Working from home has been on the rise for many years. However, the pace has been accelerated significantly since Covid became such a large part of our lives. Now, many organizations are weighing whether or not employees will return to the office at all. This means that we must place more importance on how we engage remote employees.
Engaging employees was already difficult when they were all in one location at the same time. However, many of the same techniques can be applied, they just need to look a little different in our virtual world considering how differently people are working.
Below are some components you can consider using in your engagement strategy.
1. Communicate the Expectations
Working from home is a change. As such, certain principles of change management should be applied. Communicate to your employees so they have a clear understanding of how the transition will work, what is expected of them, and how they can have their questions answered. Create job aids or online training for any new technology that will be required. Additionally, it is best to create a formal policy that will be delivered by leadership that clearly spells out how everything will work.
2. Engage Managers
As working from home is a change, so is managing from home. Managing employees who are out of sight can be quite challenging. Create a training program so that managers do not have to figure it out on their own.
3. Move the Water Cooler Online
Many employees connect with other employees through small talk around the water cooler or coffee machine. They talk about current events, sports teams, or of course the weather. Use your messaging chat software to bring these conversations online to keep the banter going.
4. Don’t Lose Sight of Your Employee Culture and Values
Leadership likely spent quite a bit of time and effort determining the appropriate culture and values for the organization. Those values do not change just because people are working remotely. Emphasize this to employees. You can consider the move to remote working a test for your culture, be sure it does not fade.
5. Host Knowledge Sessions
Have each member of your team pick a topic for which they will host a knowledge session. It can be anything from a personal area of expertise to an update on a project. It is important that the host be knowledgeable in the subject matter and that the attendees can gain something from the experience. Be sure to leave time for discussion and open dialogue.
6. Get Leadership Involved
As with all organizational changes, it is important that leadership is visible when engaging remote employees. Leaders should have regularly scheduled virtual sessions to keep employees informed of the plan moving forward. Leaders can also get involved in the more informal sessions, such as sharing knowledge on a particular topic.
7. Encourage Employees to Have Their Own Meetings
This is another example of how not everything needs to come from the top of the organization. Employees should have the autonomy to come up with their own ideas on how to connect with each other. When engagement sessions are a success, they can be used in other parts of the organization.
8. Virtual Employee Recognition Events
Employees want to be recognized for their hard work. Create “Recognition Events” where employees are publicly celebrated for a job well done. Not only will those employees feel rejuvenated, but it will cross over to other employees and encourage them to work diligently. These “Recognition Event” can go a long way in motivating employees and fostering loyalty to the organization.
Conclusion
Your culture was built to facilitate success for the organization. The need for success does not stop because people are working from home. Continue to make engagement a priority for your organization. The activities might look different, but they can result the same lasting benefits.
Need help with your project? Change Adaptive connects you with engagement experts.
