Did you know that happy, engaged employees are approximately 12% more productive than dissatisfied workers? It’s true, and they’re also far more likely to stay with your company and contribute to the results that matter.
Yet many companies still wonder how to increase employee engagement. One of the best ways to do this is by recognizing and rewarding employees (including the use of a true recognition and rewards platform). After all, showing employees that you value their hard work and all they do to make your company a success can make more of a difference than you think.
Even if you’re not sure where to start, don’t wait any longer! Here are three tips we recommend to boost employee engagement, morale, and productivity-all by focusing on recognizing and rewarding all they do.
1. Motivating a Remote Team
Experts agree that working from home will be a major part of our future as a significant percentage of employees now report they would prefer to work remotely. It’s clearly a new opportunity: research shows that remote workers are 24% more likely to be happier and more efficient, both of which help them produce better results for their teams and your company.
Yet remote teams may face unpredictable communication and engagement issues as part of these new work-at-home arrangements. For example, increased flexibility seems to be a perk but many employees complain that the lines are often blurred between work and their personal lives. It is often not easy to walk away from work apps and email, making work-life balance tough–and not necessarily better.
Additionally, many employees may feel disconnected, especially from the valuable information they may be able to find easily in the office. Where they were once used to meeting with managers or regularly or accessing information in corporate intranets or content management systems, many may not have this easy access to information. Additionally, they may not receive regular or ongoing corporate updates or announcements, leaving them feeling uninformed and disconnected.
How can you motivate your remote workers? One of the best ways is by doing all you can to communicate effectively. One of the best ways to do this is through the use of technology: for example, powerful employee engagement platforms today include valuable tools and capabilities such as mobile apps, customizable communication channels, modern social intranets, and even content management systems.
Giving remote teams access to these tools provides them with familiar experiences (similar to what they’d expect to find in the office) as well as fast, easy, intuitive access to all the information they need. These tools are proven in the ability to improve communication, teamwork, and employee morale.
2. Recognize and Reward Employees
Sometimes it’s the small things that make all the difference and this is true when it comes to recognizing and rewarding your workforce.
Yet it doesn’t have to be a random process or left up to manager-level decisions. Now recognizing and rewarding employees can be a collaborative, natural part of your company culture through the use of employee recognition software.
For example, using a tool like HR Cloud’s Workmates any team member can give another employee an official “kudos” — a digital “high five” to acknowledge a specific accomplishment or even the hard work they do each and every day. While the functionality may vary among different recognition and rewards applications, Workmates lets employees give out custom badges to mark each event.
Employees can earn points which can then be redeemed for gift cards, corporate items, or other official “thank you” gifts.
3. Focus on Culture
All of the benefits above are proven to increase engagement, teamwork, and collaboration, while creating an ongoing company culture focused on excellence. Such a culture could and should focus on employees first, and any manager should do all they can to increase communication and just connect with remote teams to see how they’re doing and what they might need to do their job better.
Start Improving Employee Engagement
Improving employee engagement for remote teams can be challenging if you don’t know where to start or if you don’t have the right tools. Today, HR teams can increase employee engagement, morale, and productivity with powerful employee engagement platforms, including rewards and recognition capabilities.
Would like to receive articles on similar topics. Txs.
Fantastic article!! Thanks for taking out time to write this super-post for us. I was searching for strategies to engage remote working teams and found the necessary strategies here.