Keep employees engaged while working from home

Millions of Americans are now working from home due to the pandemic — more than 40% of the entire labor force, according to a Stanford economist’s estimate. It’s an ongoing experiment as employers and employees adjust to the “new normal.” One of the biggest challenges is keeping employees engaged. Research from SHRM [PDF] outlines the scale of the issue:

• 7 in 10 employers are struggling to adapt to a remote workforce
• 2 in 3 say keeping morale high is a challenge
• Over a third are concerned about maintaining their company culture

The good news is other employers have faced these issues and figured out ways to keep employees engaged while working from home. Prior to the pandemic, about 7% of employees worked remotely full time. Their employers include successful brands, which means an organization can be successful with a remote workforce as long as employers make an intentional effort and provide the right tools.

Boosting morale from a safe distance

If employers are having a difficult time adapting to a remote workforce, that doesn’t necessarily signal productivity issues. In some workplaces, productivity is up, and many remote employees welcome the end of the daily commute and the extra free time. Others, women especially, struggle to manage children’s schooling and care for vulnerable family members.

But even under the best circumstances, in cases where employees are fully on board with the new work-from-home regime and have minimal distractions at home, people can lose a valuable connection to colleagues and the organization when they’re not gathering in a central location during the workweek. That can put the company culture at risk.

One way employers can address this is by celebrating employee accomplishments and milestones. Work anniversaries, individual or team accomplishments, promotions, etc., should all be celebrated with the team virtually. This can help keep team members and managers connected, and it reinforces performance incentives.

Offer greater flexibility

Workers are strongly in favor of flexible work arrangements, which include remote work and flexibility in scheduled hours, such as starting and ending the workday earlier. In fact, a Zenefits survey [PDF] found that 70% of employees rate flexibility as important as salary and benefits, and 77% said flexible work would be a “major consideration” in accepting a job offer.

One way to keep satisfaction high for remote workers would be to adopt flexible arrangements, like allowing employees to start and end workdays earlier or later, or allowing employees to work longer hours for four days and take three days off. These types of arrangements could be especially helpful for organizations that are trying to accommodate employees who have to juggle children’s education or other caregiving duties at home. Of course, the ability to offer flexible work schedules depends on the nature of the business. But so many companies are global now, businesses often have to cover multiple time zones. Flexibility in scheduling can be helpful for companies that need to offer 24-7 support, and employees often appreciate the ability to choose nonstandard working hours.

Provide tools to support remote work

The mass experiment in remote work happened quickly because of the pandemic. Many companies had to scramble to equip their newly remote employees with the technology and tools they needed to do their jobs at home. Use of telepresence software like Zoom and Teams spiked as companies used the platforms to stay in touch.

Employers should keep in mind that additional tools may be needed to support remote work on a long-term basis. For example, teams that rely on spreadsheets to manage, track and organize data should look for a solution that’s a better fit for remote collaboration. Remote teams need a way to share, export, search and filter data easily.

A company culture app to support interpersonal connections is also a good idea for an all-remote team. People need to feel like they belong, and nonwork-related encounters with peers can create friendly ties between colleagues. A “virtual water cooler” app like Bonfyre can facilitate relationships that strengthen the company culture.

Keep an eye on engagement

Even when a safe and effective vaccine is widely available, the workplace won’t return to the pre-COVID-19 standard of normal. The SHRM study mentioned earlier found that more than a third of employers are providing support to their remote workforce, including EAP resources, books, newsletters, podcasts and other materials to help employees cope.

Employers may need to expand these support levels to keep employees engaged away from the office in the months to come. It will take some adjustment on both sides, but employers who put in the effort and provide the tools employees need can adapt to these circumstances. With an engaged workforce and a robust company culture, organizations can thrive in the new normal.

Chad Reid is VP of Marketing and Communications at JotForm.