While some companies eagerly eye a return to the office, others are considering keeping their employees remote—at least some of the time. Remote work saves employees time, saves companies money and the last year has shown it can be an effective option for anyone who doesn't have to work face to face with customers.
However, this has been a difficult transition for everyone, and many businesses are still facing challenges maintaining employee engagement and properly leading remote teams. The largest obstacle is a reduction in ready communication between employees and supervisors, which often hinders the sense of connectedness that helped your business thrive.
So, how can you boost employee engagement while your employees are still working at home, and into the future?
Focus on Employee Wellbeing
This last year has been incredibly stressful for everyone, and while some people are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, others might be suffering worse. Re-entry anxiety has been identified as an issue for many people, often taking the form of increased social anxiety, uneasiness about previously normal social interactions, continued fear of infection, or a combination of these. Keeping everyone at home reduces this in relation to work, but not necessarily in other parts of your employees' lives. Many people are starting to socialize with trusted friends at their homes and hesitantly consider going out to dinner, even if only in outdoor spaces. Most have some kind of family or life event that has a delayed celebration, which is one reason why travel is up.
Mental health has been a major issue through this time, with an increase in therapy visits. You can use incentive programs to encourage your workers to engage in wellness activities, such as cooking or exercising. Encouraging employees to communicate these activities helps build work relationships and a culture that promotes healthfulness. It creates an environment where employees can support each other through ongoing stress. Improved relationships at work also improve engagement in and of themselves. When people look forward to talking to their coworkers, they are more likely to pay attention.
Hold Virtual Hangouts
Virtual hangouts have kept many of us sane. That does not mean more meetings, but rather presents opportunities to discuss anything but work. Virtual happy hours may not be a perfect replacement for the physical equivalent, but they certainly help with building relationships and reducing stress. Some employees may find them preferable, especially as there is less pressure to consume alcohol.
Virtual lunches may be even better as they encourage employees to take a break in the middle of the day and decompress. When your workforce is scattered across different sites, virtual hangouts will remain the best way to reduce stress and, again, increase personal connections. Research has shown that a strong friendship at work increases engagement and reduces absenteeism. Also, invite the pets. Even the virtual presence of furry animals can reduce stress and improve mood. Allow and encourage cute virtual backgrounds and screen sharing of things people have seen.
If virtual lunches and happy hours aren't what your team goes for, then poll them to find out what they would be interested in. Online board, card, or video gaming? Photo exchanges? You may have to think outside the box. Be careful, however, to avoid turning this into "mandatory fun," which nobody particularly enjoys. Make sure all social meetings are voluntary, so that employees can opt-out if they’re not up to it on any given day. If you have an employee who is uninterested or not engaged in virtual hangouts, you can also quietly ask them why. It might be that they don't care for the offered activities, or they might just be an introvert who finds them the exact opposite of engaging. To avoid Zoom drain, try not to schedule hangouts right after meetings, or on days when people are heavily scheduled with meetings and calls.
Finally, consider a virtual hangout to celebrate company milestones or to help everyone decompress after a tough deadline.
Help Employees Feel Appreciated
It's important in all work situations to make sure that your employees feel appreciated, but remote work can make it more of a challenge—which is where your HR team comes in. It's vital that they establish and encourage channels to foster positive communication. Continuous feedback is better than periodic reviews and that feedback needs to include praise and positivity, not just telling people what they’re doing wrong. Nobody likes being told bad news, and when that’s all they hear, it lowers morale.
Make sure to acknowledge employee birthdays with gifts, virtual gift cards, or at least with cards. However, make sure that you aren't coming over as ticking a box. Choose gifts they will appreciate, leveraging those who work closely with them if you aren't sure what to get, and include thank you in the note or card. A good employee recognition program can also help, and rewards might include gifts or an extra day of vacation time. This tells your people that you value them. You can also encourage recognition between peers. Thank you emails go a long way, although you should not be expecting employees to give each other gifts. However, if everyone has the habit of saying thank you, then it becomes part of community culture and people will do it as reflex.
Finally, this also helps develop channels of communication that help avoid misunderstandings and bad feelings. Your HR department should be focused on fostering that type of positive environment. Helping your employees feel wanted and appreciated is challenging enough at the best of times, but even more so when working remote and you can't resort to simple tricks like Friday donuts. Having a remote team, even temporarily, makes it more challenging to create a positive culture, but the endeavor is more than worth it. After all, it can take a lot of time and effort to get to know your employees and what they respond to best. Outsourcing mundane administrative tasks can free up your HR team (and owner) to focus on these much more important things.
