5 Effective Ways to Keep Remote Employees Happy 

Right now, many businesses are rapidly being forced to shift their offices and their teams to remote work. This is a massive transition, especially for teams that have no history of working remotely. To further complicate things, these teams have had to make the transition quickly. 

Although transitioning to remote work can take a little time, there are many advantages to doing business remotely. Remote work requires lower overhead costs, and you can offer remote office perks to keep your team engaged and enthusiastic. Additionally, remote work results in increased employee satisfaction. 

Stresses of Work From Home

Even though remote work ultimately increases employee satisfaction, there are some stressors involved--especially at first. 

Tech issues are a major factor in work-from-home stress. If employees aren’t able to use apps, integrations, and other tools seamlessly, they’re likely to feel anxious or stressed about getting their work done. Additionally, tech issues can interfere with effective communication among team members.

Isolation and loneliness are stressors that many remote employees deal with. Although chat apps and videoconferencing can help keep interactions frequent, working at home is a lot different from gathering with teammates at the office.

Additionally, the distractions at home are different from distractions at the office. Housework, pets, and kids all factor in here. Remote workers have to adjust to keeping themselves accountable without a manager checking in on them.

How to Effectively Keep Your Remote Employees Happy

There are many ways you can help ease the transition for a happy, efficient remote team. Here are 5 effective keys to remote employee engagement. 

1. Keep Your Team Equipped with What They Need 

For optimal remote employee engagement, it’s important to keep your team equipped with everything they need to be productive and successful. Think about the office supplies they’re going to need, and make sure they have it all in-hand as soon as possible.

Send your employees home with materials such as paper, pens, laptops, and any other required supplies. Alternatively, you can have packages shipped to them. You can send your remote team office furniture, supplies, and even snacks through the Hoppier platform. 

As an added bonus, you can give each remote worker a stipend through Hoppier so they can order whatever they need. Whether they need to replenish snacks, pens, notepads, or even order a piece of furniture for their home office setup, a stipend from Hoppier can be a game-changer, especially right now if your business was forced to shift to work-from-home quickly. 

2. Flexibility 

One of the best things you can offer your remote employees is flexibility. Although this isn’t a conventional company perk, it’s one of the biggest advantages of working remotely. 

Let your team use their flexible off time when possible, or allow them to work more flexible schedules. Extending extra vacation days can help them maintain a healthy work-life balance. Additionally, flexible schedules can help them work around whatever might be happening at home.

Flexibility is so important for remote employee engagement right now, especially when so many workers unexpectedly have their children home from school. Workers who have kids at home not only deal with more frequent distractions and scheduling upsets--they also need to be able to flex their days around the kids’ needs. Giving them more flexibility allows them to complete their work while also attending to family. 

3. Focus On Improving Your Communication Strategies 

It’s crucial to focus on improving your communication strategies for optimal remote employee engagement. Make sure you’re staying in contact with your team members, and invest some time in finding communication tools that work for your team.

Tools such as Slack for communication can help you stay in touch with your team throughout the week. You can also schedule regular check-ins with your staff via phone or videoconference, especially those team members who aren’t used to flying solo. 

4. Implement Remote Team Building Activities  

Remote workers can benefit immensely from remote team building activities. Team building is more important than ever, especially when people are more isolated while working at home. 

My husband’s office has a one-hour video chat with all team members once a week right now just for everyone to check in. They let one another know how they’re doing personally, share funny stories, and work to keep up morale. 

You can implement casual check-in calls like his team, or come up with other games and challenges that can be done remotely. Simple icebreaker games like Two Truths and a Lie or trivia can easily be played via videoconference. Team members can even engage in challenges if they want. 

5. Demonstrate Employee Appreciation Consistently 

For remote teams, employee appreciation is more important than ever before. Thirty-seven percent of employees say being recognized is the most important factor for them in a workplace. Additionally, 63% of employees whose companies recognize them are much less likely to seek out new jobs. 

Here are a few ways you can recognize your team members for better remote employee engagement: 

• Send out a weekly email thanking everyone for the work they do
• Nominate one another for specific recognition
• Have a monthly or weekly competition for a gift card as a reward for high performance
• Utilize employee engagement platforms 

Conclusion

Keeping your remote employees engaged is one of the most critical parts of running a strong remote team. Making sure they’re fully equipped with supplies, offering them flexibility (both in work schedules and vacation days), improving team communication, implementing team-building activities, and demonstrating consistent employee appreciation can all go a long way toward helping your team maintain top performance and high morale. 

Because remote employee engagement requires specialized attention--perhaps even beyond what in-office engagement does--you’ll want to spend extra time getting it just right. But when your team is performing at their best, your company will enjoy greater employee retention and higher ROI. 

Hoppier can help you boost your remote team’s morale and wellbeing. If your team needs supplies, office furniture, or even healthy snacks, we’re here to help. Click here to learn more about how Hoppier can help you take care of your remote team.