How to Continue Through WFH With Renewed Vigor
In a traditional office-based format, employees are present and ideally accountable, both to supervisors and one another. They form work-related teams, and also friendships. They are more easily engaged in special projects aligned to corporate goals, personal development and wellness programs, and can participate in outside activities in the community.
When employees are scattered because many or all work remotely, however, accountability, cohesion, and engagement can decline. This presents an opportunity for employers and HR professionals to build creative and effective measures to keep the remote workforce engaged despite the physical separation.
Many employees are comfortable working online, using a range of technologies and transmitting their work product electronically. They’re increasingly more comfortable meeting virtually to plan, collaborate, monitor progress, and solve problems. Employers are wise to recognize that the same technologies that enable remote work also enable remote engagement, potentially improving performance, dedication, and job satisfaction.
Company-wide meetings, followed by documentation in collaboration portals, keep employees apprised of the “big picture” so that they still feel a part of a larger organization and know that their contributions, although being made in home offices or at kitchen tables, still matter. At those meetings, company leadership’s commitment to employee engagement can be demonstrated by encouraging participation in a host of programs designed to maintain involvement. Designing and implementing these programs will work best if a diverse and multi-discipline focus group works together to share ideas, implement programs, and act as Engagement Ambassadors. Not only does this benefit the success of the program, but allows employees opportunities to build leadership attributes and engage with a broader group within the organization.
Remote engagement programs may include:
- Candor Programs — Inviting employees to engage online, individually or in groups, with leadership and HR with solutions-focused sharing in ideas around how to improve processes or policies, or to overcome challenges. Responsive affirmation of candor, and then reports of improvements made or challenges overcome, demonstrate to employees that they are heard and that they can affect change.
- Process and Skills Training — For many employers, shifting to a remote workforce exposed gaps in processes or highlighted the needs for special training for employees not used to working outside of the traditional office environment. Employers and employees can communicate and collaborate to address issues of work design, resource allocation, and skills development. A “Let’s do this better” approach – which leads to tangible, positive change – can keep employees interested and alert for opportunities for improvement.
- Wellness and Work-Life Balance Programs — In traditional office environments, employees can leave work when she or he leaves the office. Working from home requires more intention around truly leaving the office behind. When not supported from the top down this can lead to stress and disruption for some employees who feel that they are never off-duty and have lost part of their private lives. When employees work remotely, it is just as important that they pay attention to the care of their mental and physical health. One approach may be to create a list of online and in-person activities in which employees can participate on their own or in their community, report their activities and results, enjoy feedback from coworkers, and even earn rewards. For example, program elements might include getting an annual physical, starting a regular exercise program, redecorating a home office, participating in a community outreach program, reading non-work-related books, learning to cook, or starting a garden.
- Company-sponsored Virtual Events — Whether company-wide or based on teams or specific geographic clusters, employees can be invited to participate in virtual social events. These might include celebrating holidays, such as an online Halloween party with a costume contest may be a hit. Other employees may enjoy learning a relaxing skill like mindfulness or meditation, while others are seeking to show off their trivia skills.
- Regular Check-in Meetings — The office breakroom or stopping by a coworker’s office are the traditional ways that colleagues use to keep up with what is going on with one another. With a remote workforce, online meeting technologies can become the new virtual “breakrooms.” Teams can have regular check-in meetings at which employees report on what is going on with them, whether in their workdays or personal lives. Within these online meetings, a supervisor might give a status report on company or team business, a volunteer might give a presentation on a work-related topic, and another might give a personal report (“this is my hobby” or “meet my new dog”).
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the foreseeable future, surveys show that nearly 50% of employees will continue to work remotely at least some of the time. The opportunity for employers and HR professionals is to ensure that employees know that being remote does not mean being isolated, and that the leadership team is committed to providing hybrid approaches to work and social engagement and encouraging diverse inclusion in the solutions.
Author: Jen Swensson
Jennifer serves as the Chief People Officer at deepwatch, where she brings over 15 years of experience advising and partnering with highly engaged global businesses and HR operations teams.