Ranjit used to be your team’s star performer.
Like most of his colleagues, he enthusiastically embraced the new hybrid working model and only visits the office twice a week. He appears to be just as productive as ever (so far), but you’ve noticed some worrying signs of withdrawal. Perhaps it’s your imagination, but Ranjit seems quieter in meetings, both in-person and online. He also appears to have lost his appetite for new challenges and responsibilities.
Clearly, Ranjit is becoming disengaged and you suspect that he isn’t the only one. But before you do anything rash like bringing everyone back to the office full-time, it’s worth trying out some proven ways to increase engagement in a remote or hybrid environment.
From lower productivity to higher attrition, the costs of employee disengagement are very real. The most recent comprehensive survey on the topic (Gallup, 2022) found that disengagement costs the world $7.8 trillion in lost productivity. The good news is that companies can turn great engagement into a competitive advantage, with highly engaged organisations reporting 23% higher profitability, 14% to 18% higher productivity and 18% to 43% lower turnover.
Why is remote engagement more challenging?
Despite a US$13 billion collaborative software market, there’s no denying that remote workers can feel isolated even when they are more connected through technology. Remote work can impact a worker’s sense of belonging, make it harder to forge personal connections and make them feel unseen and unvalued.
Everyday organic conversations in a face-to-face environment, such as asking someone for their opinion or thanking an employee for their help, will not happen without a concerted effort when working remotely.
Below, we explore three ways to nip productivity and retention issues in the bud by building employee engagement in a hybrid environment.
1. Digitise reward and recognition
Employees need reassurance that they are valued and that their efforts are appreciated. While it’s easy to show appreciation for workers in an office environment – a quick thank you to the person at the next desk or a public acknowledgement in front of the team – recognition can take a little more planning when working remotely.
Here are some ways to scale up reward and recognition to ensure no one is left feeling undervalued.
- Set aside time for reward and recognition: A few minutes at the start of virtual meetings to recognise great effort will go a long way. Be genuine in your praise; don’t fall into the trap of simply reeling off a list of names and completed tasks.
- Consider a rewards system: Motivate and incentivise employees with a points-based rewards platform. Rewards could range from extra time off to earning items from a rewards catalogue.
- Send digital shout-outs: The most basic form of a digital shout-out is an email or group message, but there are plenty of visually attractive and fun recognition solutions on the market to explore.
- Encourage a culture of recognition: Shout-outs shouldn’t just come from the top. Encourage employees to recognise and celebrate each other’s great work.
The danger to avoid, predictably, is that office-based employees reap more rewards and recognition while remote workers feel their work is going unnoticed.
2. Create space for remote social interactions
Never underestimate the importance of the many social interactions that take place every day at the office. Whether it’s a brief chat in the corridor, sharing a funny video or popping out for a coffee with a colleague, social interactions and friendship at work have a major impact on engagement, belonging and happiness. Closer relationships also boost productivity through better communication and collaboration.
But what about remote workers? In the quest for efficiency and productivity, companies provide remote employees with the tools they need to get work done but may fail to create an online space for social interaction. Even if collaboration tools exist, some managers will discourage any non-work-related posts. Virtual meetings are run as efficiently as possible with the host getting straight down to business without any sort of preamble.
Remote workers with little chance for social interaction can be left feeling isolated, lonely and (you guessed it) disengaged. Worse, the feeling that office-based workers are enjoying preferential treatment can breed resentment. But there are plenty of ways to boost social interactions in a remote environment. Here are just a few:
- Create social channels on collaboration platforms for fun conversations such as sharing videos and memes. A space to be silly and human is a great way to release some pressure and develop richer relationships. It’s a good idea to keep these separate so your main work channel doesn’t become cluttered.
- Make time at the start of meetings for general chitchat, just as would take place before a face-to-face meeting.
- Encourage connections. Remote workers can fall into the habit of interacting only with their immediate teams and have little to do with anyone who isn’t a direct stakeholder. Encourage connections by setting up a speed-dating-style series of virtual coffee meetings.
- Consider having the whole team gather on certain days or occasions to ensure everyone gets a chance to meet face-to-face.
- Get creative with online team-building exercises such as virtual escape rooms or a virtual happy hour.
If you operate in a hybrid environment, don’t make the mistake of cramming social engagement activities into office-based days only.
3. Don’t micromanage remote employees
The rise of micromanagement software can create a stressful situation where remote employees feel distrusted and disempowered. The knowledge that every keystroke and communication is tracked can make workers hesitate to engage in social interaction with their colleagues, leading to a feeling of isolation and disengagement.
Micromanagement impedes innovation and damages employees’ productivity and mental health, causing people to internalise their manager’s distrust and doubt their abilities. Confident workers can become angry and frustrated at the obsessive focus on minor details and may become withdrawn and disengaged to the point where they begin the search for a new job.
A better approach is to focus on outcomes over output and build a culture of trust. Step back, empower workers to make their own decisions and offer support and advice where needed.
Create an easy-to-understand set of rules that give employees the space and autonomy they need to deliver great results.
4. Measure employee engagement, remote or otherwise
If you are a large company, it may be a good idea to implement some sort of formal process to track and measure employee engagement. This process needs to have a clear objective and be carried out regularly. Generally speaking, there are three types of surveys that are used to gather useful insights on hybrid and remote worker engagement:
Employee Net Promoter Scores, or eNPS, are short surveys that investigate a simple, single question: ‘On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or colleague?’ It can be a good dipstick-style measure of how your team feels about working at your organisation.
Pulse surveys are regular, quick surveys, typically done quarterly. These are useful to collect feedback from employees about specific details around remote work, particular projects or activities.
360 surveys are more in-depth, where employees receive confidential, anonymous feedback from their peers. These are a powerful tool for companies with hybrid workers, since it addresses the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ problem many remote workers may face.
The biggest advantage is how these scores help senior leaders get a more objective picture of their hybrid teams, and tracked over time, can reveal blindspots or areas to invest in.
Reaping the benefits of a highly engaged team
Getting engagement wrong can lead to major business impacts including higher turnover and associated recruitment costs, plummeting productivity and a negative team culture. But getting it right will lead to happier employees, reduced absenteeism, higher productivity, increased wellbeing, lower turnover and better customer satisfaction.
