With working remote being the new normal for the past few weeks, it’s important to keep your employees engaged. Employee engagement is crucial to not only the success of your business, but it’s equally essential for your employees as well. Engaged employees are happier and more productive than their non-engaged peers. Promoting remote employee engagement starts with leadership. We’re sharing three ways to leverage these to promote remote employee engagement.

Start with Clear Expectations

Employees who know what’s expected of them are far more engaged and effective than those who lack a clear direction. With the team outside of the traditional workplace, your remote team is one-step removed from their normal expectations and will need leadership to fill this gap. Remote employees need to work with their managers to set goals, know their expectations, and be accountable for the work they complete.

This can be achieved through regularly scheduled check-ins, daily calls, or a time to meet with their manager 1:1. Another tool for engagement success is giving your team collaboration tools. This helps create a culture of accountability by providing a cross-team view of how workers are tracking against goals.

Keep Things Predictable

Keeping a predictable cadence of communication and deadlines is crucial for keeping your remote employees engaged and effective. This cadence holds your team accountable and ensures your organization remains on the same page on various projects while physically separated from each other.

Here at EG, we’ve been using this practice even before the mass move to remote working. We start each morning with team huddles to go over top priorities the team has for that day, and weekly, we have an all-company huddle to go over our company priorities and numbers. This transparency helps our team know exactly what’s going on and leads to more effective and productive staff.

Find Ways to Have Fun & Stay Connected

With a team that’s accustomed to working together, staying connected, and having a little fun is still an essential part of keeping your remote employees engaged. When communicating, try to always use video. When you can see people’s faces and communicate “face-to-face,” your team will be more connected than if you did the majority of your communication over the phone.

It’s also important to have a little fun to maintain company culture; plus, we all need to laugh during these challenging times. We’re practicing this by holding virtual happy hours, dressing up during some of our morning huddles, and using a team recognition software called Bonusly.

Keeping remote employees engaged means changing some traditional business practices and operations. These changes will accommodate the new normal while people continue adjusting to remote working and will lead to more effective and productive employees.

About EG Workforce Solutions

We’ve been in this business for decades and have developed a deep network of professional connections. Whether they’re companies looking for talent, job seekers looking for work, or an up-and-coming store in need of some temporary help, we know the right people to bridge the gap between the hiring and the hired.

But what’s more, we get to know people. From employers hiring to candidates looking, we take the time to listen and learn. We hear your likes, talents, and needs. We gain an understanding, and with it, we’re able to facilitate lasting relationships between businesses and people.