7 Employee Engagement Strategies for a Distributed Workforce

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Keep your workforce engaged, productive and happy with 7 employee engagement strategies for a distributed workforce.

After the pandemic, working remotely has become a widely accepted business model across multiple industries. Nowadays, many organizations have employees working from various locations around the globe in a distributed workforce. 

The change in the operational framework has benefited both employees and employers. For example, a study by Buffer found that workers favor remote work for its flexible nature, particularly the ability to control their schedules and decide on their location. 

On the other hand, companies saw a decrease in operating expenses, thanks to this method. 27% of employers have also noted increased company productivity when employees work remotely. Therefore, it is a win-win for everyone. 

If you have a distributed workforce or are thinking about it for the advantages it offers, it’s important to understand how to keep your employees engaged. Today’s blog will discuss the significance of adopting employee engagement strategies and provide practical methods to engage your employees and achieve optimal results. 

Importance of Employee Engagement in a Distributed Workforce

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Employee engagement is the degree to which employees in your team structure engage, feel appreciated, and are committed to their organization. 

Encouraging employee engagement is no longer an optional activity. It has become a critical component to ensure business success, especially in remote work scenarios. If you are wondering why, here are a few reasons. 

• Enhanced Work Productivity

Engaged employees display increased motivation, which leads to greater productivity. When employees are engaged and happy, they are inclined to exceed expectations and deliver outstanding results. Statistics reveal that highly engaged employees are 17% more productive than those who are not. 

• Employee Wellbeing

A remote work engagement can often lead to disconnect or isolation from the organization. Implementing employee engagement strategies can help to navigate these challenges by encouraging social interactions, offering support systems, and promoting overall employee well-being. 

• Easy Talent Retention

Remote employees in a distributed workforce who are engaged and valued by their company are less likely to seek job opportunities elsewhere. Statistics suggest that such employees are 87% less likely to quit their jobs. This can assist companies in avoiding expenses related to employee turnover. 

• Improves Collaboration

Effective communication and collaboration are key to successful virtual team building. Robust employee engagement ensures clear and transparent communication between teams, resulting in improved collaboration and knowledge sharing. 

Employee Engagement Strategies for Distributed Workforce

Now, let’s discuss some easy and effective practices for fostering a connected and thriving distributed workforce. 

1. Establish a Positive Working Environment

A positive and nurturing work environment is essential for remote employee engagement. Here are a few tactics for building a favorable work environment:

• Set clear expectations: Establishing clear expectations leads to improved employee performance as they understand what is required of them. Precisely outline the duties and job functions of each employee. Furthermore, establish clear communication protocols, response times, work hours, etc. to reduce confusion and promote guidance. 
• Encourage transparent communication: Inspire your remote staff to engage in frequent team interactions. Offer them chances to express their views and ideas to ensure they feel listened to and appreciated.
• Promote a healthy work-life balance: Remote work can often mix personal and professional life, potentially causing burnout. Motivate your team to establish limits and prioritize self-care by sticking to designated work schedules. 

2. Streamline Remote Onboarding

An effective onboarding process sets the employees of your distributed workforce for success from day 1. Ensure to make onboarding fun and memorable. Here are some practices to keep in mind:

• Use virtual interactive tours and personalized welcome messages to get started.
• Schedule virtual meet-and-greet sessions with key team members for a quick first interaction.
• Use a cloud-based VoIP phone service to enable your remote team to easily communicate over voice, chat, and video. 
• Assign every new employee a mentor to guide them through the onboarding process so they don’t feel lost
• Set up an online resource library of assets that new employees can access, from databases to product videos
• Send a nice and personalized welcome gift through print on demand, like an embroidered logo shirt, branded water bottles, notebooks, or wireless chargers, to make them feel part of the team right away.. 

You can use intelligent onboarding tools to create a seamless onboarding experience for new hires. 

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3. Provide Essential Tools to Boost Productivity and Efficiency

Providing the necessary technology and software ensures your team remains connected, organized, and effective, and it’s an important part of the 7 employee engagement strategies for a distributed workforce.

For example, project management platforms like Asana or Trello help remote employees organize tasks, set deadlines, and track progress, ensuring efficient workload management and alignment with team goals. In addition, CRMs like HubSpot or SalesForce allow for better cross-departmental communication and collaboration among everyone in sales and marketing, from appointment setters to CMOs. 

VoIP service systems like Nextiva can assist with answering FAQs through automated responses, reducing call agents’ workload and routing calls to the appropriate departments for efficient query handling.

Cloud storage solutions such as Google Drive or Dropbox allow easy and secure file storage and sharing. Remote employees can access important documents and resources from anywhere, ensuring efficient work. Team members can collaborate on shared documents in real-time, making edits and updates seamlessly, which enhances teamwork and ensures access to the latest information.

By integrating these tools, you create an environment where remote employees are empowered to work efficiently and productively, contributing to the overall success of your distributed workforce.

4. Organize Virtual Social Events

This is an excellent strategy to boost remote work engagement. Hosting virtual events is a great way to offer intentional opportunities for every remote worker to connect with the team.

Here are some social and team-building events you can organize:

• Virtual Coffee Breaks: A casual video conference where employees can chit-chat over coffee and discuss non-work-related things. 
• Show-and-Tell Events: Informal events where employees share something interesting- let’s say a new gadget, a fascinating story, their treasured item, or even an impressive talent that they never had the opportunity to display. 
• Workshops: Organize fun and interactive online sessions your employees may enjoy, such as virtual cooking or cocktail-making workshops.
• Team Challenges: Plan collaborative competitions or challenges that involve teamwork, like virtual escape rooms or trivia events. 

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Ensure that you plan your social events carefully. Normally, during virtual social events, the more talkative individuals continue talking while the quieter ones remain silent. This goes against the idea of remote socializing. Promote active involvement and feedback from all employees for better results. 

Microsoft, for instance, organized a 90-minute virtual talent show with several fantastic performances of comedians, dancers, singers, and magicians. The event offered a great opportunity for the entire Microsoft team to connect and enjoy a pleasant evening.

5. Offer Special Perks and Benefits

Remote employees face unique work challenges such as increased feelings of isolation or difficulty in maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Offer additional benefits to these employees to boost hybrid workforce engagement. Here are some ideas:

• Offer specific plans for healthcare coverage
• Offer generous paid time off
• Give free online subscriptions for streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+
• Provide access to online fitness programs
• Offer allowances for groceries or special discount vouchers for restaurants

Remember, these are just ideas. Discuss with your accounts team to understand what you can genuinely afford. 

6. Launch Employee Recognition Programs

With a distributed workforce, employee accomplishments may easily go unnoticed. Recognizing and appreciating the efforts of your remote employees is essential to keep them satisfied and motivated. 

Here are some ideas for this:

• Highlight an employee’s accomplishments in company-wide emails or internal communication apps to boost their morale.
• Giveaway gift cards or bonuses remotely
• Celebrate each employee milestone, such as birthdays and work anniversaries with tokens of appreciation.
• Host virtual employee appreciation events.

Here is a great example by Starbucks. The brand posted on Instagram celebrating its employee’s significant milestones, such as completing a degree. 

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7. Seek Your Employee’s Feedback

Communication is a two-way process. Asking remote employees for their feedback is a crucial strategy to make them feel valued and engaged. 

You can use employee engagement surveys to seek feedback on:

• Improving existing processes
• Thoughts on company culture
• Views about current management
• Issues faced on an ongoing project

Once you have gathered their feedback, make sure to act on it. 

Conclusion

The work landscape is always changing. The 7 employee engagement strategies for a distributed workforce mentioned above can enhance the experience of your employees, leading to a productive remote work setting.