How to Keep your Remote Employees Motivated?
In these trying times, it has become essential to keep oneself motivated while working, throughout the day, more than ever. I’m sure you have found a routine that works for you or is in the process of finding one. But what about your remote employees, especially those working remotely for the first time? What is keeping them motivated?
Managing a remote team is not easy. But, this is also true that remote employees are expected to be self-motivated. So, a company culture that encourages and fosters a positive environment can help motivate your remote workers.
Since the pandemic has hit the world, most of the companies have decided to shift from an office to a remote work model. And if you have employees working across oceans, you need to find out a way to keep your distributed teams connected and motivated.
Some fully remote organizations like Skuad, PartnerCentric, Toptal, etc., are trying to help other companies planning to go remote in navigating through the remote ecosystem.
Listed below are some fantastic tips for motivating your remote employees. Check them out!
7 Tips for Motivating your Remote Workforce
A motivated workforce contributes to organizational efficiency. These tips will help answer your question on ‘how to keep your remote employees motivated?’
1. Show your employees that you trust them
Show faith in your employees. Making your remote employees and contractors feel that you trust them can go a long way for both of you. Make them realize that you trust their capabilities, and they can take initiatives according to what they believe in.
Trust leads to motivation.
Building a good rapport also makes it easy for your remote workforce to reach out to you for any work-related issues without any hesitation.
2. Appreciate them for the good work they do
Recognizing your employees’ hard work is extremely important. However, don’t recognize them for the sake of it but because you value the contributions they’ve made to your organization.
Empowering your employees is the key to have a better response to the set goals.
Getting praised reinforces employees to continue working harder. And when they feel valued, they feel obliged to add more value.
3. Show them empathy, get to know them
Talk to your employees on topics other than work too. Ask them about their family or kids. Try to know what they like to do when they’re not working. You’ll be surprised by the responses you would get.
Again, the feeling of care spikes the action of care. When your remote employees feel you care about them, they would also start putting in more effort for your company.
4. Provide a good remote work culture to them
Providing your remote employees an unmatchable work culture can be a difficult task to do as it’s all virtual, which also makes this a key point.
In order to create a work environment that makes your remote employees feel worthy, try to connect with them on a more frequent basis. Get them involved in team-building activities, open different modes of communication, and make a conscious effort to foster team relationships.
5. Good communication is crucial
While it’s great to have open communication channels and regularly tracking the work of your employees, understand the limits to it. Micromanaging can kill motivation more than anything.
Video calls can help you understand your employees more than chat or voice calls. There are multiple digital solutions available like Skype, Google Meet, Zoom, etc. Use them well.
For instance, Facebook has a company-wide policy of no meetings on Wednesdays. This practice helps employees work without interruptions on that day, especially when you are working remotely, and in turn, boosts productivity.
Further, a bit of humor that is per professional standards can also be a thing you can practice while communicating.
6. Timely feedback is important
To get your remote employees more engaged and motivated, try to give them constructive feedback from time to time. It gives them a space to improve themselves in various aspects.
This way, you’ll be helping your employees to grow individually and for this, they’re going to remember you always.
In fact, while you have this conversation, ask for their feedback on organizational practices and experience with the team. This will also help you with developing strategies to build a positive remote culture.
7. Organize virtual team building activities
There are numerous team-building activities that you can perform virtually with your team which can be fun for everyone. Let’s take a look at a few of them:
- Storytelling — One member needs to start with a sentence and thereafter others have to add a few lines to complete that story. It can be a fun thing to do.
- Fact Guesser — In this, you need to let your employees guess some facts about each other. This will help them to know other team members and will create a healthy bond among them.
- Doodle Competition — There must be many artists in your work team or even if they’re not, let them try their hands on at doodling.
Bonus Point:
You can also send some positive motivational quotes on your work channel through which you communicate daily with your remote workforce. It can be around topics like teamwork, positive affirmations, self-motivation, life goals, etc.
A daily dose of motivation is what it all takes to reach that potential goal.
Remote teams are undoubtedly fun. It’s great to interact and work with people from different cultures, backgrounds, and time zones.
However, when it comes to employing and managing a remote workforce, challenges related to payroll, compliances, etc., may arise. Organizations such as Skuad, Deel, Papaya Global, make hiring, onboarding, paying, and managing remote employees easy and seamless.
“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.”
–Somin Sinek, British Author & Motivational Speaker
