How to Make Your Remote Workforce Feel Appreciated

[Photo: Flickr user Gavin St. Ours]

Based on Jared Lindzon, a Toronto-based journalist, recently outlined “How to Make Your Remote Workforce Feel Appreciated”.

Key Quote

“Feeling valued and appreciated is not only desired by people, but it’s critical to the function of the organization. Businesses with team members who feel valued and appreciated are more profitable, there’s less conflict, and they get higher customer ratings.”

Our Key Takeaways

Advances in technology have catalyzed the growth of the dispersed workforce and, though many employers might assume that their remote workers are automatically content, they must make a conscious effort to engage and include these often-overlooked team members.

Simple recognition of a job well done can drive employee productivity and positive sentiment among remote and in-house staff alike; however, psychologist Dr. John White has found that remote staff place more emphasis on quality time with their colleagues than their on-site counterparts. There are a few ways that management can leverage these findings to get the best from their remote employees:

• Take time to talk. Remote employees often feel disconnected, missing out on the chance to spend time with their coworkers. Because there is less opportunity for casual workplace communication, their interactions with colleagues can often be limited to work-related discussions. The onus, therefore, is on the manager to make time for more meaningful dialogues — they could introduce a more convivial tone by offering personal information about their day-to-day family life, or another light-hearted issue that doesn’t pertain to work.
• Remote-first approach to communications. Remote workers sometimes complain of “missing out,” and can be inadvertently disregarded. If holding a meeting in the office that also includes offsite employees, try to avoid situations whereby the majority of attendees are together in a conference room, with just one person dialing in. This scenario can often make the remote worker feel isolated, and it often discourages him/her from speaking up or participating fully. Furthermore, it’s helpful to establish company-wide rules of engagement for remote staff, especially those living in different time zones. There should be a clear understanding and respect for their working hours to ensure they are afforded adequate work-life balance.
• Community creation. If an organization wishes to foster an ethos of cohesion and inclusion, it should offer all workers the opportunity to connect with each other surrounding topics unrelated to work. For example, a company might consider organizing a monthly meetup or lunch for employees that reside in the same city. When it comes to workers that are geographically dispersed, they could create “virtual communities” based around specific interests.

Why It Matters

Earlier this year, Swiss office provider IWG found that 70 percent of global professionals work remotely at least one day a week, while 53 percent do so at least half of the week. That number is only slated to grow, and it’s vital that these telecommuters are treated as valued members of the team.

Numerous studies over the year have underscored the business case for employee engagement: most recently, per a Gallup report, companies that make this a priority tend to reap considerable rewards. They can expect to achieve earnings-per-share growth that is more than four times that of their competitors — the companies with the most engaged workers enjoy significantly better customer sentiment, elevated productivity, improved retention, fewer sick days, lower incidences of accidents, and 21% higher profitability.