Three ways to engage a remote workforce

Not all your employees need to work in the office.

Today’s technology has loosened the reigns so people can work from just about any location.

Research has shown that incorporating remote staff into the mix can deliver unprecedented flexibility, staff retention and cost efficiency benefits for your business – all of which ultimately lead to better performance and profits.

However, this flexibility is not without its challenges.

If you are an employer who has team members working from home, a different State and especially a different time-zone, you need to think carefully about how you will engage with them.

How will you ensure that people accomplish their goals and maintain a strong brand identity and presence from a different postcode?

Many employers think that inclusion is enough to keep their remote employees satisfied. That sending teleconference invitations and cc’d emails will keep them motivated. But inclusion does not mean engagement.

In fact, a teleconference can serve to heighten the feeling of separation.

Between rustling paper and mumbling colleagues, your remote workers will spend more time trying to hear what’s being said rather than positively contributing to the discussion.

Instead, think about how you maintain a local presence. You meet colleagues, leaders, stakeholders and customers for face-to-face meetings and coffee catch-ups.

You bump into them at the water cooler and have a quick chat about the joint project you’re working on. Or maybe you pass them in the corridor and simply nod as you rush to your next meeting.

With all of this face-to-face connection, how can you help your employees build a presence from a completely different location?

Here are three simple ways to engage employees working remotely:

1. Coffee anyone?

Never underestimate the power of a meeting or connection over coffee. Just because they are in a different postcode should not exclude employees from a casual catch-up. Encourage the use of video-conferencing and set up a virtual coffee with key stakeholders, colleagues, managers and customers to check in. With 80 per cent of communication being non-verbal, video conferencing is the gold standard of engaging a remote workforce. Plus, by also investing the time and effort in a regular one-to-one catch-up, you are demonstrating your support and will likely find out any gripes and challenges they aren’t able to share with you in other forums.

2. The digital water cooler

Between time-zone differences, overflowing inboxes and as much as 80 per cent of the day spent in meetings, remote workers can struggle to get access to the information they need in a timely manner. In the face-to-face environment you have the opportunity to bump into critical people around the office, but remote workers don’t have this luxury. Invest in an instant messaging tool to help them drive quick responses with the people they need. If you already have instant messenger, encourage them to use it. A quick virtual chat for two minutes to say g’day and ask any burning questions is a great way to get quick responses without getting lost in the sea of unread emails.

3. Morning greetings

Even the most basic instant messaging tools have a chat function. Use it to drop your remote workers a line in the morning to say hello. It gives you an idea when they are ‘at their desk’. Think of it as walking past them in the office and having a casual morning chat.

By making these simple acts part of your daily connection with remote employees, your whole team and business will benefit from more engaged employees.

Melitta Hardenberg AIMM is extensively experienced in building an organization of ‘exceptional thinkers’ who make better decisions faster, are more engaged, and bring a healthy mind, body and attitude to work. Melitta is an experienced executive coach who has implemented strength-based development programs with clients in the banking & finance sector.