A lot has changed following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The most notable is the work from home trend. To control the spread of the virus, a lot of companies mandated their employees to work from home. This has brought about a lot of advantages in terms of cost as well as disadvantages, especially with regards remote workforce engagement. l
Remote workforce engagement has been a source of concern for many employers given that it is hard to pin employees in one location for easy engagement, along with managers having to struggle with monitoring staff activities and performance in general. Most employees are now more than ever able to be spread more thinly across jurisdictions. However, the notion of being wider spread does not mean remote employees are impossible to engage with, it can be done! This guide provides practical tips on how to build and measure remote workforce engagement irrespective of how far widespread your employees may be per time.
• Invest in the Right Employee Engagement Tools
There are many communication tools out there like Microsoft Teams, Skype, Zoom, among others. According to the United States Chambers of Commerce, “You cannot do a first-class job with third class tools”. In a modern era with continuous advancement in technology, giving employees access to up-to-date tools is not an option. According to a study done by Deloitte, about 38% of employees are satisfied with the tools and technology their employer supplies them with. Clearly, there is a need to do more. It also does not have to break the bank, there are several cost-effective business suites that are as effective as the premium ones. The key is investing some time to compare their capabilities and ensuring you make the right choice.
• Provide Adequate Training
Asides from providing your employees with the right tools, it is equally important to provide adequate training on how these tools can be maximized. When most employees started working from home, employers had to engage with employees on how they can use the virtual communication platforms to communicate, make presentations and even attend live virtual training seminars. This might need to go on for a bit longer, and training for the use of virtual tools is a module that must go into every organisation’s induction plan as clearly, this is here to stay. Of course, there are also free resources by the developers on how to maximise the use of these tools, these should also be explored.
• Encourage Regular Check-ins
Infrequent check-ins such as weekly or monthly feedbacks will not cut it in light of employees working remotely. According to research, 89% of HR leaders believe that regular feedback is essential, stating that these evaluations serve as a remainder to employees that the work they do is valuable. The check-ins must be regular. This can be done in form of Daily Activity Meetings, knowledge sharing sessions, and so on. Employees with the rate of engagement are reminded that they are part of a professional community and are not on vacation, that engagement is vital to keeping up the right energy for motivation and improved performance.
Conclusion
Employee engagement is an essential element of company culture and provides long term benefits for both the employers and the employees as it helps to prevent high turnover. Remote employees often feel lonely and excluded because of their location outside the company building and thus find it difficult to maintain optimum delivery and feel like a part of the company culture.
If you need help designing and implementing an appropriate company culture, send an email to smeblock@cr8careers.com or
A lot has changed following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The most notable is the work from home trend. To control the spread of the virus, a lot of companies mandated their employees to work from home. This has brought about a lot of advantages in terms of cost as well as disadvantages, especially with regards remote workforce engagement. l
Remote workforce engagement has been a source of concern for many employers given that it is hard to pin employees in one location for easy engagement, along with managers having to struggle with monitoring staff activities and performance in general. Most employees are now more than ever able to be spread more thinly across jurisdictions. However, the notion of being wider spread does not mean remote employees are impossible to engage with, it can be done! This guide provides practical tips on how to build and measure remote workforce engagement irrespective of how far widespread your employees may be per time.
• Invest in the Right Employee Engagement Tools
There are many communication tools out there like Microsoft Teams, Skype, Zoom, among others. According to the United States Chambers of Commerce, “You cannot do a first-class job with third class tools”. In a modern era with continuous advancement in technology, giving employees access to up-to-date tools is not an option. According to a study done by Deloitte, about 38% of employees are satisfied with the tools and technology their employer supplies them with. Clearly, there is a need to do more. It also does not have to break the bank, there are several cost-effective business suites that are as effective as the premium ones. The key is investing some time to compare their capabilities and ensuring you make the right choice.
• Provide Adequate Training
Asides from providing your employees with the right tools, it is equally important to provide adequate training on how these tools can be maximized. When most employees started working from home, employers had to engage with employees on how they can use the virtual communication platforms to communicate, make presentations and even attend live virtual training seminars. This might need to go on for a bit longer, and training for the use of virtual tools is a module that must go into every organisation’s induction plan as clearly, this is here to stay. Of course, there are also free resources by the developers on how to maximise the use of these tools, these should also be explored.
• Encourage Regular Check-ins
Infrequent check-ins such as weekly or monthly feedbacks will not cut it in light of employees working remotely. According to research, 89% of HR leaders believe that regular feedback is essential, stating that these evaluations serve as a remainder to employees that the work they do is valuable. The check-ins must be regular. This can be done in form of Daily Activity Meetings, knowledge sharing sessions, and so on. Employees with the rate of engagement are reminded that they are part of a professional community and are not on vacation, that engagement is vital to keeping up the right energy for motivation and improved performance.
Conclusion
Employee engagement is an essential element of company culture and provides long term benefits for both the employers and the employees as it helps to prevent high turnover. Remote employees often feel lonely and excluded because of their location outside the company building and thus find it difficult to maintain optimum delivery and feel like a part of the company culture.
If you need help designing and implementing an appropriate company culture, send an email to smeblock@cr8careers.com
