Remote work has become the revolutionary workplace shift that organizations never knew was possible. Although this setup produced increased productivity levels, this may not directly translate to increased employee engagement. At GuideSpark, we understand how crucial this aspect is to your organizational success, so we gathered employee engagement strategies that will help you foster understanding, harmony, and performance between employees and management.
Why Does Your Organization Need Employee Engagement Strategies?
Engaged employees go the extra mile. They are invested in your organization’s success, are more passionate about their work, and are happier in their relationships with their immediate supervisors and managers.
Fundamentally, employee engagement creates a culture of success, a less-stressed environment, and long-term rapport between management and employees. With an effective strategy in place, employee performance management is made easier and can vastly improve the employee experience.
The implementation of strategies for increased employee engagement results in the following:
- Reduced employee turnover
- Improved employee performance
- Increased organization productivity
- A more stress-free environment
- Open doors for direct and active communications
Employee Engagement Strategies through Better Employee Experience
Although office-based culture and environment cannot be fully replicated in a remote setup, there’s no harm in trying to recreate the systems. Employee experience accounts for a person’s thoughts, feelings, perspectives, and actions throughout employment.
Because of the pandemic and the likelihood of organizations adopting a remote working setup, it is now crucial for organizations to integrate employee engagement strategies to provide a better employee experience.
Here’s how you can do it.
1. Build a Specific and Actionable Campaign Strategy
Whether you’re looking to outsource some administrative tasks or add a new person to the team, a well-written campaign strategy will allow individuals to assess the goals, the plans, and the “bigger picture” of what it’s like to be a part of your organization.
For example, an individual who prioritizes creative openness in an organization may not thrive in a system where processes are of top priority. A campaign strategy also helps organizations establish communication paths that allow employees to hear and be heard.
GuideSpark will help you create a customized employee experience no matter where in the world your employees operate! With our translation services, we make understanding benefit programs and company priorities easy in 20 languages.
2. Make Onboarding Processes Fun and Dynamic
Shifting from an office set up to a remote one can be overwhelming. But, this doesn’t mean that creating a dynamic, effective onboarding process isn’t possible.
Aside from a solid campaign strategy, an effective hiring strategy that integrates a memorable and fun onboarding experience will make new employees enjoy their first few days in the organization.
An interactive, fun, engaging hiring strategy will allow an employee to establish a connection not only with the rest of the employees, but to the managers, supervisors, and organization as a whole.
3. Set Employees Up for Various “Out-of-Work” Activities
One employee engagement strategy that most organizations don’t consider is setting up their employees with various activities that nurture their character and hobbies.
Despite the distance, employees may find some common ground in movies, TV shows, online games, arts and crafts, and other activities. Organizations can set up a time and an avenue for employees to connect around their shared interests.
With this strategy, you can increase employee engagement and encourage employees to build relationships that may result in positive team communication.
Employee Engagement Strategies through HR Initiatives
Aside from crafting a solid campaign and making onboarding memorable and fun, the HR department may resort to initiatives such as the company’s performance management process, rewards and recognition system, competitive compensation plans, and more to actively seek employee engagement.
Recognizing employees’ contributions and successes reinforces their sense of belonging and accountability to the organization. Many companies fall short on these initiatives, but with the right approach, you can reach your workforce in a supportive and encouraging way.
1. Establish a Budget for Benefits Enrollment
It’s not only attractive compensation that makes an employee stay. It’s the combination of culture, an avenue for growth, and benefits at work that increases an employee’s tenure.
Regardless of how your workforce is dispersed, you can ensure they have access to benefits that fit their needs best. And, you can encourage enrollment into certain plans with monetary incentives – like a company contribution into a Health Savings Account (HSA) for enrolling in a high deductible plan, or a per-paycheck stipend for waiving benefits coverage in favor of a spouse’s plan.
2. Send Tokens to Remote Employees
One part of keeping your employees engaged in the organization is by actually knowing them beyond what they list on their resumes. For example, a remote employee who’s celebrating their birthday this month may be sent a bouquet of flowers. Or, an employee who’s a sports buff may be given some tickets to a local game.
An organization can be creative and go all-out with these recognition and rewards initiatives. After all, if an employee goes above and beyond with their respective performance, they deserve a token reminder that they – and their work – are greatly appreciated.
3. Tailor Specific Benefits to Employees
Engagement starts with effective communication in the workplace. For employees to actively engage, they also need to be heard and given the opportunity to provide feedback. In this scenario, even managers may have a hard time navigating through the remote setup.
Supporting each employee may vary depending on what concerns they may raise during a one-on-one dialogue. For example, supporting a remote employee who is concerned with the cost of expensive internet plans will look different than supporting a manager who is navigating through a difficult compensation cycle.
In these scenarios, the first employee may need financial aid or a service stipend, while the manager needs to be connected with the right resources. Such help is already a massive step towards empowering each employee to do their best.
Employee Engagement Strategies through Diverse and Effective Communication Processes
Effective communication in the workplace doesn’t happen in just one sitting. And in the height of this pandemic, communicating with offsite employees can feel like too much work or, at times, forced.
However, communication should always be present and integrated despite the distance from one employee to another. After all, effective communication aligns performance, builds rapport, and increases employee engagement.
1. Use Custom and Integrated Communications Software
Finding a communications software that fits an organization’s processes and culture is overwhelming. With a variety of software and applications available, it is hard to pick which one is suitable for everyone’s use.
GuideSpark prides itself on providing communication experiences that are direct, engaging, and tailored to the organization. What’s more, GuideSpark supports HR initiatives spanning onboarding experiences, one-on-one calls, team meetings, and more.
2. Schedule Check-up Calls and Meetings
Let’s face it: some employees dislike the thought of having to attend meetings (especially when an email can do) because they don’t believe it is an efficient way of utilizing their time.
However, check-up calls and meetings are critical for establishing connectivity. Connectivity is a prerequisite for keeping everyone aligned with their tasks, priorities, and goals.
Aside from team meetings, one-on-one check-ups can also be conducted for managers and employees to touch base regarding the status of their tasks. This is a great avenue for employees to voice their concerns or raise a particular issue privately.
3. Support Virtual Face-to-Face Interactions
One way of keeping employees engaged is to have them interact face-to-face through virtual means. Seeing a friendly face reminds employees that they are not traversing their workplace journey alone.
While some of these employee engagement strategies may seem overwhelming to implement, an organization can take one step at a time to maximize results. Without employee engagement, an organization ceases to be a unit that thrives in diversity and works together towards success.
