It’s easy to feel distant from remote employees when you don’t see them in person. To truly increase employee engagement and culture, HR must take steps to bridge the gap and include all employees, not just those who sit in a chair in your office. As working remotely becomes more common, you’ll likely have teammates who permanently live in another state. This creates unique challenges for HR, but when you utilize the tools you already have in place and the features of iSolved, inclusion feels natural. Here are four tips to increase engagement with remote employees.
Use tech to unite
If you have remote workers, you probably already have software to communicate with them. If you use Zoom or an online meeting software, give your employees the opportunity for a digital coffee break to get to know the coworkers they only see on the screen. You can implement coffee breaks within your office and extend the offer to remote workers by giving them a gift card and encouraging digital coffee meet-ups. A few 10-minute calls can drastically improve communication between your in-house and remote teams and increase inclusion and engagement.
Include everyone in the little moments
Without the camaraderie of break room conversation, remote employees can feel left out. When your office starts debating things like whether anyone actually likes candy corn, create a quick poll on Slack like: “Is candy corn yummy or terrible?” (See how to create a Slack poll here.) Don’t let meetings be the only time you hear from your remote team – getting everyone involved in light office conversations can help your team feel united.
Get to know your employees’ “Christmas Wish List”
Finding the gift that’s exactly what dad wanted can be a challenge, but the thought counts for miles. In the same way, knowing your employees’ favorites is a valuable tool to HR. This doesn’t involve guesswork like fishing your dad for hints. iSolved gives you the tools to gather this information before they start their first day. When a new employee is onboarded, you can ask them to fill out their favorites for things like: restaurant, candy, store, team, college, charity, clothing brand and food. Use this information for social media posts and for treats later on. You’ll have a database that’s easy to reference, and you can easily add a personal touch no matter how many employees you have on your payroll.
Don’t forget birthdays and anniversaries!
Recognizing birthdays and milestones is always important – especially when the teammate isn’t physically in the office. Find a way to adapt the system you use to reward in-office employees for your remote workers. If your office goes out to lunch on birthdays, send your remote workers a digital gift card to their favorite place. (This is where having a database of favorite things helps out.) Include them on your communication platforms with a shout-out mentioning their favorite sports team or a meme from their favorite TV show. The personal touch goes a long way, and since you’ve already gathered this data, all you have to do is put it in action.
If you don’t feel like your HR team has the right tools or training to manage a remote workforce, we can help! Schedule a quick call with us so we can get to know your goals, and you decide if it makes sense to keep the conversation going.
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