognize remote workers’ struggles and value them equally.
Bonuses, incentives, and increments are sources of appreciation for the employees. Is it possible to show employees gratitude without using financial resources? Yes, you can send appreciation messages mentioning the good performer’s name or nominate him for employee of the month.
3. Use monitoring tools to communicate swiftly.
Half a decade ago, the use of employee monitoring tools started, and the benefit has increased since the pandemic era 2019 – 2020. Now, almost every organization has monitoring tools incorporated. What is the role of monitoring tools in employee engagement? Monitoring tools like the best EMS software tracks employees’ activities, and you can observe where your employees lack and face problems.
Monitoring tools will help you communicate with your employees as they can schedule meetings for you and your employees.
Direct communication
You must convey your message to the employees directly because when you tell them to get your news, they might change some words, which will mean something else. You must think about how an employer or HR sends a message directly. Isn’t it hectic? It is not heated because with monitoring tools, and you can communicate as it suggests messages or what to type next and sends a notification to all the employees.
4. Allow them to take virtual breaks.
Breaks must refresh employees’ minds and energize them to work efficiently during office hours. It is more comprehensive than in-house workers. Instead, remote workers also need breaks. People think that remote workers are in the comfort of their homes; why would they need breaks? That is a misconception, because everyone gets tired.
It would help if you feared they might waste time because now you have EMS that will track working hours, productive hours, and idle time; you can also detect even inactivity on the computer. So, permit them breaks at specific times.
5. Schedule Interactive sessions
Interaction between all the employees is necessary, and it will create a healthy environment where everyone can talk and discuss things. It will help in employee growth professionally.
These interactive sessions may be group video calls and meetings. Remote workers are thought to be shy and less confident than house workers. So, interactive sessions will help them cope with their confidence level.
6. Take feedback from them.
Feedback is a healthy way to know what others think about you. Organizations take feedback about heads, leaders, and managers once a year. Also, make it mandatory for remote employees so that you will know their queries and seek ways to solve them.
Like you restructure your product based on customer feedback, the same scenario applies to employees’ management feedback. Both managers and employees give each other feedback to maintain a safe and sound atmosphere.
Moreover, if a manager is not satisfied with a remote worker, you should schedule a one-on-one meeting and share your thoughts on him rather than insulting him in front of everyone.
7. Identify good performers and motivate others.
Employee monitoring applications will show you the good performers in remote working. This strategy will make other remote workers cooperate and make progress. Because when you appreciate, it brings motivation to others.
Additionally, identifying good performers recognizes the efforts, letting employees stay because they know that the organization recognizes their work.
8. Ask them to make their work schedule
Flexibility in work is motivation itself. And when you let your remote employees work according to their schedule, they happily do the job. It will highly engage remote workers with the organization.
When you schedule your employees working hours, they may need to be more productive. So, they should decide their working time. You tell them how many working hours the company requires, and they will set their office hours accordingly.
9. Introduce your remote and in-house employees to each other
Remote workers might think they are distant and do not know about the office decorum. When you introduce in-house workers to remote workers, they can cooperate and help each other.
They will talk of the office, which will engage both of them in work—moreover, their sense of belonging increases.
10. Arrange hackathons
Hackathons are meet up of tech people to work on a single project making it better. You can arrange hackathons at your workplace and ask remote workers to participate. It will enhance their abilities, and they own the work when they know they did something for a project. It will lead them to engage with the project and, ultimately, the organization.
11. Train your remote employees
When hiring a remote worker, you should first train them or schedule workshops for them where they will learn the norms, core values, and morals of the workplace. Once they learn the basics and start working, continue monthly workshops to make them more engaged in work. Additionally, it also polishes their capabilities.
These workshops may be related to core values and self-esteem, which help them better their abilities and etiquette. Or they may be related to their position in the office.
12. Team games and activities
Games are brainstorming and engaging themselves. Digital marketing firms may organize game sessions that will teach an employee to work efficiently as a team so that they can win the game. Consequently, remote and in-house employees know each other and work as a team to cooperate on the same project
13. Develop a sense of purpose to reach a goal
Be transparent in what you expect from your employees and what should be their ultimate goal. It will grab their attention when you teach employees why they are essential for the company and their purpose. So, they work for the company as if it’s their own company and the rate of employee engagement increases. Moreover, when employees know their goals, it will create intrinsic motivation.
Advantages of Remote Employee Engagement
You can take advantage of an engaging workforce. We mentioned a few benefits of remote employee engagement below.
Productive employees with innovative minds
When the company satisfies the employees and is happy, they will ultimately be more productive. Happiness leads to innovative ideas. Therefore, studies say 17 % of engaged employees work better than their colleagues.
The key metric for a company’s success is overall productivity improvement, and employees are crucial. So, when employees feel safe at the workplace and do not fear to reach out, it makes their minds innovative. As a result, a good office environment leads a company to prosper.
Good health
Engaged employees are energetic and proactive because they do not take work as a burden. When a person enjoys his work, it becomes his passion, and no one gets tired and sick from the following desire. Moreover, engaged are less prone to chronic diseases and lead happy lives, as proven by research studies.
Better attendance
Employees prefer places where they are valued. So, employee engagement causes better attendance; even remote workers become punctual, regular, and geared up for work meetings and discussions. Research wrote that 41 % less absenteeism is seen in highly engaged offices. It does not mean that engaged employees never get tired; instead, they know their goals and want to finish the task within time. Resultantly, they are regularly at work.
More sales, more profit
Engaged workers are sincere with their work. So their hard work and good customer services increase the company’s sales and earn more profit. Therefore, it is wise of you to invest money and time in your employees; in return, they elevate your sales.
According to research, an 18 % sale increase is due to employee engagement. So, treating your employees better and making them feel valued is always a win-win.
You must be thinking about how it applies to remote employees. Here is your answer: remote workers handling your digital marketing areas work correctly and make an effort for audience engagement. In the end, it is beneficial for you, and your revenue rises.
Less likely to quit jobs
Employees who get frustrated with their job are likely to quit jobs. These employees are those who are disengaged or unengaged. Conversely, engaged employees stay in their jobs because they are satisfied with the workplace and see a future there.
Summary
Employee engagement, which outlines the interaction between management and employees, is crucial for companies. Many businesses nowadays have two categories of employees: in-house and remote employees. People in HR, management, and team leadership roles are responsible for engaging employees. Management must treat them by making remote workers feel like they belong and are a part of the firm. Remember that if your remote workers feel excluded, it will affect their morale. Utilize monitoring tools, such as the EMS software, to keep tabs on employees’ activity and identify any issues they are having.
Monitoring programs keep track of working hours, productive hours, idle time, and even computer inactivity. Applications for employee monitoring will highlight the top remote workers. Scheduling a one-on-one meeting with the boss to discuss your concerns if the manager is unhappy with a remote worker is preferable to denigrating him in front of everyone. This tactic will encourage collaboration and advancement from other remote employees. For more detail, read the above blog and clarify your thoughts on engaging remote workers.
Conclusion
Remote employees are essential for companies, and management must adopt ways to increase their engagement. Employee engagement involves communication, a sense of belonging, different activities, home tours, introducing remote employees, appreciating and recognizing efforts, feedback, and an understanding of purpose development. Moreover, to monitor activities, you can buy monitoring software like EMS software that will sketch an actual picture of remote employees working in front of employers.
FAQs
Employees’ outcomes at the workplace in association with the level of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional energies are known as employee engagement. It is likely for an organization that has highly engaged employees to succeed.
Employees’ responsiveness and participation in office matters are examples of employee engagement.
Most remote workers do not feel they belong to an organization, which badly affects the company. Therefore, you must watch remote workers feel valued and engaged in the work.
Remote workers feel less engaged because they feel like outsiders in their work organization. So, it is management and leaders’ responsibility to ensure that remote employees are engaged.
Improvement should be from both sides; management and remote workers. Management must communicate and set meetings for remote employees while remote workers should participate and make their place in the company.
