An issue many employers are grappling with at the moment is how to keep employees who are working remotely motivated and engaged.
We’ve gathered here some ideas that our clients and other companies are finding successful. But the old adage of one size doesn’t fit all is true here too, and one of the most effective ways to motivate and engage your workforce is to talk to them. Often, they’ll have suggestions which haven’t even occurred to you!
Recognise your employees’ achievements
There can be a lack of visibility of the great work your employees are doing when everyone isn’t located together, so calling this out in meetings or using your internal communication tools to do this ensures your employees get the recognition they deserve, and that colleagues are also aware. Making it easy for colleagues to recognise each other is also really helpful.
Make sure goals and expectations are clear
Remote employees have to self-motivate more, so having clear goals and expectations of performance will empower employees to do great work. Autonomy is really important to motivation so a shared understanding of what’s required, by when, and to an agreed standard allows employees to get on and work productively and effectively.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!
It’s easy for remote workers to end up feeling isolated, so keeping employees up to date with what’s going on in your organisation is really important to ensure they continue to be engaged with your strategy and goals. Regular two-way communication is also essential, so make opportunities for this on a one to one and group or team basis. Lots of employees have reported that they miss the coffee chats, and other informal communication that they had in an office environment, so try and make opportunities for this too.
Reward
Some great ideas we’ve seen be successful are giving employees a well-being allowance they can use on a monthly basis to send themselves or colleagues flowers, fruit or lovely teas and coffees, or even to put towards a take-away to reward themselves at the end of the week. What ideas will your employees come up with?