How to keep employees engaged while working from home?

The shift to remote work has accelerated over the last several years. However, with the pandemic now in the rearview, there isn't any going back, and the trend toward hiring remote employees is here to stay.

The flexible remote work paradigm gives employees incredible autonomy while providing businesses unprecedented access to the largest-ever pool of international talent.

However, as distributed work increasingly blurs the lines between employees' professional and personal lives, companies face new challenges in figuring out how to keep employees engaged while working from home.

Why employee engagement is important for remote employees

For businesses looking to reap the benefits of hiring remote workers, it's imperative to continually foster a sense of belonging and connection among the members of their workforce to increase employee engagement, satisfaction, well-being, and productivity.

Engaged remote workers are more motivated and committed to their tasks, increasing productivity. In distributed teams, engaged members are more likely to stay loyal to the company and improve employee retention. By investing in employee engagement, businesses can reduce turnover, saving time and resources in the long run. Satisfied employees are also more likely to become brand ambassadors, contributing to the company's reputation.

If you're looking to build a strong culture for your global remote team, we can help. Skuad experts can help automate every step of your employee management plan, including how to increase employee engagement remotely.

10 ways to keep your employees engaged while working from home

Here, we've compiled our top employee engagement ideas for remote workers:

1. Prioritize employee's health

Employee health is always a top priority, and companies should be aware of effective strategies to fight isolation while working remotely. Encouraging regular breaks and providing resources for mental and physical well-being are two things your company can do.

Additionally, promoting a healthy work-life balance, discouraging excessive overtime, and offering flexible work hours are ways to prioritize employee health. Managers can even provide access to online fitness classes or meditation sessions to help employees stay active and reduce stress.

2. Build interpersonal relationships with employees

Establishing strong relationships with your team members is crucial for engagement and key to effective leadership and remote team management.

Employers can take time to get to know their workforce personally by engaging in small talk or asking about employees' hobbies or interests. Additionally, employers can find fun ways to keep employees engaged while working from home, like creating virtual team-building activities, such as games or group challenges.

3. Maintain regular communication via virtual meetings and hangouts

Regular communication is another element of keeping employees engaged. It's important to schedule frequent virtual meetings to discuss ongoing projects, address concerns, and provide updates. Establishing an effective policy of remote check-ins, setting up effective meetings for distributed teams, encouraging open dialogue, and creating opportunities for casual conversations through virtual hangouts are all ways to maintain regular, meaningful communication with remote teams.

4. Request and receive feedback

The dynamics of remote work are constantly changing, so it's important to regularly ask employees for feedback to identify areas of improvement and recognize their efforts. Keeping the feedback loop continuously open creates a culture of improvement by encouraging open and honest communication. Companies can implement regular feedback sessions, such as one-on-one check-ins or anonymous surveys, to gather insights and show employees that their opinions matter.

5. Support new employees

Onboarding remote employees can be challenging, and ensuring they feel supported directly leads to increased satisfaction, productivity, and employee retention. Companies can provide new hires with a thorough orientation program, pair them up with a colleague to mentor them and check in regularly to see how they're acclimating to their new work environment.

6. Appreciate employee contributions

Recognizing employee contributions is an effective communication strategy for remote teams and essential for maintaining engagement. Employers should regularly express gratitude for their employees' hard work, celebrate milestones and achievements, and consider offering rewards or incentives to show appreciation.

7. Be flexible with employees

Distributed and remote work come with unique challenges, such as juggling personal and professional responsibilities. Employers can demonstrate empathy and flexibility by offering options such as modified work schedules, time off, or reduced workloads when necessary. Trusting your employees and giving them autonomy can increase engagement and job satisfaction.

8. Provide necessary tools for efficiency

The more comprehensive the range of tools and resources employees can access, the more they'll feel engaged when working from home. These may include hardware, software, or subscriptions to various collaboration platforms. Additionally, access to professional development resources, such as online courses or webinars, can help employees stay engaged and grow in their roles.

9. Set clear expectations

Clearly communicating goals, deadlines, and expectations to help employees stay focused and aligned with the company's objectives helps increase engagement. Doing this helps encourage employee accountability, and transparent communication can help remote workers understand their roles, prioritize tasks, and contribute effectively to the team.

10. Encourage collaborations

Collaboration amongst remote workers also increases engagement and promoting a collaborative work environment encourages employees to share their expertise and learn from one another. Companies can assign group projects and use collaboration tools, like shared documents or virtual whiteboards, to facilitate teamwork and encourage exchanging ideas.

How Skuad can help

Skuad is a global employment and payroll platform that enables organizations to hire whomever they want, wherever they want. Our experts manage localized onboarding, cross-border payroll, local compliance, and everything you need to keep your remote workforce engaged and productive.

In addition to helping organizations onboard talent, manage payroll, and ensure compliance, Skuad's platform streamlines much of the back-end HR and administrative tasks, allowing you to focus on maintaining a satisfied, engaged, and productive globally distributed team.

To know more about Skuad, talk to our experts today.

Frequently asked questions

1. How do managers keep employees motivated while working from home?

There are many strategies for how to keep employees engaged during work-from-home hours, and managers can combine any of the ways discussed above. Additionally, here are 10 more practical tips for engaging remote workers.

2. How do you make employees feel connected?

You can make employees feel connected through regular, effective communication and always ensuring that workers know they are recognized and contributing to a company's success.

3. How do you inspire an unproductive employee?

Inspiring unproductive employees will always start with discovering the source of their lack of motivation. Open and honest dialogue can help address employees' concerns and get them back to being productive. On the other, an employee may lack motivation to be productive due to personal or health reasons, in which case employers can offer the necessary resources and support to help.