Employee engagement is something that a lot of business owners and managers have been prioritizing lately — and for a good reason. Finally, we have realized that our businesses thrive because we have great products and services. Our businesses thrive because we have happy employees who perform well.
What is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement is about creating a workplace environment where virtual assistants or employees are encouraged to reach their highest potential. It’s all about mixing all the right working conditions.
But is employee engagement possible in a remote setup?
Of course, it is!
Some people may think that employee engagement is not possible, especially since you’re not exactly the one dictating the conditions in your remote employees’ or virtual assistants’ work areas. You may also wonder about how you can engage with someone who’s how many miles away.
But employee engagement is not entirely dependent on distance or proximity. It’s all about how willing you are to take the extra mile to keep your employees happy, remote staff or not.
Why Is Employee Engagement Important in a Remote Setting?
People used to think that employee engagement was just a catchphrase meant to make employment a bit more complicated than it used to be. As it turns out, it’s much more than that.
Employers have always thought that when employees leave, they’re just after bigger money. In fact, 89% of employers believe that money is the top driving factor that makes employees look for other opportunities.
The truth is, only 12% of employees are after bigger money. The rest leave because they are not satisfied with their working conditions, their colleagues, and most importantly, their boss’s attitude towards them.
Here are 3 of the biggest reasons why employee engagement is essential:
Retention
53% of employees believe that they can easily find another position elsewhere when they leave their current one. This is why they aren’t really afraid to hand in their resignation letters.
With this kind of mentality, the question isn’t whether you have more potential hires than people leaving. That’s just going to cost you in terms of training and development.
What you should focus on now is finding out how to make your employees or virtual assistants stay despite the presence of other opportunities.
This is where employee engagement comes in.
Keeping your employees engaged makes them more likely to stay. It allows them to enjoy work. It also makes them stop treating it as a burden or a mere source of income and start looking forward to logging in and contributing something worthwhile.
Think about something you enjoy doing (and I hope it’s not firing employees or keeping them disconnected). You know that exhilarating feeling when you’re doing it? That feeling that makes you not want to stop? That’s how an employee feels when you engage with them well.
Productivity
Happier and more engaged employees also perform better. They are more productive and aim to do even better each time.
Do you know how sometimes, you just want something to be done and over with? That’s how a disengaged employee feels. This means that they’ll be tempted to take shortcuts and will be content with mediocre output.
An engaged employee, on the other hand, strives for excellence. The remote worker knows that they are valued. Therefore, it is also more likely for the employee to match that value with their work.
Of course, as a result, your business will thrive even more.
Attraction
There was a time when potential employees asked about how great the compensation package was before anything else and how times have changed.
Today, you’ll see job applicants asking about their overall work experience. How do the bosses treat the employees? Are there office events set up regularly? Do people get free coffee? Are there game nights and basketball nights, and trivia nights? How do they react when employees have sick kids or sick spouses?
Employees are looking for the whole package. They don’t just want to earn more — they want to enjoy their work more. They embrace work-related stress every so often, but only if the company helps them manage that stress. This is why employee engagement has, in a way, become part of every business’s marketing strategy to get the best people and to get their best people to stay.
How do you find remote employees? Read this to find out.
How to Promote Employee Engagement in a Remote Setting
Yes, employee engagement can be a bit tougher in a remote setup. But it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. And because engagement is even more important in a remote setting than in an in-office setup, you’re gonna have to put in the extra effort required.
Here are tips on how to promote employee engagement, especially if you have a remote team:
Communicate, communicate, communicate!
In an office setting, a boss who prioritizes employee engagement would go around and interact openly with employees. In fact, this is the precise reason why more modern office spaces have fewer walls and more open spaces.
When your team works remotely, though, you don’t have aisles of people to talk to. You can only correspond via digital means, and when you don’t make the most out of it, that pulls down your engagement in a snap.
Make sure you check on your virtual assistant team regularly. You may trust them and know that they’ll do their job even if you don’t check on them.
But that’s not the point.
Even the most independent employees appreciate the quick catchup with their bosses from time to time. It shows that they’re not just employees but actual humans who are much appreciated for their contributions to the business.
Without regular communication, these remote workers or virtual assistants will feel ignored. And when people feel ignored, they will eventually lose their motivation to work hard.
Communication doesn’t have to be a lot of work. A quick check on how they’re doing is enough. Always remind them that you’re just a call or a chat away. And when they do send you messages, make it a point to respond. Even if your response comes a little late, it shows them that they’re important enough to be given attention.
Encourage regular interaction among colleagues
Just as communication between you and your remote workers is important, communication among team members should be encouraged as well.
Regardless if each team member’s work is independent of the others, constant interaction helps the entire team appreciate what they’re doing even more. It makes them feel like they’re part of something really important and not just ticking random tasks off a list.
Having a group chat is a must. It’s not only the best way for you to send updates to everyone, but it’s also a great place where people can say hi to each other every day.
You can also initiate some small talk. Some people shy away from this, but it’s a great way to break the ice, especially for teams that are just starting out.
You can ask everyone what they did over the weekend or check how the weather is where they are. Especially if you have team members spread out all over the world, it’s nice to see them talking about how it’s all sunny at one team member’s place while another team member wades in snow.
And before you know it, you won’t even have to initiate these chats. You’ll see friendly banter coming across your screen every so often, a clear sign that you have remote workers ready to work together for the business’s success.
Send virtual tokens and gifts
Most companies, big or small, have learned to become more generous to their employees, not just in terms of salary but in other ways as well. It has become common practice to give employees small tokens every so often as a sign of appreciation for the work they put in.
The great thing about having a remote team is that you won’t even have to worry about shipping costs. There are a lot of gifts that you can send virtually.
For example, you can set up a “coffee fund” so that anyone from your team can treat themselves to a fresh cup at a nearby coffee shop. You can also purchase vouchers online or pay for dinner.
You can even have them meet up (if they’re located in the same area) and pay for a team meet-up.
Related Topic: How to Pay Remote Employees
Know your people beyond the usual work stuff
There’s Gary, the graphic artist, and Wendy, the writer. But did you know that Gary has two kids and that Wendy’s husband works abroad?
Knowing what they do for your business is important. That’s part of your job. But knowing much more than that — is what makes leaders great.
When you ask your employee how his son is doing or how her own small business is going, you’re telling your remote workers that they’re important to you. It shows that you don’t see these virtual assistants as dispensable. Instead, you see them as someone worth building a strong relationship with, someone you see contributing to the business for a long time.
This sense of security pushes people to work even more efficiently. Plus, it makes them tell their peers what a great boss you are, making your business look even more attractive to other potential talents.
Get their opinion
You’re the boss, but that doesn’t mean you know everything. If you’ve been through the grind and have worked your way up from the bottom, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
There are bosses who stand out because they feel like they know everything and would expect everyone to accept everything as is just because they said so. DON’T BE THAT BOSS.
You hired these people not to say yes to everything you say. You hire virtual assistants because they’re good at what they do and can contribute a lot of things to the business.
Ask for their opinion, especially on the projects that they’re working on. Ask them if they have suggestions on how to approach the entire project. Check if they have some knowledge that could prove to be beneficial to the team.
There is always a chance that there are things you don’t see from your perspective that they see from their end.
And if they do end up suggesting something brilliant, always give credit where credit is due. Don’t just grab their idea without even mentioning their name. Let the team know whose suggestion it was to show that you’re proud to have talented team members.
Related Topic: 101 Things Virtual Assistants Can Do
Celebrate small wins
Don’t be a scrooge when it comes to giving credit. Don’t wait for a project to be over or for a huge client you’ve been hounding for months to sign up. The moment a small victory is achieved, celebrate.
For instance, if there was a stumbling block in your project that someone in your team gave a solution to, congratulate the team! Mention the name of the person who allowed you to finally move forward with the project.
If someone came up with a great idea to expedite the process you’ve been complaining about for months, make some noise in your group chat or email. Make sure you get everyone excited. This makes them feel like they’re part of the victory.
Follow through on your commitments
Did you promise to look at a proposal your employee sent? Or maybe you promised a new intern that you’ll check on a suitable program that she suggested. No matter how busy you get, find a way to actually follow through on those commitments.
It may sound cliche, but the truth is respect is earned. So is commitment. And when you want your team to commit to you, you have to show them that you’re committed to their welfare as well.
But what if what they’re asking for is impossible in the first place?
Then don’t promise anything. It’s better to disappoint them right off the bat than keep their hopes up, only to shatter them later on.
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