Tips to engage remote employees

Remote employee engagement pic

So you are a global organization proud of your great Talent pool and Talent Engagement strategies, but are you doing enough to engage your remote workforce?

With organizational setup turning global, remote workforce arrangements have become part and parcel of the work life. From office cubical, employees are moving to telecommuting style of work. While these remote employees work equally hard for the organization, they are often faced with inhibition of being forgotten and ignored. Years back when I got the opportunity to work as HR consultant for remote and onsite employees, I was skeptical to take the role because of the challenges involved in engaging the remote workforce but the experience proved rewarding.

Here are a few tips that I have understood and practiced over years to keep remote employees bonded and connected:

Effective On-boarding process A strong induction and on-boarding process helps establishing the first positive connection between employee and organization. In case of remote employees with no ongoing face to face interaction, a strong on-boarding process becomes even more important. A few tips of doing it are:

  • An interactive virtual on-boarding process is a great way of doing it.
  • Inviting the new hire to your main office for induction and orientation.
  • An HR SPOC travelling to the remote employee’s location, this works great for outsourced employee working at client location.

Robust communication system The new technological age provides multiple means to connect with remote employees through video conferencing, telephone meetings, and live internet chats etc. Utilize these methods to promote collaboration and engagement among employees. Arrange periodic telephonic and video conference meetings to bring all team members (inhouse and remote) together.

Sending a card, flower bouquet or personalized corporate gift on employee’s birthday or personal achievement seems affordable considering the significant benefits it brings to the organization.

Open Reward & Recognition Receiving a performance reward or incentive via private e-mail or post isn’t as valuable as an open announcement. Don’t forget to appreciate your remote employees for their contribution and hard work openly. Maintain a culture of sending daily, weekly, and monthly reminders to consider remote workers’ accomplishments and identify means for recognizing them.

Build trust and confidence Remote working setup leaves less opportunity for micromanagement but to build trust among remote employees its important let them take decision on their own. Giving them flexibility to choose their preferred time and method of doing the job promotes trust, satisfaction and confidence among remote employees.

Training Programs Establish training mandates for remote employees too. Implement interactive software mechanism for training these employees along with the in-house team if possible. Give them equal opportunity for training & development.

Periodic get together events Remote employees often complain that they are forgotten when it comes to team building activities and employee get together. Try conducting periodic meetings and get together events at employee’s work locations. We have been doing it for long now and it’s a great way to connect with employees, listen to their concerns and bring them together.

Remote workforce is an effective and innovative approach to deal with challenges and constraints faced by today’s work place. Since these employees are not always around, it becomes essential to implement more strategic ways to engage and involve them as it’s always the engaged and motivated workforce that drive an organization’s success .

meetuMeetu Khanduja is an HR professional with extensive experience of working with IT/ITES industry. She holds an MBA (HR) and PDG (Intellectual Property Rights) from Indian Law Institute, New Delhi. She has been working with Artech Infosystems as Outsourcing HR consultant with specific involvement in Employee Engagement & Retention, Talent Management and HR outsourcing functions. She enjoys volunteering for social and environmental causes. She shares her experience and views on HR on her blog atHRdictionary. Connect with her on LinkedInFacebook & on twitter at @hrdictionary

 

1 Comment

  1. Dipak Panchal says:

    Its very important to touch with & control on remote employee. They can understand their value in company by the use of your mention tips. Thanks madam.

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