Most companies today rely on digital tools like email, group chats, calendar invites, and notifications to assign tasks and keep operations running smoothly. These tools save time and boost productivity by reducing interruptions in the office.
However, keeping remote employees truly engaged requires more than just the right tools—it demands tailored strategies for remote work. Managers need to adopt methods that ensure remote workers feel connected and motivated, even when working from home.
This article explains how to engage remote employees effectively, discussing the pros and cons of remote work and offering actionable insights to boost employee engagement.
Pros & cons of working remotely
Remote working comes with a series of pros & cons that must be considered before making the switch. In this section, we’ll briefly discuss some of the most important positive and negative aspects, but each company is different. As such, a thorough analysis of your work culture is more than recommended.
Pros
Happier employees
According to Owl Labs’ State of Remote Work report for 2019, full-time remote workers are happier than on-site employees. Even more, according to the same report, remote workers stay with their companies longer.
As such, the flexibility offered by working from home is extremely appreciated by employees. This leads to people who are more invested in the company’s future and who don’t feel the need to look around for something better.
Access to better talent
Right now, the workforce is going through a significant change. The older generations are retiring and millennials are taking over. As expected with most major changes, there are frictions between that stem from different perspectives on the workplace.
The generation that’s leaving considers the 9-to-5 work experience as the optimal work experience while millennials are happier with flexible hours and remote working. They are also more interested in companies that value their employees and proactively invest in their happiness.
As such, your company has better chances of impressing the young workforce if you are comfortable with working from home.
Opportunity for cost savings
Fewer people in the office means lower maintenance and energy costs for the company. It also could mean paying for a smaller office space or eliminating this expenditure completely.
A recent Global Workplace Analytics study says that a regular business can save around $11,000 per person, per year, by providing employees with remote work possibilities. So, it’s a win-win situation for employees and their employers.
Cons
Low productivity & motivation
On the other side, remote team members can suffer from a lack of motivation which leads to low productivity. However, this shouldn’t be taken as a failure of the work-from-home system. It’s a normal side effect of changing the work environment. In addition, the lack of motivation can be a bit more accentuated if the change happens too fast.
The situation can be solved by implementing various strategies to support remote workers (which we’ll discuss in the second part of this article).
Social isolation
Without daily office interactions, remote workers are more prone to being socially isolated. Of course, the situation is worsened by the social isolation rules associated with the pandemic. Still, we can use modern communication tools and strategies to help people create real connections (even if the interaction is mostly online).
Greater risk of security breaches
More people are using tools for remote work, the interest in online courses has increased, and internet and streaming services are on the rise (just to name a few of the effects).
But there’s also a dark side. Specialists warned businesses, organizations, and governments everywhere that we should expect a rise in cyber criminality. And, as predicted, the number of scams, phishing attacks, data breaches, and more has skyrocketed.
Cyber attackers use people’s need for information, anxiety, and a lack of cybersecurity knowledge against them. They are also attacking videoconference software and exploit any vulnerability in various software applications.
In this case, the best way of prevention is education. Your employees need to know the risks they expose themselves and the company when they don’t follow the in-place security protocol for remote workers. While these issues may have been highlighted during the pandemic, this is a general rule that applies at any time. Another important preventative measure is having several layers of security, such as adding a DMARC record to your domain.
How to engage remote employees (strategies that work)
Most companies have various strategies to keep employees motivated and energized when working on-site. But the situation changes when we’re talking about remote team members who don’t physically interact with each other or their managers.
Remote workers need a slightly different approach; one that includes some of the tools and strategies mentioned below.
1. Set the tone with the onboarding process
It can be more challenging to onboard remote employees, and employers need to make the extra effort to make the process smoother. Onboarding is less stressful and more engaging if employers do the following:
- Set up a dedicated space for onboarding.
- Make introductions to team members.
- Give a virtual tour. Assign a buddy.
- Make sure roles and responsibilities are clearly understood.
- Introduce employees to the resources and tools they need to use.
Employees should be able to access all the information they need in one place to hit the ground running. It can be as simple as an intranet page with links to relevant documents.
When working remotely, it is sometimes difficult for new employees to feel connected to a team when working remotely. It’s essential to take time to make introductions.
If the business has a physical office, new employees will feel more connected if they can have a virtual tour to see what it looks like. If there’s no physical office, they can have a virtual tour of the company’s website, intranet, and social media channels.
Assigning a virtual buddy to a new team member means someone already knows the ropes and can answer questions. This helps them to feel more comfortable in a new role and quickly get up to speed.
2. Promote open and regular communication
Let’s be honest. Remote work does not offer the ease of in-person communication. Employers need to work harder at promoting open and regular communication. They must encourage employees to reach out to teammates when they need advice.
Having the right communication tools and platforms in place can make a difference. For example, Slack allows employees to create different channels based on teams, projects, and interests. For hybrid teams, it is important to ensure the communication policy is remote-first. All meetings should be virtual meetings so remote employees don’t feel excluded.
While promoting open and regular communication, it is also important to promote cybersecurity awareness. Employees need to be educated about the basics, such as using strong passwords and password managers, installing updates, being aware of phishing, and much more.
3. Offer career development opportunities
Employees are more engaged when employers invest in their personal growth. Retaining top talent is easier when employers support the career goals of their employees. If employees feel stuck, their motivation may be lacking. Employers can prevent this from happening in various ways. They may decide to do the following:
- Offer upskilling opportunities.
- Give employees access to online training platforms.
- Organize internal mentorship programs.
- Offer job shadowing opportunities.
When employees develop new skills, they can take on new challenges. This is not only beneficial for the business but creates more loyalty in employees.
4. Implement meeting protocols
Video conferences can be difficult to master when working from home. That’s why each company should establish a videoconference meeting protocol. For each meeting, it should be clear who is initiating, who is leading, who should participate, and the acceptable dress code.
When holding a meeting that includes on-site and remote employees, make sure that everyone’s opinion and feedback is heard. In a face-to-face meeting, it’s easy to get carried on and forget about the ones on the screen. Other best practices to share for online meetings:
- Test the technology before the meeting. You don’t want to sit with an audio malfunction or slow internet.
- Factor in different time zones when scheduling meetings for remote teams.
- Let participants know whether it’s okay to turn the camera off.
- Set manageable time limits. It is good to use a remote work time tracker or assign an employee as a timekeeper and have someone keep meeting minutes.
- Maintain two-way conversation, or some employees will disengage. Maximum engagement will come via questions, discussions, role-playing games, etc.
- Record the meeting and share a recap.
5. Promote collaboration
The risk of working in silos is higher if the workforce is fully remote. This can cause disengagement and frustration. How can employers ensure that employees do not become isolated? They can promote collaboration in many different ways.
- Create teams for specific projects.
- Create sprints based on different skills needed to complete work.
- Implement a responsibility assignment framework. A RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed) chat is one of the tools managers can use to ensure clarity.
Virtual teams can collaborate just as effectively as in person if they have access to tools like Slack, Trello, Teams, Zoom, Dropbox, Asana, Skype, etc.
6. Offer career development opportunities
Employees are more engaged when employers invest in their personal growth. Retaining top talent is easier when employers support the career goals of their employees. If employees feel stuck, their motivation may be lacking. Employers can prevent this from happening in various ways. They may decide to do the following:
- Offer upskilling opportunities.
- Give employees access to online training platforms.
- Organize internal mentorship programs.
- Offer job shadowing opportunities.
When employees develop new skills, they can take on new challenges. This is not only beneficial for the business but creates more loyalty in employees.
Wrap up
Remote work is here to stay, and as more team members join this trend, engaging remote employees becomes essential. These strategies are crucial for any manager looking to boost employee engagement and create a cohesive remote team. With a bit of planning and a tool like the GoSkills LMS, your company can smoothly transition to remote work while keeping your team engaged and productive.
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