How to Keep Remote Employees Engaged

Your employees are one of your largest investments and some of your most valuable assets. Keeping them satisfied with work can be a difficult task, one that can become more complicated when the option to work remotely comes in to play. So, how do you keep your remote employees engaged, happy and productive? Here are a few ways you can accomplish that goal.

Recognition

Remember when you used to play youth sports, and everyone got a participation trophy? In the business world, your employees don’t expect a participation trophy, but some type of reward or recognition system can go a long way.

In a typical office setting, you might get a pat on the back from your office colleague, but keep in mind that remote employees don’t have that! That’s when the responsibility falls on management to make sure that accomplishments, even the small ones, are recognized. You can build a community that keeps your employees happy by sending out simple recognition emails, using small e-gift cards for appreciation or calling out successes during video conferencing. The little things really do go a long way!

Goals

The success of any company is determined by the goals they set and the plans they put in place to achieve these goals. When it comes to employee engagement, it is important to identify your organizational goals before assigning individual goals. This helps every team member understand what their work means for not only their team, but the company as a whole.

Especially when working with remote employees, communicating goals is very important. Since “checking-in” may happen less often than it would for in-office employees, you want to be sure your remote employees have a clear path to success. Try making a checklist to achieve certain goals and using each step as an opportunity to touch base and reconnect.

Culture

Your company culture can also have a large impact on keeping employees engaged. Everyone wants to work somewhere with values and culture they can relate to! Whether they come into the office or not, make sure all employees get the perks of your culture. At Relationship One, over half of our employees are remote, check out these ways we include them in our culture.

Each new employee fly’s to our office in Minneapolis to meet their coworkers and learn the ins and outs of each team during their first week of employment. During this onboarding time they get a welcome lunch, all the R1 swag they can imagine, and  a group of friendly faces to get to know.

On top of that, Relationship One’s work-life balance is one of our biggest perks (plus working with amazingly smart people). Universal PTO and flexible weekly schedules allow every employee to focus on the important things in life, away from the desk. We believe this creates very productive happy employees!

Communication

Communication is key, especially when the majority of employees are working remotely. When that communication happens primarily through technology, it is important to keep a personal touch.

At Relationship One, we have a weekly company meeting where remote employees can keep in the loop with company happenings and office shenanigans. Additionally, we send out a monthly newsletter to recognize birthdays, work anniversaries, and out of the office happenings. This helps keep everyone up-to-date on things that may be a source of celebration in the office.

Recognizing employees, setting goals, focusing on culture and communicating are all ways you can keep remote employees engaged and productive at work. Each organization is different, and we would love to hear how else you do it! Do you have remote employees? How do you keep them engaged? We’d love to hear from you.

Feel free to drop any questions/comments for us below!