Since the pandemic, remote work has been on the rise—and is expected to grow further in the future. More companies and employees prefer remote jobs over office-based ones as they are more effective and productive. But the problem is that employees get exhausted and burned out due to loneliness, and sometimes excessive remote work as they are confined to their homes with no one around them. This is a big challenge for the “new normal” working hours. According to Monster, more than 69% of employees feel burned out while working remotely.
Keeping remote teams engaged is not an easy thing to do. But it is essential to keep your employees be more effective and successful. This article will list the top five creative ways to keep your employees excited and working efficiently.
Use innovative technology to keep them connected
The most important thing to keep your employees engaged is to keep them connected using technology. There are many communication tools, such as Teams, Slack, Asana, Monday and Miro, that you can use to keep them connected during office hours for official work. This will make them feel that they are surrounded by their colleagues away from their office. Moreover, you can increase the use of video conferencing and keep them updated through emails and digital chats, which will make them feel that they are part of a team by emulating more human interaction.
Boost social interaction
One of the disadvantages of remote work is the loneliness that comes with it. Unlike in offices, while working from home, most of the time, you are alone in your room staring at the walls. This adversely affects the employees' mental health as it burns them out and makes them feel exhausted. The best way to avoid their loneliness is to increase their social interaction hours. Design different fun and creative social activities to curb their loneliness and keep them engaged.
Recognize and appreciate them for their efforts
Everyone wants their contribution to the company to be recognized and appreciated. This gives them a sense of accomplishment and achievement. It makes them feel that their work is making a difference for the company. At least once a month, take a moment to appreciate the effort put in by your team to make the company successful. Moreover, you can also send them gifts or give them bonuses to recognize their work.
Request and respond to feedback
This is the most important thing to keep the employees engaged. While making important decisions, always take input and feedback from your employees. This reflects that they are being valued and that their voice carries weight. It helps employees to participate and engage in the company’s day-to-day decision-making.
Allow your employees to be flexible.
Finally, give them flexibility. While working from home, suddenly something else of importance can pop up. In such a situation, give them the flexibility to finish their work during office hours and complete the office work some other time. Allow them to create a working cycle that best suits them to create a perfect work-life balance.
There is no doubt that remote work and having distributed teams in your company is the new normal and the future of work. Understanding how to keep your remote team engaged is essential. PEO companies like Axented have great solutions to make this happen. With our Axelerate Workforce platform, you can be rest assured that your employees feel part of a growing tech community that cares about their professional growth.
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