Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind: Improving Remote Employee Morale

Work from home

Remote employees has increased in speficic sectors where 5 years ago, business leaders never would have imagined it working.

Two positive findings emerged from the great work-from-home experiment: First, many employers discovered that their workforce was surprisingly productive in a remote work environment; and with working from home becoming a more common occurance across a number of sectors, sources report an increase in staff morale and employee engagement, while employees’ confidence that they can find another job has also increased.

Rise Of Remote Employees

Remote work happens when employees don’t report to a physical office. They still work their normal hours, but from home. For years, many companies resisted the idea of allowing employees to work from home but there are now leaders monitoring remote employees to improve communication and to keep track of distributed teams and their productivity.

Constant Sharing

Sharing the highs and lows every single week aims to reinforce the bonds and the good things that are occurring within the organization. While you may think that getting gifts for employees and providing them with perks is a great way to keep morale up in a little way, it’s more important to remember that the big picture is pivotal to everyone. This is why that combination of communication, while also reinforcing that big picture thinking, is going to help employees recognize the direction the business is going. 

Holding All Team Staff Meetings

For all employees to communicate their thoughts and feel connected you have to bring everybody together. It’s not always feasible, but providing the forum at least once a month allows others to air any concerns they may have. It is beneficial to have everybody meet up on a regular basis for morale, but it also helps to strengthen the notions of collaboration and communication. 

Ask Workers What They Need

Remote employees can feel remote in more ways than you think. We cannot possibly know what everybody needs at any one time. One of the simplest ways to improve morale and engagement is to ask what they need to improve their engagement. But of course, the crux of this is following through with the aim to solve these issues. You need to go for the lists of things with everybody and follow up.

Create Opportunities for New Leaders

Employees want to progress, and if they choose to work remotely while others opt to return to the office full-time, remote employees can feel segregated and overlooked in many ways. Many people are now reflecting on their career goals and it’s important for you to create opportunities for new leaders to come through the woodwork. You can do this by implementing more opportunities for mentorship, resources for education, and reiterate the importance of personal values and how this can inspire.

Incorporate Flexibility as Part of the Culture

Everybody has adapted to the scenario differently, and where possible, everybody needs extra time for adjusting to the different challenges. Remote workers can seem to have it easier on the surface because they do not need to commute, but it’s important to remember that for many people, remote working has become a necessity because of childcare, and other essentials. Flexibility can consist of more time off work, and extra time on certain projects.

Working from home and office to keep a business going is imperative, and it is their prerogative to have a choice, we can’t help but think that certain remote workers will feel left out. Hybrid working is a way to adapt to this new normal, but what does it take to increase that idea of morale? 

In terms of morale, it is a very swift combination of flexibility and opportunity.